Abstract
This thesis investigates qualitative research methods that have been used to gain understanding of research participant’s spatial experiences and can be used to effect local planning policy. This is in order to understand which methods can negotiate the practical and ethical issues when researching with trans and non-binary participants. This was achieved using a hermeneutic literature review and conducting a structured thematic analysis of the methods and studies included.
The rationale for this research agenda is driven by the reliance of static interviews, surveys and focus groups, three qualitative methods used to capture the LGBTQ experiences of urban environments and local planning. The reliance on these two methods seemingly ignores developments in theory that pertain to the idea of embodiment. Concomitantly, the spatial experience of trans and non-binary individuals is gaining more attention within planning research. Within the field of transgender studies authors have argued that addressing the lived realities and embodied knowledges in a co-productive ethic with participants is vital for methodology.
The dissertation is thus an investigation into creative and innovative qualitative methods that have been previously used to understand individuals spatial and embodied experiences. The analysis lead to the development of the concept of reflexive embodiment as an important way of understanding how embodiment can be incorporated more thoroughly into research design. Reflexive embodiment is an effect of the research design structuring in a time-space that allows participants to develop their own understanding of their embodiment. Participation can further be enabled through the use of group work and creative arts methods that incorporate participants into the analysis process. Policy engagement strategies should seek to understand which registers they seek to affect in identified policy stakeholders and incorporate this into the methods used as this will increase the effectiveness of knowledge translation
The rationale for this research agenda is driven by the reliance of static interviews, surveys and focus groups, three qualitative methods used to capture the LGBTQ experiences of urban environments and local planning. The reliance on these two methods seemingly ignores developments in theory that pertain to the idea of embodiment. Concomitantly, the spatial experience of trans and non-binary individuals is gaining more attention within planning research. Within the field of transgender studies authors have argued that addressing the lived realities and embodied knowledges in a co-productive ethic with participants is vital for methodology.
The dissertation is thus an investigation into creative and innovative qualitative methods that have been previously used to understand individuals spatial and embodied experiences. The analysis lead to the development of the concept of reflexive embodiment as an important way of understanding how embodiment can be incorporated more thoroughly into research design. Reflexive embodiment is an effect of the research design structuring in a time-space that allows participants to develop their own understanding of their embodiment. Participation can further be enabled through the use of group work and creative arts methods that incorporate participants into the analysis process. Policy engagement strategies should seek to understand which registers they seek to affect in identified policy stakeholders and incorporate this into the methods used as this will increase the effectiveness of knowledge translation
| Original language | English |
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| Publication status | Published - 2018 |