Centring the Self in Participatory Research: An Autoethnography-Led, Mixed-Method Approach to Research for Those Conducting Collaborative Research With Hard-To-Reach Groups

This paper presents an innovative participatory research methodology developed to investigate the lived experiences of Irish mental health experts by experience (EBEs) for the author’s doctoral research. This autoethnographically-led, mixed-method approach integrated evocative and analytic autoethnography with in-depth qualitative interviews, centring the researcher’s own lived experience in the research. The research prioritised ethical sensitivity between the researcher and research participants, fostering trust, openness, and empowerment among participants who represent a hard-to-reach, vulnerable group. Key findings illustrate that embedding the researcher’s subjectivity within the study disrupts insider-outsider perspective dichotomies for researchers, diminishes power imbalances, and strengthens collaborative knowledge production. This participatory methodological approach enabled EBEs to articulate their experiences authentically with the author, who also participated as an EBE. The paper then explores the researcher’s vulnerabilities in conducting the research, underscoring the ethical imperative of safeguarding researchers during emotionally demanding data collection processes. By combining autoethnography with qualitative interviews, the methodology put forward in this paper advances a framework for researchers that empowers marginalised voices, fosters transformative practices, and ensures ethically rigorous engagement with groups often considered vulnerable. The paper concludes with a consideration of the widespread applications of this methodological approach for researchers from vulnerable groups in their own work.