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Author Spotlight: Unveiling Mechanisms of Stress Resilience - Significant Findings, Advancements, and Future Research
Published on: December 15, 2023
Vulnerability and Resilience in Sensitive Research: The Case of the Quantitative Researcher
Irit Bluvstein1,2,3, Kfir Ifrah1,4, Rinat Lifshitz1,5
1The Herczeg Institute on Aging, 26745Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
Abstract:
The emotional experiences of quantitative researchers, particularly while conducting sensitive research, are largely neglected. This article aims to advance the awareness of possible emotional strains for quantitative researchers engaged in sensitive research. It qualitatively assesses the ethical and emotional experiences of quantitative researchers conducting a study on aging of bereaved parents and people with a physical disability. Based on the detailed minutes of 66 weekly research meetings held during 2015-2017, a thematic analysis of the researchers' experiences was performed. Our analysis identified two main themes: vulnerability and resilience. We delineate these themes, along with their subthemes and affinity to vicarious traumatization, moral stress, and vicarious posttraumatic growth. The current study is among the first to introduce the emotional and ethical experiences of the quantitative researcher. Tentative recommendations for the advancement of the researcher's safety and well-being by training, institutional support, self-care skills, and policy development are provided.
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