Being an inclusive researcher: seeking questions,raising answers

Abstract

In this article, I reflect on three incidents that occurred in my inclusive research work. As a conceptual framework, I use Bourdieu’s call for a reflexive sociology. My reflection is informed by the principles of the disabled people’s movement, especially giving primacy to the experiences and voice of disabled people. It is also informed by the strong link between the disabled people’s movement and disability studies, which requires academics (including non-disabled ones like myself) to be attentive to their activist role. Making sure that this role is carried out effectively, I argue, entails considering the various factors that make our work possible, and being attentive to the impact of our work. It also entails asking questions, of ourselves and others, and being especially attentive to questions that would go unasked unless we stop to reflect about our work, and the possible answers that these reflections can lead to.     

The dual role of the action researcher

This article aims to provide more insight into advantages and challenges of conducting action research with the intention to improve health care. Action research is distinctive in the sense that the researcher has a dual role as both researcher and implementer of the program studied. The article is based on two Norwegian action-oriented studies that aimed to explore the potential role of online self-help groups for breast cancer patients and adolescents with mentally ill parents respectively. We argue that action research can contribute both to the generation of knowledge, as well as a greater sense of ownership to the program among those who are intended to use it. Nonetheless, a potential conflict between the researcher's pursuit of data, and ethical considerations became apparent in the contexts studied here. Bearing these challenges in mind, we still conclude that action research offers an important contribution for the further development of health care services.     

Response bias in the survey interview; an approach from balance theory

A balance theoretical approach to the phenomenon of response bias in survey research is developed. This approach yields a model of the survey interview, specifying the effects of a great number of interview variables. In this way, different types of investigations concerning the quality of data gathered by means of interviews could be incorporated into a single framework. In addition, it is shown how a mathematical formulation of the theory may be developed, and how predictions from the model may be deduced and verified.     

AUD researcher and pharma CEO develops new medication

Bankole Johnson, D.Sc., M.D., is the chairman of Adial Pharmaceuticals, which is developing a medication—AD04, a very low‐dose formulation of ondansetron—for the treatment of alcohol use disorders (AUDs). Johnson has long studied medications – ondansetron in particular ‐‐ to treat AUDs (see ADAW, Oct. 15, 2007, Feb. 11, 2008, June 16, 2008, Nov. 3, 2008, June 7, 2010, August 16, 2010, Jan. 31, 2011, Feb. 24, 2014), and most recently has been named the 2019 recipient of the American Society of Addiction Medicine's (ASAM's) R. Brinkley Smithers Distinguished Scientist Award, which will be presented, along with the accompanying lecture, at ASAM's annual conference in Orlando next month.     

NGO2.0 and social media praxis: activist as researcher

This article tracks the emergence of a particular brand of ICT activism that promotes the use of social media as a means of helping Chinese NGOs break out of their communication bottleneck. The author starts by introducing NGO2.0, an activist project targeting China's rural regions, using it as an entry point to examine the practice of “social media for social good” and shed light on the ecosystem of social media usage by Chinese NGOs. The author also deliberates on the explanatory value of the binary paradigm of “rural vs. urban,” looks into the methodological implications of undertaking “social media action research,” and articulates what it means to be engaged in the hybrid practice of “activist as scholar” in the specific context of Cultural Studies.