A Closer Look at the Quest for an Inclusive Research Project: ‘I Had No Experience with Scientific Research, and then the Ball of Cooperation Started Rolling’

Miriam Zaagsma, Mark Koning, Christien van Andel, Karin Volkers, Alice Schippers and Geert van Hove
Additional contact information
Miriam Zaagsma: Philadelphia Care Foundation, 3811 MZ Amersfoort, The Netherlands
Mark Koning: Philadelphia Care Foundation, 3811 MZ Amersfoort, The Netherlands
Christien van Andel: Philadelphia Care Foundation, 3811 MZ Amersfoort, The Netherlands
Karin Volkers: Philadelphia Care Foundation, 3811 MZ Amersfoort, The Netherlands
Alice Schippers: Disability Studies in The Netherlands, 3453 NW De Meern, The Netherlands
Geert van Hove: Department of Special Needs Education, Ghent University, B-9000 Gent, Belgium

Social Sciences, 2022, vol. 11, issue 5, 1-16

Abstract: The original adage of the movement of people with disabilities ‘Nothing about us without us’ is fortunately more and more adopted in the research world. There is, for example, increasing recognition of the importance and value of actively involving people with intellectual disabilities in research projects on topics that are relevant to them. In a current doctoral research project, a co-researcher with an intellectual disability was recruited to work together with the doctoral researcher. Now that this project is nearing completion, it is time to look at some aspects of their collaboration and see what we can learn from this process. In several (joint) meetings, the researchers reflected on their personal experiences with working and researching together. Our reflections are presented using three overarching themes: preparations for the collaboration, collaborating as a complex process, and conducting research together. The discussion focuses on what can be inferred from these personal experiences with regard to the following three topics: how inclusive research can be organised best, the possible benefits of the collaboration for the researchers involved, and the possible impact of the collaboration on the quality of the research.

Keywords: inclusive research; participatory research; intellectual disabilities; collaboration (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A B N P Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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