Power, agency and participatory agendas: A critical exploration of young people’s engagement in participative qualitative research

Abstract

This article critically explores data generated within a participatory research project with young people in the care of a local authority, the (Extra)ordinary Lives project. The project involved ethnographic multi-media data generation methods used in groups and individually with eight participants (aged 10—20) over a school year and encouraged critical reflexive practices throughout. The article problematizes aspects of power, ethics and agency in participatory research from poststructural perspectives and cautions against the assumption that participatory research per se necessarily produces ‘better’ research data, equalizes power relations or enhances ethical integrity. Yet, throughout the article, there are examples of the potential contributions and challenges of participatory methodologies.