Reflections on co-investigation through peer research with young people and older people in sub-Saharan Africa

Porter, G.

doi:10.1177/1468794115619001

Reflections on co-investigation through peer research with young people and older people in sub-Saharan Africa

Porter, G.

Authors

Professor Gina Porter r.e.porter@durham.ac.uk
Professor

Abstract

This article reflects on a series of collaborative studies led by the author where co-investigation with peer-researchers has played a central role. The first concerns work with young people, trained to enable them to participate as peer-researchers in a child mobility study in Ghana, Malawi and South Africa; the second a research project on youth and mobile phones, in which some of those young peer-researchers have a continued involvement; the third a study of older people’s mobility in Tanzania, conducted in collaboration with an international NGO. Experience in these projects illustrates the complexities of co-investigation, not least the ethical concerns which have to be addressed when working with commonly marginalized people, whatever their age, but it also highlights the potential rewards which such collaborations can bring to individual peer-researchers, to academic research quality and, in the longer term, towards better policy and practice.

Citation

Porter, G. (2016). Reflections on co-investigation through peer research with young people and older people in sub-Saharan Africa. Qualitative Research, 16(3), 293-304. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468794115619001

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Nov 3, 2015
Online Publication Date	Dec 8, 2015
Publication Date	Jun 1, 2016
Deposit Date	Dec 14, 2015
Publicly Available Date	Jan 10, 2016
Journal	Qualitative Research
Print ISSN	1468-7941
Electronic ISSN	1741-3109
Publisher	SAGE Publications
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	16
Issue	3
Pages	293-304
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1177/1468794115619001
Keywords	Co-investigation, Ethics, Older people, Peer research, Young people, Ghana, Malawi, Tanzania, South Africa.

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Copyright Statement
Porter, G. (2016) 'Reflections on co-investigation through peer research with young people and older people in sub-Saharan Africa.', Qualitative research., 16 (3). pp. 293-304. Copyright © 2015 The Author(s). Reprinted by permission of SAGE Publications.