Scaled, citizen-led, and public qualitative research: A framework for citizen social science

• Main Authors: AMIRRUDIN, Amirah, HARRIGAN, Nicholas, NAQVI, Ijlal
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2021
• Subjects: Citizen social science; participatory research; problem-solving sociology; public sociology; qualitative methods; Asian Studies; Community-Based Research; Demography, Population, and Ecology
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soe_research/2558; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/soe_research/article/3557/viewcontent/00113921211056057_pvoa.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

We propose a framework for citizen social science that brings together three reinforcing elements of a research project – scale, citizen-leadership, and publicness – to improve qualitative research. Our framework was born out of necessity; a desire to involve ordinary citizens, in researching public issues, with limited funding. We illustrate the application of our framework using insights from research we have led, involving first, a series of qualitative studies of state and civil society organizations working on community engagement by three separate years of public policy students; and second, a qualitative study on the system for processing salary and injury disputes for low-waged migrant workers in Singapore conducted by over 100 volunteers and activists. Drawing on a review of the literature and our own experiences, we speak to the advantages and trade-offs of adopting this approach and suggest practical methods for conducting citizen social science.