Cooperation and conflict in qualitative research: a dialectical approach to knowledge production.
Our goal with this article is to present a dialectical approach to examining the interaction between researchers and research participants. A dialectical approach maintains that an apparent contradiction at one level might, in fact, be integrated as a synthesis of the two opposing poles at a higher level of conceptual analysis. We claim that a research approach advocating either pole might limit understanding of the complexity of the phenomenon in question. The interaction between researchers and research participants might be conceived of as creating a continuum ranging from cooperation to conflict. We adopt a dialectical perspective, and propose a whole spectrum of interactive styles between cooperation and conflict. Although some of these interactions might be perceived as a hindrance to knowledge production, we treat them as opportunities for the production of knowledge and the enhancement of interests of the study's target population.
Enosh
Guy
G
School of Social Work, Faculty of Welfare and Health Sciences, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel. enosh@research.haifa.ac.il
Ben-Ari
Adital
A
D003142:Communication; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D006801:Humans; D019359:Knowledge; D010349:Patient Compliance; D010352:Patient Dropouts; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012108:Research Personnel / Q000523:psychology*; D035842:Research Subjects / Q000523:psychology*