The ‘Worker-Researcher’: Introducing a new interview dynamic

It used to be said that academics doing ethnographic research were able to have brief forays into other cultures, but to have permanent membership would result in ‘career suicide’. Our methodology takes into account the changing nature of academia, both exploiting and endorsing the dual role status held by many academics who have fractional appointments at higher education institutions. We use data from a study on women’s experiences of discovering partner infidelity to explore the benefits and drawbacks of being a ‘WorkerResearcher’. Participants were interviewed whilst having an eyelash extension treatment carried out by the second author who was employed as a part-time beauty therapist. The data produced using this methodology was rich and revealing, due in part to the level of rapport engendered by the relationship between the two protagonists and also due to the confessional culture of beauty salons. The reduction or reversal of traditional researcher/participant hierarchy soothes the frequently discussed concerns about exploitation of participants. The exploitation of Worker-Researchers is discussed as a potential drawback of this methodology.