Revisiting access and inclusion in research methods

As a part of the Wellcome Anti-Ableist Research Cultures (WAARC) project at the University of Sheffield, we have been exploring ways of making research more inclusive and accessible, and considering what might constitute an anti-ableist university.

Ableism is characterised by a discriminative preference towards non-disabled people in policy, process, attitudes and so on. This might be in the ableist design of buildings that are not accessible for wheelchair users, or in the lack of structural accommodations for hybrid team research events. Ableism presumes particular bodies and minds.

Anti-ableism work seeks to dismantle this, disrupting discrimination towards disabled people. As members of WAARC, we have been consulting those actively involved in research across all faculties at the University of Sheffield to ask what inclusive and anti-ableist research methods might consist of. How we understand, generate and create knowledge in the methods we adopt is a fundamental part of an anti-ableist university.

In this blog post, we will build on conversations surrounding access and inclusion happening within the WAARC project and discuss some of our early findings, specifically highlighting the ways in which the concepts of access and inclusion are understood in different disciplinary contexts, and the impact that this has on designing inclusive research methodologies. Following this, we will conclude with next steps for the WAARC project.

What do we mean by access and inclusion in research methods?

Access and inclusion are often seen as universal goals in university research, but their meanings can vary widely across disciplines, contexts and communities. What’s accessible in a lab setting may differ from access in ethnographic fieldwork or participatory arts-based research. Inclusion can range from ensuring diverse team representation to embedding co-creative methodologies that shift power dynamics and include participants more than traditionally.

There’s no single definition of access or inclusion; they’re shaped by the specific ethical, spatial and epistemological dimensions of each research environment. In our research, access is often understood more practically, like wheelchair access, while inclusion is more related to the environment and social elements of research.

Access and inclusion are often assumed in research goals, but inclusion isn’t always positive. True inclusion requires relational ethics and ongoing consent. In our desire to be as collaborative as possible, we mustn’t lose sight of the wants and needs of those we are collaborating with. We need to ensure that our inclusion is consensual; not everyone wants to be involved in every aspect of research. Involvement without continuing conversations across the research process isn’t inclusive.

Our early findings

In terms of designing our research in accessible and inclusion ways, then, there is added complexity. As a part of WAARC, we are intending to design and deliver an Inclusive Research Methods course, but our early findings highlight the ways in which access and inclusion training needs to be done in bespoke ways – this is not necessarily a novel finding.

However, what is an area of attention is the increasing push and prevalence for interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary research and participation. The academy is becoming increasingly interdisciplinary, across all areas of research. The humanities, social sciences, arts, natural sciences and medical sciences are becoming increasingly intertwined and entangled, all the while having differing understandings of inclusion and access.

Training on inclusive research methods must be designed in collaboration with (and between) experts in different fields and with disabled people as experts and methodologists within their own right – we cannot rely on one single, fixed understanding of access and inclusion. With disability as the driving force of inquiry, we must work together to co-create understandings of accessible research methods for everyone – inclusive of all involved, across all aspects of the research process.

Next steps

So, our next steps for this project are threefold: continue to conduct research to learn from inclusive methods innovators; facilitate the sharing of best practice regarding cross-disciplinary inclusive approaches to research methods; produce an Inclusive Research Methods course.

We are creating the course with Speakup, a self-advocacy group run by and for people with learning disabilities and autistic people. They are experts in accessible training and the production of resources. The course will be housed on the institution’s website for all to be able to access.

If you have any questions or reflections, please do not hesitate to email the WAARC team.