The Guide to LGBTQ+ Research

Adam Brett is a researcher and lecturer in education at the University of Derby. With 15 years of experience as a secondary teacher and leader, Adam now works in the field of teacher education, and has research interests including LGBTQ+, diversity and inclusion, and professional identity. Adam is the founder of the LGBTQ+ Research Network and the co-founder of Pride & Progress, an initiative that supports LGBTQ+ inclusion in schools and universities. For more information, visit www.prideprogress.co.uk. Catherine Lee is Professor of Inclusive Education and Leadership and Pro Vice-Chancellor and Dean in the Faculty of Arts, Humanities, Education and Social Sciences at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge. Catherine was awarded an MBE in 2023 for Services to Equality in Education and she has written extensively on LGBTQ+ inclusion in schools and universities. Catherine’s autoethnographic research on her experiences as a lesbian teacher under the homophobic Section 28 legislation was the subject of a BAFTA nominated feature film in 2022, entitled, Blue Jean.

Introduction

Part 1: Getting Started

Chapter 1. Overcoming Imposter Syndrome; Adam Brett

Chapter 2. Prospecting for gold: Finding your guide; Lyndsay Muir

Chapter 3. Writing That LGBTQ+ Research Proposal; Kate Russell and Daniel Rogerson

Chapter 4. The importance of language; Rebecca House

Chapter 5. Writing about your own LGBTQ+ identity; Catherine Lee

Chapter 6. Social Media and Networks of Support: Unlocking the Ivory Tower and Navigating its Halls; Charlotte Feather

Part 2: Reviewing the Literature

Chapter 7. The Purpose of a Literature Review; Alex Baird

Chapter 8. Citing them Write: Crafting Inclusive Literature Reviews in LGBTQIA+ Research; Kayden Schumacher

Chapter 9. Getting to grips with the main queer theorists; Liam Cini O’Dwyer

Chapter 10. The Joy of Foucault: How his theoretical concepts can awaken the researcher-activist within; Ben Johnson

Chapter 11. Getting to grips with Judith Butler: Exploring Gender Performativity; Catherine Lee

Part 3: Positionality: Navigating subjective identities and perspectives

Chapter 12. When research becomes personal: Infusing intersectional identities into your research; Bharat Bharat

Chapter 13. Insider, Outsider: Participating Observer on a LGBTQ+ Leadership Development Programme; Alex Baird

Chapter 14. Am I an Activist?; Frankie Frangeskou

Chapter 15. Outsider positionality: Blurring the boundaries; Julie Wharton and Rhiannon Love

Chapter 16. Navigating Insider/Outsider Dynamics: Reflections from Online Fieldwork with Chinese Queer Young Adults and Their Parents; Fengqiang Wang

Part 4: Ethical Research with the LGBTQ+ Community

Chapter 17. Rethinking and Reconceptualising Ethics in LGBT+ Research; Charlotte Feather

Chapter 18. Navigating the Ethics Application Process; Helen Bushell-Thornalley

Chapter 19. The ethical challenges of compulsory guardian consent for research with LGBTQ+ youth; Lois Ferguson and Kate Russell

Chapter 20. Ethical considerations when working with LGBTQ+ children and young people; Lucy Jones

Part 5: Methodology: Planning and collecting your research

Chapter 21. Navigating participant recruitment when working with, for and as part of the LGBTQ+ community; Grace Cappy and Alex Powell

Chapter 22. Getting your foot in the door when it seems to be closed: gaining access to participants in secondary schools; Mark Williams

Chapter 23. Valuing quality over quantity: Recruiting participants within research of a sensitive nature; Beth Burgess

Chapter 24. Conducting Focus Groups with LGBT+ Participants; David Murphy

Chapter 25. Participatory Action Research with LGBT+ Co-researchers; Cait Jobson

Chapter 26. The Power of Discussion: interviewing more than once; EJ-Francis Caris-Hamer

Chapter 27. Que(e)rying traditional approaches: Using creative methods in LGBT+ research; Lis Bundock

Part 6: Data, analysis, and discussion

Chapter 28. LGBTQ+ Participant Representation: Getting it right; Katie Reynolds

Chapter 29. Honouring your participants as people: representing the richness of neurodivergent and LGBT+ intersectional identities in data analysis; Helen Dring-Turner

Chapter 30. Conducting thematic analysis with LGBTQ+ data; Jennifer Zwarthoed

Chapter 31. Analysing narrative and discourse data; Stephen DiDomenico

Chapter 32. Quantitative queer data and statistical assumptions; Daniel Rogerson

Part 7: Conclusion: Making claims to knowledge and preparing for the viva

Chapter 33. Fun with Failure: when your research does not go to plan; Pippa Sterk

Chapter 34. Have I found ANYTHING? Making claims to knowledge and originality; R Harris

Chapter 35. Preparing for the viva; Kate Russell and Liz Wands-Murray

Part 8: Life after the doctorate: Getting your academic career started

Chapter 36. Publishing from your research; Adam Brett

Chapter 37. Sharing Queer knowledge in a heteronormative world: Navigating peer review in the publication process; Jessica Gagnon and Marco Reggiani

Chapter 38. Starting your career queer: Navigating your first post as an LGBT individual; Alun DeWinter

Conclusion