Homelessness: Methodology, Emotional Involvement and the Researcher’s Role in Sensitive Field

Abstract

The focus of the article is a research reflection on the sociologist’s work in a vulnerable sensory field, using homelessness as an example, as well as an analysis of methodological aspects of studying this phenomenon. The author draws attention to the importance of discussing the challenges and dilemmas faced by social researchers during empirical data collection, as well as the language used by researchers and practitioners in conducting interviews and presenting results, avoiding exoticization and additional problematization of groups in vulnerable positions. The article touches on the place and role of the researcher in such fields, emotional involvement and boundary building, relationships with other experts and the challenges of choosing the most appropriate methodology. The empirical basis of the article is the data of the research conducted by the author in a qualitative paradigm over several years (N= 60).