Peer Research in Health and Social Development: International Perspectives on Participatory Research

Peer research is increasingly used in international academic, policy and practice environments. It engages members of a group or social network as trusted members of a research team working in communities and settings they are familiar with.

Critics, however, point to methodological concerns with peer research. These include the extent to which peer researchers genuinely represent the populations under study; data confidentiality; the emotional burden of enquiring into sensitive issues peers may experience in their own lives; and the reliability and credibility of data collected by people who do not have academic training. The book seeks to counter the marginalisation of research experience and skills derived from close relationships with people and communities, while reflecting critically on the strengths and limitations of peer research. Chapters by a wide range of international contributors illustrate the potential of peer research to facilitate an in-depth understanding of health and social development issues and enhance policy and practice.

This interdisciplinary book provides students and professionals working in health, social science and development studies with a thorough grounding in this new style of research. It will appeal to those interested in research and evaluation; sexual health and public health; mental health, disability and social care; gender and sexuality; conservation and environmental management; migration and citizenship studies; humanitarian issues; and international development.

Stephen Bell is an associate professor in the Poche Centre for Indigenous Health and the School of Public Health at the University of Queensland, Australia. He is a social scientist who has conducted community-based research – in partnership with young people and other marginalised populations – in Africa, Asia, Pacific-Asia and Australia. The focus of his work is on sexual, reproductive and maternal health, HIV and other public health issues. His previous co-edited book (with Peter Aggleton), Monitoring and Evaluation in Health and Social Development: Interpretive and Ethnographic Approaches, was published by Routledge in 2016.

Peter Aggleton holds senior professorial positions in the Centre for Social Research in Health at UNSW Sydney, the School of Sociology at The Australian National University in Canberra, the Australian Research Centre for Sex, Health and Society at La Trobe University in Melbourne, and the Centre for Gender and Global Health at UCL in London. In addition to his academic work, Peter has served as a senior adviser to UNAIDS, UNESCO, UNFPA and WHO. He has worked extensively across Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Ally Gibson is a lecturer in the School of Health at Victoria University of Wellington – Te Herenga Waka, New Zealand. She is particularly interested in experiences and responses to cancer; sexual and reproductive health; gender, sexuality and identity; and inequity, marginalisation and vulnerability in health. A key priority in her research is to partner with community organisations to promote enquiry driven by the needs and priorities of individuals and community members.