‘Risky research and researcher risk: Reflecting on emotionally involved information research through the lens of COVID-19’ presentation at ASIS&T Europe conference

This June, Alison presented a paper entitled ‘Risky research and researcher risk’ in which she drew upon the project’s examination of COVID-19 information practices to discuss the experience of studying risk from a researcher perspective, including the impact that emotionally engaged scholarship might have upon information science. The paper starts from the premise that the growing recognition that risk must be understood as something shaped through social and cultural processes creates a need to establish more qualitative explorations of risk within information studies. This, however, exposes the methodological challenges, including the potential to expose researchers to the need to navigate sensitive and emotional narratives. Alison used the experience of conducting the research into pandemic information practices as a lens to discuss emotionally engaged online research and presented themes such as invasive co-presence and therapeutic detachment, which reflect the affective implications of carrying out risk research within a socially distanced setting. 

Alison came to these themes using notes and memos from the empirical research and reflections with researcher partner Annemaree Lloyd which she supplemented with a review of literature examining researcher well-being and health within sensitive research contexts. 

Previous work has concentrated on the importance of building a co-presence in research, however, it has lacked considerations into the impact of risk research might have on the researcher. The value of this paper consequently lies in the work that it does to extend methodological conversations about everyday research methods, including the challenges that are involved in mediating sensitive online research interactions. Further, the focus on the researcher opens up considerations into the impact of emotion upon information research. 

Alison’s reflections will be of interest to researchers exploring risk, including pandemic, disaster, and crisis situations, and those who are looking to explore engagement in sensitive topics. The socially distanced nature of COVID-19 studies means that this paper will also be of interest to researchers looking to carry out more emotionally responsive online qualitative research.

An extended abstract of Alison’s paper can be found here.