 Researching Distressing TopicsSharon Jackson, Kathryn Backett-Milburn and Elinor Newall SAGE Open, 2013, vol. 3, issue 2, 2158244013490705 Abstract: Qualitative researchers who explore sensitive topics may expose themselves to emotional distress. Consequently, researchers are often faced with the challenge of maintaining emotional equilibrium during the research process. However, discussion on the management of difficult emotions has occupied a peripheral place within accounts of research practice. With rare exceptions, the focus of published accounts is concentrated on the analysis of the emotional phenomena that emerge during the collection of primary research data. Hence, there is a comparative absence of a dialogue around the emotional dimensions of working with secondary data sources. This article highlights some of the complex ways in which emotions enter the research process during secondary analysis, and the ways in which we engaged with and managed emotional states such as anger, sadness, and horror. The concepts of emotional labor and emotional reflexivity are used to consider the ways in which we “worked with†and “worked on†emotion. In doing so, we draw on our collective experiences of working on two collaborative projects with ChildLine Scotland in which a secondary analysis was conducted on children’s narratives of distress, worry, abuse, and neglect. Keywords: secondary analysis; emotions; emotional labor; qualitative research; child abuse (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:sagope:v:3:y:2013:i:2:p:2158244013490705 Access Statistics for this article More articles in SAGE Open |
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