How can researchers design and carry out studies that genuinely capture the complexity, meaning, and context of participants’ lived experiences? This master class explores how research methods can be intentionally designed to center participants’ perspectives while maintaining methodological rigor and producing meaningful, credible knowledge.

Through examining sample research projects and interactive activities, participants will engage in examining research questions, selecting appropriate qualitative and mixed-methods approaches, and creating data-collection methods that invite rich accounts of experience. The session will consider how interviews, focus groups, observation, participatory methods, reflective practices, and other approaches can be used to understand not only what participants experience, but how they interpret, navigate, and make meaning of those experiences.

Particular attention will be given to the relationship between researcher and participant, including power, positionality, reflexivity, trust, and ethical responsibility. Participants will also explore strategies for designing methods that are responsive to context and inclusive of diverse voices, particularly when working with communities whose experiences may be overlooked or marginalized in conventional research.

Through practical examples, critical reflection, and interactive activities, participants will have opportunities to evaluate and refine their own methodological choices. By the end of the master class, participants will be better equipped to design research methods that respect participants as knowledgeable partners and generate nuanced, authentic insights grounded in lived experience.