Researcher-researched relationship in qualitative research: Shifts in positions and researcher vulnerability.
BACKGROUND
The researcher role is highly debated in qualitative research. This article concerns the researcher-researched relationship.


METHODS
A group of health science researchers anchored in various qualitative research traditions gathered in reflective group discussions over a period of two years.


RESULTS
Efforts to establish an anti-authoritarian relationship between researcher and researched, negotiation of who actually "rules" the research agenda, and experiences of shifts in "inferior" and "superior" knowledge positions emerged as central and intertwined themes throughout the discussions. The dual role as both insider and outsider, characteristic of qualitative approaches, seemed to lead to power relations and researcher vulnerability which manifested in tangible ways.


CONCLUSIONS
Shifting positions and vulnerability surfaced in various ways in the projects. They nonetheless indicated a number of similar experiences which can shed light on the researcher-researched relationship. These issues could benefit from further discussion in the qualitative health research literature.
Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway; Malfrid.Raheim@uib.no.
Målfrid
M
Råheim
Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.|Department of Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy and Radiography, Bergen University College, Bergen, Norway.
Liv Heide
LH
Magnussen
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Haukaland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway.|Department of Clinical Science, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.|Haraldsplass Deaconess University College, Bergen, Norway.
Ragnhild Johanne Tveit
RJ
Sekse
Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
Åshild
Å
Lunde
DIALOG, Bergen, Norway.
Torild
T
Jacobsen
Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
Astrid
A
Blystad
D032984:Ethics, Research; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D019359:Knowledge; D011209:Power, Psychological; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012106:Research; D012107:Research Design; D012108:Research Personnel; D035842:Research Subjects
Researcher–researched relationship; ethics; qualitative research; reflexivity; researcher vulnerability