In the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, many research funding organizations were faced with the choice of suspending their peer review panels, or else continuing their decision-making processes virtually. Although seen part of a longer drive to make peer review more cost and time efficient as well as to combat climate and sustainability…

In this article, we reflect on our experiences with teaching ethnographic skills and sensibilities to MSc students at a Dutch university. Using methods such as (self)observation, journaling and reflection, we highlight dilemmas (conceptual, practical, ethical) faced by students when doing ethnographic fieldwork and dilemmas that emerged in…

Background: A systematic review is a type of literature review that uses rigorous methods to synthesize evidence from multiple studies on a specific topic. It is widely used in academia, including medical and social science research. Social science is an academic discipline that focuses on human behaviour and society. However, consensus regarding…

This paper investigates the methodological discrepancies underlying the measurement of adult learning and education (ALE) participation in the UK by focusing on four major surveys -- APiL, PIAAC, AES, and LFS. Grounded in the Total Survey Error (TSE) framework, we systematically examined the surveys' documentation and compared their definitions,…

Purpose: This paper aims to explore how an academic researcher and a practitioner experience scepticism for their qualitative research. Design/methodology/approach: The study applies Olt and Teman's new conceptual phenomenological polyethnography (2019) methodology, a hybrid of phenomenology and duoethnography. Findings: For the…

Purpose: This paper contends that data generated by research on supervision are often taken as authentic data. Through an examination of studies that use audio/visual recordings to investigate supervision, the paper both promotes and problematises the recording of supervision meetings as a useful technique for doctoral supervision research. This…

This paper explores the challenges of filming as a qualitative research method in practical school subjects. We exemplify with an observation study using video data collected from lessons in Home Economics, but the issues we discuss are also relevant for other subjects with practical elements, such as Arts, Crafts, Music, Physical Education, and…

Indirect questioning techniques such as the randomized response technique aim to control social desirability bias in surveys of sensitive topics. To improve upon previous indirect questioning techniques, we propose the new Cheating Detection Triangular Model. Similar to the Cheating Detection Model, it includes a mechanism for detecting…

Purpose: Critical realism is an increasingly popular "lens" through which complex events, entities and phenomena can be studied. Yet detailed operationalisations of critical realism are at present relatively scarce. This study's objective here is built on existing debates by developing an open systems model of reality, a basis for…

This paper describes a scoping review of China's academic resource databases, relevant official websites, news reports and public accounts spanning a period from the end of 2019 to the end of 2022, to investigate the challenges in scientific integrity and ethical soundness of research conducted during and immediately after the COVID-19 pandemic in…

This study analyzes the consequences of item nonresponse to the question about a household's total net income in the European Social Survey (2008-2018). We recognize two mechanisms in avoiding answering the income question: task complexity and question sensitivity, and apply multilevel logistic regressions to predict the probability of refusals or…

This paper investigates the potential of Ubuntu philosophy for decolonising Participatory Research (PR) in the Global South, addressing power imbalances and research process challenges. Despite PR's focus on community involvement, it can perpetuate practices contradicting its principles, hence the rise of 'decolonising research' for fair,…

The attitude of teachers towards inclusive education is a key issue for the success of inclusive education. Many studies have been designed to assess teachers' attitudes, but none have looked at the bias caused by teachers' non-response to questionnaires on their attitudes. Non-response biases are difficult to identify because it is impossible to…

Collaborative projects designed to generate research evidence involve knowledge exchange (KE) which hinges on the expectations and practices within the collaborating organisations. Existing literature about academic-police collaborations, and why they break down, has largely focused on different knowledge agendas, research timeframes and…

This article explores the methodological and ethical challenges of doing qualitative fieldwork in an authoritarian state. Drawing on a long-term project conducted in China, I discuss how my interaction with the participants was mediated by the pervasive state power. This phenomenon adds a new layer to the question "can the subaltern…