The ‘In-Between Space’ of Peer Research: Sharing the Lessons Learned From a Study With Young People

Abstract

The use of a participatory approach to research concerned with children and young people, where they act as peer researchers working as part of a research team, has been both promoted and critiqued in the literature. Drawing on the challenges and solutions identified by Bradbury-Jones and Taylor (2015) in participatory research with children, and the notion of a “space in between” (Dwyer and Buckle, 2009) regarding academic and community expertise, this paper shares reflections from a research team featuring academic and peer researchers and their host community organisation who together undertook two studies over a period of three years. This paper offers a practice-based framework for how peer research can be supported under real-world constraints. We note the importance of trauma-informed practice in research, beyond safeguarding protocols, and the need for flexible participation models, such as Franks’ “Pockets of Participation” (2011), which can support engagement without overburdening peer researchers. We find that a relational infrastructure is a structural necessity to meaningful collaboration and the need to reframe what counts as expertise. The contributions of peer researchers helped shift the research from a more extractive to a more relational and contextually grounded process in which real-world change becomes more possible. We share key learnings and recommendations for research practice, commissioning and practice.