As a researcher, I am often amazed at how generously people will contribute to my research. They will volunteer their time to complete online questionnaires, engage in weeks’-long diary studies and talk to me in interviews, often for no more reward than a thank you or a small voucher. In fact, all psychology researchers are indebted to the people who give their time and energy to our projects.
One of the ways we can give back to these people is by sharing the results of our research in ways they can access. Another promising route is by developing research methods that are mutually beneficial. A recent paper I wrote with my colleague Sarah-Jane Lennie describes how we can use psychodrama both as a qualitative research method and a means of improving research participants’ well-being. Essentially, it is a mutually beneficial way of doing research.
We found that we were able to gather rich, detailed data on how police officers dealt with the emotional labour required by their jobs. But also, the researcher and the participants were able to work together to develop practical recommendations to improve the mental health of fellow officers. And finally, the participants said they found the research experience itself therapeutic and felt they had benefitted from taking part.
Of course, we hope that all the research we do in psychology will eventually be beneficial to the wider world – and much of it will be. But keeping our participants in mind right at the beginning and recognising our participants’ generosity could lead to the development of even more approaches like this. Research with more immediate benefits to the participants would be something to be welcomed!