Here’s my life. Take it. Now give it back to me: Right seat riding as a research approach and process

This conceptual paper proposes use of a time-proven U.S. Army battle handover framework, right seat riding (RSR), as a unique, boundary-crossing qualitative research approach and process to access the ‘lifeworlds’ of others. In military contexts, RSR aims to facilitate comprehensive exchange of knowledge and understanding between units as they transfer responsibility for complex operations. Through in-depth discussion, extensive review and detailed sharing of practices, and fully-immersive job shadowing, RSR offers incoming personnel optimal chances for understanding the lifeworlds of those they are replacing. In this paper, using our own lived experiences as combat veterans and practitioners of RSR, we assume a practice-theoretical perspective to dissect RSR and reimagine it as a reflexive, phenomenological research approach and process. We propose that, adapted for qualitative research, RSR helps researchers and participants assume one another’s perspective as ‘flipped research’ in a case of, “Here’s my life. Take it. Now give it back to me.” We demonstrate how achieving such mutual understanding boosts traditional methods by creating co-developed, comprehensive participatory research. Thus, RSR acts as an accelerant for existing methods and techniques by re-orienting research to/from the participant’s perspective, actively engaging participants, advancing shared understanding, and ensuring its completeness. Finally, we illustrate how RSR can be applied to a range of qualitative research methods and settings to gain richer data, deeper insights, and improve outcomes.