The emotional dilemmas and challenges facing researchers within the research process are beginning to be documented within the literature, and academic interest in them is in ascendency. This paper adds to this growing discourse by taking a reflective journey through 19 years of research practice. It presents an honest and revealing manuscript highlighting in particular, the researcher’s emotional dilemmas experienced when disengaging from participants at the end of longitudinal research studies. It uses case studies to highlight some of the challenges in maintaining the participant–researcher boundaries and the emotional dilemmas this creates when trying to say goodbye. It argues that blurring the boundaries of participant–researcher relationships and establishing a trusting relationship can present emotional difficulties for researchers during and long after the closure of a research study.
AtkinsonPCoffeyADelamontS (2003) Key Themes in Qualitative Research: Continuities and Change. New York: AltaMira.
2.
BattyE (2018) The emotional turmoil of contract research. Emotion, Space and Society28(August), 18–23.
3.
BerkRAdamsJ (2001) Establishing rapport with deviant groups. In: MillerMTewksburyR (eds) Extreme Methods: Innovative Approaches to Social Science Research. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon, 58–71.
4.
BoothW (1998) Doing research with lonely people. British Journal of Learning Disabilities26(4): 132–134.
5.
BoyntonPM (2002) Life on the streets: the experiences of community researchers in a study of prostitution. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology12(1): 1–12.
6.
CampbellR (2002) Emotionally Involved: The Impact of Researching Rape. New York: Routledge
7.
CampesinoM (2007) Homicide bereavement: reflections on the therapeutic relationship in trauma research. Qualitative Inquiry13(4): 541–553.
8.
CannonS (1992) Reflections on fieldwork in stressful situations. In: BurgessR (ed.) Studies in Qualitative Methodology: Learning About Fieldwork (Vol. 3). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press, 147–182.
9.
CorbinJMorseJM (2003) The unstructured interactive interview: issues of reciprocity and risks when dealing with sensitive topics. Qualitative Inquiry9(3): 335–354.
10.
CotterillP (1992) INTERVIEWING WOMEN issues of friendship, vulnerability, and power women’s studies. Int ForumIS(S/6): 593406.
11.
CutcliffeJRGowardP (2000) Mental health nurses and qualitative research methods: a mutual attraction?Journal of Advanced Nursing31(3): 590–598.
12.
CutcliffeJRRamcharanP (2002) Levelling the playing field? Exploring the merits of the ethics-as-process approach for judging qualitative research proposals. Qualitative Health Research12(7): 1000–1010.
13.
DCLG. National evaluation of the troubled families programme: final synthesis Report. October2016.
14.
Dickson-SwiftVJamesELKippenS, et al. (2006) Blurring boundaries in qualitative health research on sensitive topics. Qualitative Health Research16(6): 853–871.
15.
Dickson-SwiftVJamesELKippenS, et al. (2007) Doing sensitive research: what challenges do qualitative researchers face?Qualitative Research7(3): 327–353.
16.
Dickson-SwiftVJamesELKippenS, et al. (2009) Researching sensitive topics: qualitative research as emotion work. Qualitative Research9(1): 61–79.
17.
DunscombeJJessopJ (2002) Doing rapport and the ethics of faking friendship. In: MauthnerMBirchMJessopJ, et al. (eds) Ethics in Qualitative Research, 107–122.
18.
FontanaAFeyJ (1994) Interviewing: the art of science. In: DenzinNLincolnYS (eds) Handbook of Qualitative Research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 361–376.
19.
GaleJ (1992) When research interviews are more therapeutic than therapy interviews. Qualitative Report1(4). Available at: http://www.nova.edu/ssss/QR/QR1-4/gale.html (accessed 24 January 2006).
20.
GilbertKR (2001) Introduction: why are we interested in emotions? In GilbertKR (ed.) The Emotional Nature of Qualitative Research. London: CRC, 3–15.
21.
GlesneCPeshkinA (1992) Becoming Qualitative Researchers: An Introduction. London: Longman.
GregoryD (1994). Narratives of suffering in the cancer experience [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ.
24.
GuilleminMGillamL (2006) Telling Moments: Everyday Ethics in Health Care. Victoria, Australia: IP Communications.
25.
GuilleminMHeggenK (2009) Rapport and respect: negotiating ethical relations between researcher and participant. Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy12: 291–299.
26.
HochschildA (1983) The Managed Heart: Commercialization of Human Feeling. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
27.
HollandJ (2007) Emotions and research. International Journal of Social Research Methodology10(3): 195–209.
28.
HubbardGBackett-MilburnKKemmerD (2001) Working with emotion: issues for the researcher in fieldwork and teamwork. International Journal of Social Research Methodology4(2): 119–137.
29.
IrwinLGJohnsonJ (2005) Interviewing young children: explicating our practices and dilemmas. Qualitative Health Research15(6): 821–831.
30.
IversenR (2009) “Getting out” in ethnography: a seldom-told story. Qualitative Social Work8(1): 9–26.
31.
LeeRM (1993) Doing Research on Sensitive Topics. London: Sage.
32.
MauthnerMBirchMJessopJ, et al. (eds) (2002) Ethics in Qualitative Research. London: Sage.
33.
MooreLWMillerM (1999) Initiating research with doubly vulnerable populations. Journal of Advanced Nursing30(5): 1034–1040.
34.
MorrisonZJGregoryDThibodeauS (2012) “Thanks for using me”: an exploration of exit strategy in qualitative research. International Journal of Qualitative Methods11(4): 416–427.
35.
NorfolkTBirdiKWalshD (2007) The role of empathy in establishing rapport in the consultation: a new model. Medical Education41(7): 690–697.
36.
OakleyA (2013) Interviewing women: a contradiction in terms. In RobertsH (ed.) Doing Feminist Research. London: Routledge, 30–61.
37.
RagerKB (2005) Compassion stress and the qualitative researcher. Qualitative Health Research15(3): 423–430.
38.
ReadSPapakosta-HarveyV (2004) Using workshops on loss for adults with learning disabilities. Journal of Learning Disabilities8(2): 191–208.
39.
ReinharzSDavidmanL (1992) Feminist Methods in Social Research. New York: Oxford University.
40.
RenoldEHollandSRossNJ, et al. (2008) “Becoming participant”: Problematizing “informed consent” in participatory research with young people in care. Qualitative Social Work7(4): 427–447.
41.
RenzettiCLeeR (1993) Sensitivity in field research. In RenzettiCLeeR (eds) Researching Sensitive Topics. Newbury Park, CA: Sage, 101–107.
42.
RitchieJLewisJMcNaughton NichollsC, et al. (2014) Qualitative Research Practice: A Guide for Social Science Students and Researchers. London: Sage Publications Limited.
43.
RussellL (2005) It’s a question of trust: balancing the relationship between students and teachers in ethnographic fieldwork. Qualitative Research5(2): 181–199.
44.
SandersJMunfordRLiebenbergL, et al. (2014) Show some emotion? Emotional dilemmas in undertaking research with vulnerable youth. Field Methods26(3): 239–251.
45.
SherryE (2013) The vulnerable researcher: facing the challenges of sensitive research. Qualitative Research Journal13(3): 278–288.
46.
SnowD (1980) The disengagement process: a neglected problem in participant observation research. Qualitative Sociology3(2): 100–122.
47.
StebbinsR (1991) Do we ever leave the field? In: ShaffirWStebbinsR (eds) Experiencing Fieldwork: An Inside View of Qualitative Research. Newbury Park, CA: Sage, 248–255.
48.
ThomsonRHollandJ (2010) Hindsight, foresight and insight: the challenges of longitudinal qualitative research. International Journal of Social Research Methodology6(3): 233–244.
49.
WatsonLIrwinJMichalskeS (1991) Researcher as friend: methods of the interviewer in a longitudinal study. Qualitative Health Research1(4): 497–514.
50.
WolfD (1996) Situating feminist dilemmas in fieldwork. In: WolfD (ed.) Feminist Dilemmas in Fieldwork. Oxford: Westview Press, 1–43.
