Research assistants play a very instrumental role in conducting researches at the field level. In their line of duty, they encounter a myriad of challenges in hardship areas that include informal settlements, arid and semi-arid areas, etc. This has posed a challenge to research assistants who are not assertive and thus soft hearted; as compared to…

Retractions have traditionally been reserved for correcting the scientific record and discouraging research misconduct. Nonetheless, the potential for actual societal harm resulting from accurately reported published scientific findings, so-called information hazards, has been the subject of several recent article retractions. As these instances…

COVID-19 immediately and radically necessitated changes in the way we worked as social researchers; not only in terms of fieldwork, but also in terms of collaboration. In this paper, we outline the rationale, processes, and potential of a collective of 14 research teams both inside and outside of academia working together across the UK to…

Hofmann and Holm's (2019) recent survey on issues of research misconduct with PhD graduates culminated with a notable conclusion by the authors: 'Scientific misconduct seems to be an environmental issue as much as a matter of personal integrity'. Here, we re-emphasise the usefulness of an education-based countermeasure against toxic research…

The perspective of people with dementia, particularly late-stage dementia, is often excluded from research, even from methods like Participatory Action Research (PAR), which aim to democratise research. This research note outlines how a PAR project engaged with the perspective of people with late-stage dementia in a residential aged care facility.…

Randomised trials are often funded by commercial companies and methodological studies support a widely held suspicion that commercial funding may influence trial results and conclusions. However, these studies often have a risk of confounding and reporting bias. The risk of confounding is markedly reduced in meta-epidemiological studies that…

This article focuses on an investigation of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teacher (de)motivation in Spain which underwent a methodological transformation from mixed methods to a qualitative approach. Unexpected statistical results from the questionnaire in the piloting phase led to the creation of interview prompts, a dynamic data collection…

This article explores how researchers adapt to disruptions that cost them access to their field sites, advancing a uniquely sociological perspective on the dynamics of flexibility and adaptation in qualitative methods. Through interviews with 31 ethnographers whose access was preempted or eliminated, I find that adaptation varied systematically…

This paper addresses the issue of how local and global norms and requirements are negotiated in the early stages of development of Social Science research ethics policy in a Global South context. A review of relevant literature followed by analysis of relevant national and institutional policies highlights both tensions and creative potential for…

This powerful resource is for researchers and educational leaders who are interested in understanding and applying research methods that emphasize youth voice. The authors argue that most educational research either omits critical understandings of youth or, even worse, presents inaccuracies due to faulty techniques. Researching how youth…

Purpose: This study investigates the motivations, contributions, and challenges faced by international researchers employed at Japanese companies. It utilizes Tomlinson's Graduate Capital Model to gain insight into their experiences. Design/Approach/Methods: This study employs Tomlinson's Graduate Capital Model as an analytical framework to…

Background: Research integrity has gained attention in the general public as well as in the research community. We wanted to investigate knowledge, attitudes, and practices amongst researchers that have recently finished their PhD and compare this to their responses during their PhD fellowship. In particular, we wanted to investigate whether their…

Researchers are challenged to provide opportunities for people with intellectual disabilities (IDs) and their families to become participants in research. This article explores the processes and procedures involved in conducting a mixed-methods study. The preparation for the study is described and explained. Recruitment is examined by describing…

Being closely associated with your research subject brings methodological and ethical challenges. This case will discuss these challenges in the context of a study on how university teachers are affected by student feedback, where the researcher was a colleague of the teachers studied. The experiences from the study highlight the importance of…

Much contemporary ethnography hopes to engage with a community to justify social critique. Whether from problem selection, interpersonal rewards, or a desire for exchange, researchers often take the "side" of informants. Such an approach, linked to "public ethnography," marginalizes a once-traditional approach to fieldwork,…