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On this page you can find information about how we carried out this co-research project, including resources that you can adapt and use for your own co-research project.
Why co-research?
University researchers are becoming increasingly aware of how important it is to create knowledge together with research participants, rather than just about them. This is especially important when working with vulnerable, marginalised people or groups that have historically been excluded from scientific knowledge production.
Creating knowledge together ensures that different experiences, perspectives, and types of knowledge are taken into account when producing scientific knowledge in institutions with authority, like universities.
Doing research together with research participants – or with other ‘non-expert’ researchers – is called co-research. Doing research in this way acknowledges what scholar Arjun Appadurai has called ‘the right to research’, which he describes as the right to gain knowledge as a way of becoming “active citizens on matters that are shaping [co-researchers’] world”. Co-research is also aligned with children and young people’s right to participation, specifically their “right to express [their] views freely in all matters affecting” them (Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child).
There are many different ways to do co-research, depending on who is involved, what topic is being studied, and what the project’s objectives are. Below, you can read about how we approached co-research in this project.
The research process
The core activities of this co-research project – conducting interviews and making podcasts – were supported by 4 half-day workshops.
In the first two workshops, co-researchers learned about the basics of social science research and research ethics, then prepared their interview guides and practiced interviewing each other.
They then paired up and interviewed other young people of Ghanaian background who have at least one transnational sibling.
The final two workshops guided the co-researchers through the process of analysing their research data and helped them edit and finalise their podcast episodes. We also spent a day in a professional podcast recording studio to record the co-researchers’ commentaries on the interviews they conducted.
Below, we provide a detailed overview of what we covered in each step of the process, plus some reflections on practical considerations.
Workshop 1: Preparation – part 1
Workshop 1 gave an overview of the co-research project and covered the basics of social science research and the topic of transnational siblings.
Introductions: We started with ice-breaker activities and introductions, to get to know each other.
Project overview: We discussed the project objectives, what co-research is and why are we doing it, compensation for the co-researchers (certificates and gift vouchers), and developed some ground rules and shared expectations.
What is research (for)?: We brainstormed what ‘research’ means to us and then discussed different types of research (including qualitative vs. quantitative, and how research differs between disciplines, methods, and purposes). We also talked about how social science research doesn’t try to find ‘the truth’ but gives us tools to better understand the world around us. We also discussed how research is influenced by researchers’ positionality - that is, their cultural and national background, the languages they speak, their gender, worldview, education, social class, etc.
The research topic: We discussed what research has already been done about siblings, including in transnational families, and what questions remain unanswered - and therefore which parts of the puzzle our we could try to fill in. You can learn more about our research topic - transnational siblings - here.
Research interviews: We learned about the do’s and don’ts of interviewing in social science research, brainstormed some interview questions for our topic to start developing an interview guide, and practiced interviewing each other.
Workshop 2: Preparation - part 2
Workshop 2 gave co-researchers time to keep practicing their interview skills, addressed research ethics, and included practical training on audio-recording.
Interview practice & guide: Co-researchers practiced interviewing each other and refined their interview guide.
Research ethics: We discussed important ethical considerations in social science research, including treating interviewees with respect, getting their informed consent, the importance of confidentiality, and how to safely store our research data. We together developed a brochure to inform interviewees about the project, and co-researchers signed a simple 1-page confidentiality agreement about how they would manage the data they collected.
Audio recording: After brainstorming what makes a good podcast and learning about how sound can create atmosphere and generate information, we practiced audio-recording interviews and soundscapes on our smartphones.
Workshop 3: Analysis
Workshop 3 happened after the co-researchers had conducted their interviews, we was the start of the data-analysis process.
Sharing interviews: We started by reflecting on our experiences with interviewing. We also shared some raw excerpts of our audio-recordings, to give each other fresh impressions of the interesting themes, similarities, and differences they contained.
Preparing podcasts: We finished the workshop by planning what additional material we would record at the podcast studio to introduce, conclude, and narrate our podcasts.
Workshop 4: Storytelling
Workshop 4 focused on finalising our collaborative analysis and editing our podcasts.
Final reflections and research findings: We spent time bringing together the individual stories we had gathered through interviews to reflect on what we learned about transnational siblings overall. We did this using sticky notes, flipchart paper, markers, and lots of individual reflection and shared discussion. We focused on:
constellations of transnational siblings (who our interviewees defined as their transnational siblings and what combinations of living together and apart they had experienced),
experiences of transnational siblingship (relationship dynamics between siblings and how they stayed in touch), and
impacts of transnational sibling relationships (how these relationships influenced the way young people thought about the future and their roles in the family).
You can read about our findings here.
We also reflected on what we had learned from doing co-research by writing one word to summarise the experience and then sharing and explaining these in the group. Some of the words co-researchers chose included: self-discovery, realization, intercultural, and perspective. In the word clouds below are some examples.
Editing podcasts: Using the free audio-editing software Audacity, co-researchers started editing together excerpts from their interviews and their recordings from the podcast studio to create their final podcasts. The podcasts were later finished by the co-researchers, with the facilitators’ help.
Closing dinner: Workshop 4 ended with a dinner together at a local restaurant to celebrate our achievements and reflect on what we’d learned from the project, our interviewees, and each other.
Interviews
The co-researchers worked either alone or in pairs to interview transnational siblings. All the interviewees were Ghanaian-background young people living in Germany who have at least one sibling abroad. Before starting the interviews, co-researchers shared the information brochure with interviewees, explained that the interviews would be turned into podcasts, and asked if the interviewees had any questions or concerns. With the interviewees’ consent, the co-researchers then audio-recorded their interviews and atmospheric soundscapes at the interview locations, which were chosen by the interviewees to make sure they felt comfortable.
Podcast Studio
We rented a podcast studio in central Hamburg for one day between Workshops 3 and 4. We were inspired by some examples of how podcast hosts can introduce their topics, narrate and summarise interviews, and present their own reflections and analyses. Co-researchers then recorded their own material to edit together with their interviews.
Recording in the studio was not only a new and exciting experience but also gave co-researchers a space to reflect on what they had learned about transnational siblings from their research, and to turn these reflections into professional-quality recordings to include in their final podcasts.
Editing
The co-researchers started editing their podcasts themselves during Workshop 4, with the help of the workshop facilitators. Here you can see some behind-the-scenes images of the editing process.
Practical considerations
Making our co-research project a success required not only appropriate training content, but also smooth logistics around the schedule, materials, and matters of language. Here we share some of the strategies that worked for us.
Schedule: Workshops were held on Saturdays, when co-researchers had free time from their studies, jobs, and other obligations. We started around 10am, had lunch together, and finished around 3pm.
Flexibility: Some co-researchers had to skip one or two workshops because of a football game, last-minute work shift, or illness. These changes to the schedule are inevitable and needed to be dealt with flexibly by having facilitators or other co-researchers brief co-researchers on material they missed.
Materials: Workshops were fully catered (snacks, drinks, and lunch), and all materials were provided for the co-researchers, including notebooks, flipchart paper, markers, and sticky notes. The workshops were held in classrooms of the Anthropology Institute of the University of Hamburg, which were kindly provided free of charge.
Language: The whole co-research project was bilingual (English and German). This means that everyone who participated could understand both English and German and were encouraged to speak the language(s) they felt most comfortable in. Some co-researchers had only lived in Germany for a few years and, although they speak German, express themselves better in English because they grew up and attended school in Ghana for many years. Other co-researchers understand and speak English fluently, but have always lived in Germany and so consider German their native language. This mix of languages was not just a practical choice to ensure everyone could participate fully; it also reflects the multilingual lives of most co-researchers as part of transnational families that connect people and places all around the world. Many of the co-researchers, for example, grew up hearing and speaking German, English, and Twi (the lingua franca of Ghana) or another Ghanaian language. This multilingualism worked well in practice, but required setting some ground rules in the first workshop to make sure everyone felt comfortable asking for clarification if they misunderstood something.
Informed Consent
Interviewees were given the option of using a pseudonym to protect their identity, but most opted to use their real first names when sharing their stories. Other identifying details and names of others have been edited out of the interviews as far as possible. All interviewees gave consent for the publication of their podcast after being given the chance to listen to the final version. As per standard ethical procedures in research, participants have the right to withdraw their consent. If any interviewees wish to have their podcast removed from this project, they can do so by contacting the Project Lead.
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