The health bus — a study of a developing project

Abstract

When research is done by an outsider to an organization, it is well accepted that their presence has an effect on events within that organization. The presence of a stranger asking questions can often stimulate reflection and change in research subjects. When the researcher is an insider the position becomes even more complex. The researcher has an effect on events not only because they are a researcher, but also because they are a practitioner, and disentangling and identifying these effects can be extremely difficult. The problem is further compounded when, as in this study, the researcher is also a research subject; in other words, the researcher will collect data on themselves. Whereas the outsider negotiates access on their own terms and so can preserve the objectives of the research from the danger of ‘going native’, the practitioner researcher is already a native.