Promoting a social justice sensibility in qualitative communication research practice

This brief study applies the four tenets of the communication approach to social justice (CSJ) to illustrate how a social justice sensibility can be promoted via communicative micro-practices during a qualitative research study. By analyzing ethically important moments (which revealed both participants’ motivations for research participation and social justice needs) occurring during interviews with 26 women with vulvodynia, the CSJ framework elucidates the relationship between research practices, ethics, and social justice. Findings explore how foregrounding ethical principles, analyzing the structural issues affecting research participation, adopting an activist orientation, and engaging in identification and solidarity uphold a social justice sensibility. Theoretical and practical implications are offered.