John is an older man, compared to John is in his sixties.
Most of the women are poor, compared to Most of the women have incomes under $10,000.
All of the participants are unemployed, compared to: The participants have various occupations. John attends the program three times a week and minds his grandchildren in the evenings. Mary and Susan are raising school-aged children.
How can you work with participants so that they are represented as they want to be seen and heard? One approach is to ask participants to say how they would like to be described. Another is to review what you write about them and how you use their words and ideas. (Be sure to explain how the research will be shared. This may affect what information participants decide to include, for example about their roles or locations.)
And what about when, as researchers, we observe or interpret situations that contribute to our learnings but cast people in a negative light? When faced with this situation, I decided to write in a way that did not identify individuals and that focused on my learnings, and I reviewed what I had written with all of the participants.
Traditionally, anonymity has been a key consideration in research, particularly in quantitative research. This includes anonymity from the researcher(s) and from any others who might review research data or read or hear research reports. In research in practice, researchers are generally directly involved with participants, thus the participants are not anonymous to the researcher.
Although you will likely know participants in your research, you can work to ensure confidentiality, i.e., that the information you gather is kept in confidence by you and anyone who helps you with your research. Think about where you will you keep your research data and related documents, so that only you have access to them. How will you share the information with co-researchers or with people you might ask to transcribe interviews or read and respond to draft reports?