Funding Proposal for "Partnership Research: Negotiating User Involvement in Research Design"

This is an edited version of a bid for funding to support some of the ‘Partnership Research’ work that is described on this website. The project was funded by the ESRC who also commissioned this website. This project grew out of the work described in the proposal for ‘Our Home: Developing participative research methods with adults with learning disabilities’ (see Phase 1 funding proposal).

For further information about ESRC visit: http://www.esrc.ac.uk

Introduction
Recent government policy has placed considerable emphasis on service users’ involvement in the development of research, policy and practice (e.g. DfES 2003, DH 2000; 2001) and in the review of ‘best practice’ (e.g. EPPI 2001). There is also a growing commitment to the involvement of service users in research and the production of knowledge about their experiences. Research funding bodies (e.g. JRF 2003) and public and voluntary sector organisations increasingly require the involvement of service users in ‘quality monitoring’ and in research design and process as do organisations such as the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE 2003). This reflects an increasing concern with accessing and acting on insider knowledge and experience.

In order to undertake research of this nature, researchers require skills in working in collaboration with 'user groups' (defined here to include users and recipients of health, education and welfare services, research participants and 'subjects' of social policy) who may also have their own agendas for the research. These requirements pose substantial challenges to researchers who have not worked in this way, not least because a priori research design may be inappropriate when working in partnership. A partnership approach to research design requires the negotiation and development of shared understandings by all parties as they work together and learn from each other (Williams 1999; 2003) . This negotiating and learning process is ongoing throughout the life of partnership projects and research design is unlikely therefore to be a distinct phase of the research.

In our work with service user groups, we have been developing 'Partnership Research', where research design and shared ownership of the work are negotiated. We have been considering the challenges and possibilities inherent in Partnership Research. For example, what counts as appropriate 'sharing' and how 'ownership' might be conceptualised and realised.

The proposed project will build upon this experience to develop a series of research training activities which will contribute to the skills base, knowledge and understanding of other social science researchers who wish to work in this area. It will also support the wider inclusion of marginalised groups in the research process and strengthen our capacity to provide on-going educational activities in Partnership Research.

We view Partnership Research - carried out 'with', rather than 'on' service users - as one of a range of complementary approaches which help provide a more complete picture of service users' experiences, ways of knowing and perspectives (Harding 1993; Clough and Barton 1995; 1998, Wilson and Beresford 2000; Humphries 2003). Harding (1993) highlights the socially situated nature of knowledge claims and the 'epistemologically disadvantaged' position of dominant groups when generating knowledge about non-dominant groups and their experiences. We are not claiming, however, that users unproblematically 'know' and researchers do not. Instead, we take the view that there are mutual challenges to be negotiated between parties, en route to generating more critical perspectives. This project will facilitate the development of partnerships between researchers and user groups in the generation of such 'critical perspectives' and help them explore how such processes might best be enacted. As already stated, we take the view that a priori design in this field can be inappropriate. Rather, we will contribute understandings in the on-going negotiation of design issues and their impact on project implementation and dissemination.

This partnership approach is particularly appropriate to research design with people with learning difficulties and people with long-standing illness or incapacity inasmuch as all participants agree at the outset that they have much to learn from each other, and wish to engage in on-going negotiations about how to maximise that learning. In this way it differs from what is known as 'emancipatory research' (Oliver 1992, Mercer 2002, Barnes 2003) where "researchers have to learn how to put their knowledge and skills at the disposal of their research subjects, for them to use in whatever ways they choose" (Oliver, 1992: 111). Partnership Research is also distinct from Participatory Action Research (McTaggart et al 1997) where the method is regarded as a 'tool' for empowerment of the participants, and the process takes precedence over any formal research outputs. We have benefited, of course, from drawing on literature in these related areas (e.g. Clough and Barton 1995; 1998, Barnes and Mercer 1997, Goodley 2001, O'Neill 2002, Polat and Farrell 2002, Barnes 2003, Williams 2003).

Background:
Researchers are increasingly being expected to involve service users in research (e.g. DH 2000, 2001, 2002; SCIE 2003, JRF 2003). The ESRC also recommends the involvement of user groups in the research process and has recognised the importance of this field in funding projects in this area. For example, the seminar series Theorising Social Work Knowledge, University of Warwick , and Methodological Issues in Interviewing Children and Young People with Learning Difficulties, University of Birmingham as well as a Research Methods Programme project (Phase I) Developing Methodological Strategies to Recruit and Research Socially Excluded Groups, University of Leeds . Although a number of other academic departments are engaged in research in partnerships and have produced some guidelines for researchers (e.g. Williams 1999; 2003), we are not aware of similar research training courses in partnership approaches in other HE institutions. The proposed project is aimed at filling this gap.

The Co-Applicants for this funding have considerable experience of research employing partnership approaches with service users. These include needs assessment with people with AIDS (Frankham, 1996b; 2003), the production of health promotion material with young gay men (Frankham et al, 1996a; 2001; 2002) and the evaluation of a peer education programme in partnership with peer educators (Frankham, 1998). Partnership approaches to researching the experiences of parents with learning difficulties whose children have been removed (Boxall et al, 2002) and people with learning difficulties' perspectives on friendships and relationships (Carson and Docherty 2002). Most recent work has included writing about the social model of disability (Oliver 1990) with adults with learning difficulties (Docherty et al, 2003) and exploring the use of photographs as a form of data collection with teenagers exploring school culture (Howes and Kaplan, 2003).

These projects have required the development of responsive and flexible design, implementation and dissemination strategies. This 'situated' approach to methodology (Lather 1991; 1995) partly explains the paucity of existing literature, training and support in this area. Our work on this project will result in a series of courses for others interested in exploring partnerships in research and the development of an educational website. This material will discuss the complexities of working in this way and provide accessible resources for others to 'think with'.

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