Doing More-Than-Human Research: Developing Qualitative Research Methods for a Multispecies World

Area of Science:

• Social Sciences
• Qualitative Research Methods
• Environmental Studies

Background:

• Traditional Euro-Western social science often overlooks non-human entities.
• There is a growing need to integrate more-than-human perspectives into research.
• Existing social science research methods are primarily designed for human subjects.

Purpose of the Study:

• To address the challenge of incorporating non-human elements into qualitative research.
• To present novel methodological approaches developed by five scholars.
• To explore innovative ways to study human-environment and human-animal relationships.

Main Methods:

• Onto-epistemology for analyzing human-food plant relationships in migrant gardens.
• Multimodal noticing to account for animal agency in livestock-raising fieldwork.
• Utilizing time as a methodological tool for human-plant relations in orchards.
• Methodological praxis integrating posthuman disability studies.
• Operationalizing ontological multiplicity in ethnographic river studies.

Main Results:

• Demonstration of five distinct methodological frameworks for including more-than-humans.
• Application of these methods across diverse contexts: urban gardens, livestock farming, orchards, disability studies, and river ecosystems.
• Each method offers a unique lens for understanding complex interspecies and environmental entanglements.

Conclusions:

• These innovative research methods can facilitate a more inclusive understanding of the world.
• The approaches offer potential for novel responses to complex global challenges.
• Expanding research methodologies to include the more-than-human is crucial for contemporary scholarship.