Innovation, collaboration and engagement : proposals for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller-related research

Abstract

This chapter discusses the transformation of research methods that has been generated or accelerated by the pandemic, and its likely effects on Gypsy, Roma and Traveller-related research. The chapter focuses on the changing roles of researchers and their ethical and political implications. It highlights the affordances and limits of emerging, remote research methodologies and their potential impact on existing power differentials and hierarchies. The chapter suggests that ethnography may become impoverished if it is reduced to the collection of textual and oral data (interviews, online texts and videos). Lastly, the chapter explores the advantages of collaborative research and of the involvement of research participants and assistants when planning, implementing and disseminating projects. It points to problems that may arise from conflicting goals and expectations in such collaborations.