Researching Vulnerable Groups: Definitions, Controversies, Dilemmas, and the Researcher’s Personal Entanglement

Urszula Kluczyńska; Anna Maria Kłonkowska; Małgorzata Bieńkowska

doi:10.18778/1733-8077.20.1.02

Authors

Urszula Kluczyńska Collegium Da Vinci, Poland
Anna Maria Kłonkowska University of Gdańsk, Poland
Małgorzata Bieńkowska University of Bialystok, Poland https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9669-6089

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18778/1733-8077.20.1.02

Keywords:

Vulnerability, Vulnerable Group, Vulnerable Population, Vulnerable Person, Ethical Dilemma, Methodological Dilemma, Qualitative Research, Researcher, In-Group Perspective, Me-Search

Abstract

The article aims to describe vulnerable groups in the context of qualitative research in social science with special attention to ethical and methodological dilemmas. This is a theoretical study, which does not aspire to offer solutions or guidelines, but rather show elements worth taking notice of and analyzing when research is planned and carried out. We argue that in the social sciences, vulnerability is relational and crucial. However, social science researchers perceive the category of vulnerability as ambiguous and nuanced. This article shows that ascribing research participants univocally to a vulnerable group may lead not only to them being stereotyped and deprived of individuality but also to a situation where the research act itself disempowers them. We also argue that apart from issues often raised concerning the protection of participants from vulnerable groups, the researcher and their protection are also pivotal, particularly when the researcher, due to their involvement, abandons the out-group perspective or when they belong to the vulnerable group.

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Author Biographies

Urszula Kluczyńska, Collegium Da Vinci, Poland

Urszula Kluczyńska is a graduate of both sociology and pedagogy and an associate professor at Collegium Da Vinci in Poznan, Poland. Her research interests are focused on critical studies of men and masculinities, with particular emphasis on men’s health, aging, sexuality, caring masculinities, medicalization of masculinity, and qualitative research. She is the author of the following books: Mężczyźni w pielęgniarstwie. W stronę męskości opiekuńczej [Men in Nursing. Caring Masculinities] (UMP Poznan 2017) and Metamorfozy tożsamości współczesnych młodych mężczyzn [Metamorphoses of Men’s Identities in Contemporary Culture] (Adam Marszałek 2009), and co-author of Poza schematem. Społeczny konstrukt płci i seksualości [Beyond the Scheme. Social Construction of Gender and Sexuality] (with Wiktor Dynarski and Anna M. Kłonkowska) (Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Gdańskiego 2016). She is also a co-editor of Special Issues and an author of numerous articles on men and masculinities published in books and journals. She is a member of the Polish Sociological Association and the Polish Gender Association.

Anna Maria Kłonkowska, University of Gdańsk, Poland

Anna Maria Kłonkowska is an associate professor in the Department of Social Sciences at the University of Gdansk (UG) and deputy Chair of the Research Ethics Committee at the UG. She is a sociologist, psychologist, and philosopher. Anna Kłonkowska is a recipient of the Chair in Transgender Studies Research Fellowship for Visiting University-based Scholars and Professionals (The Transgender Archives, University of Victoria), the Fulbright Foundation Senior Research Award (Stony Brook University), NAWA Bekker Program Research Award (Stony Brook University), Kosciuszko Foundation Fellowship (Stony Brook University), Bednarowski Trust Fellowship (University of Aberdeen), and the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst Fellowship (Albert-Ludwigs-Universität, Freiburg). A visiting scholar in the CSMM at the State University of New York in 2013, 2016-17, 2019-20; Ambassador of the Fulbright Program in Poland.

Małgorzata Bieńkowska, University of Bialystok, Poland

Małgorzata Bieńkowska is a sociologist, head of the Department of Sociology of Culture, Faculty of Sociology, University of Bialystok. Her research interests are focused on the category of the other, multiculturalism, and family life in the borderland. She conducts mainly qualitative research. The author of numerous articles on transgenderism, multiculturalism, and ethnic relations. She published the book Transseksualizm w Polsce. Wymiar indywidualny i społeczny przekraczania binarnego systemu płci [Transsexualism in Poland. Social and Individual Dimensions of Transgressing the Gender Binary] (Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu w Białymstoku 2012).

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