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Research principles and research experiences: critical reflection on conducting a PhD dissertation on global health and disability

CLEAVER, Shaun
MAGALHAES, Lilian
BOND, Virginia
POLATAJKO, Helene
NIXON, Stephanie
2016

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This article is a presentation of insights gained through critical reflection on the experience of doctoral dissertation research on disability in Western Zambia. The framework guiding this critical reflection is the Principles for Global Health Research released by the Canadian Coalition for Global Health Research (CCGHR) in 2015. These six interrelated principles were developed in order to inform and foster research that better and more explicitly addresses health inequities. The principles are: humility, responsiveness to the causes of inequities, commitment to the future, inclusion, authentic partnering, and shared benefits. Critical reflection on the dissertation fieldwork raises the challenges of fulfilling each of the principles. Additionally, the structural power from a researcher in a position of relative privilege, as well as institutional power through the doctoral researcher’s academic program, was apparent. The exercise of power enabled certain possibilities for action by the researcher and the participants with disabilities while constraining others. The insights generated inform the next steps for this project in Western Zambia and considerations for current and prospective doctoral student researchers.

 

Disability & the Global South (DGS), 2016, Vol. 3 No. 2

Partnerships for disability research in Africa: Lessons learned in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo

ALDERSEY, Heather
WENDA, Delphine Assumani
2015

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Issues concerning individuals with disabilities are under-researched in Africa, and persons with disabilities remain some of the most highly disadvantaged groups. In an increasing era of globalization, partnerships across borders and boundaries to conduct disability research is inevitable. Yet, such partnerships might be complicated by issues such as unequal power dynamics, poverty, and cultural misunderstandings, among others. In this article, the authors reflect upon their experience partnering for disability research across cultures, with one author being a Congolese person with a disability and the other being a Canadian ally. They discuss the nature of their research relationship, challenges they faced while conducting a seven-month study of personhood and support for people with intellectual disabilities in Kinshasa, and how they addressed these challenges. They also outline lessons learned from this partnership and how their past experience collaborating for disability research will shape their future endeavours.

 

Disability and the Global South (DGS), 2015, Vol. 2 No. 3

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