Co-Production of Knowledge and Dialogue: A Reflective Analysis of the Space Between Academic and Lay Co-Researchers in the Early Stages of the Research Process

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17169/fqs-23.1.3726

Keywords:

co-production of knowledge, dialogue, research relations, lay co-researchers, action research, asymmetry, analytical autoethnography, sequential analysis, objective hermeneutics, critical friends

Abstract

Co-production of knowledge, where academic and lay researchers work as partners, is a central characteristic of participatory action research. It requires the participants to engage in a transformative dialogue. But how can co-production of knowledge function in the care home setting? We addressed this question in a specific interaction between academic and lay researchers in an action research project sited in a nursing home in Germany. Drawing on Paulo FREIRE and Mikhail BAKHTIN, we developed seven dialogue criteria and applied them as sensitizing concepts. In order to further a critical analysis, in our data analysis we combined three methodical approaches: 1. analytical autoethnography, 2. sequential analysis in the tradition of objective hermeneutics, and 3. reflection with critical friends. This innovative triangulation allowed for rich and complex interpretations. We found that all seven dialogue criteria are important to co-production of knowledge and should direct the process between academic and lay researchers.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

Marilena von Köppen, Hochschule Fulda

Marilena VON KÖPPEN (M.sc.) is research assistant in the Department of Nursing and Health and doctoral candidate at the PhD Centre Public Health at Fulda University of Applied Sciences (HSF). She has published on ethical symmetry and participatory research with vulnerable groups. In her research, she focuses on participatory research methodology and ethics, ethics of care, qualitative research, old age and critical gerontology. She is speaker of the critical gerontology working committee of the German Association for Gerontology and Geriatrics (DGGG) and active member in the German network of participatory health research (PartNet) and in the international collaboration of participatory health research (ICPHR).

Susanne Kümpers, Hochschule Fulda

Dr. Susanne KÜMPERS is professor for qualitative health research, social inequality and public health strategies at the Department of Nursing and Health at Fulda University of Applied Sciences (HSF) since 2012. In her work, she focuses on age, inequality and health, health promotion, prevention and care research in sociospatial conditions, as well as on questions of inequality and participation. Her methodological field of interest is qualitative and participatory research. From 2013 to 2015, she was a member of the Federal Government's Seventh Commission on the Report on Older Persons. She is board member of Section IV (Social Gerontology and Care for Older People) of the German Association for Gerontology and Geriatrics (DGGG) and was also board member of the German Association of Public Health (DGPH) from 2016 to 2020.

Daphne Hahn, Hochschule Fulda

Dr. Daphne HAHN is professor of health sciences and empirical social research at the Department of Nursing and Health at Fulda University of Applied Sciences (HSF) since 2008. In her work, she focuses on gender and health, reproductive and sexual health, older people and dementia care. Her methodological field of interest is qualitative and participatory research as well as mixed-methods. She is member of the scientific advisory board of the Frauengesundheitszentrum Frankfurt/M. and chair person of ProFamilia e.V., the main German association for reproductive and sexual health. She is currently leading a large collaborative project on unintended pregnancy "Women's Life Situations and Experiences during Unplanned Pregnancies. Guidelines for Psychosocial Counseling and Medical Care" (ELSA).

Downloads

Published

2022-01-29

How to Cite

von Köppen, M., Kümpers, S., & Hahn, D. (2022). Co-Production of Knowledge and Dialogue: A Reflective Analysis of the Space Between Academic and Lay Co-Researchers in the Early Stages of the Research Process. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 23(1). https://doi.org/10.17169/fqs-23.1.3726

Issue

Section

Single Contributions