Navigating Research Method Challenges in a Changing Sociopolitical Landscape: Conducting Responsive Research with Gender Diverse-Youth

When conducting research with marginalized populations, researchers must consider social injustice, power differentials, historical harms, and changing social environments. They must also maintain fidelity to research protocols and ethics, which can be challenging when the participants are at the center of contested and harmful social discourse. The past two years have led to unprecedented difficulties when conducting research with gender-diverse youth (GDY) as the community has come under intense political and social scrutiny. Researchers have had to navigate a rapidly changing sociopolitical landscape and make methods-based decisions in real time to accurately capture the experiences of the youth and those within their families and support networks, all while working to also maintain a sense of safety, support, and openness to dialogue with the participants and community members.

This roundtable session will begin with a dialogue about methods-based challenges in two studies, one exploring GDY' experiences of betrayal within educational environments and the other considering the impact of gender-affirming care (GAC) on GDY and their caregivers using longitudinal mixed methods. The research team's experiences will be used as a background for further discussion about how research is conducted within complex social environments. In addition to addressing methods-based challenges in the two studies, presenters will discuss ethical dilemmas that can occur at all stages of the research process and identify strategies that consider social work values as well as research protocols and rigor. Presenter one will discuss initial research design and how changes in social and legislative environments impact how research is conducted and what topics are considered. Presenter two will focus on participant tracking, strategies to encourage retention among GDY participants, and navigating participant-caregiver discordance during research interviews. Presenter three will explore concerns related to methodological rigor, transparency, researcher biases and lenses, and ensuring findings are representative of the participants' experiences. Presenter four will discuss how analysis in a longitudinal study can be impacted by a sudden and unexpected elimination of access to GAC, how data analysis may need to change over time, and concerns about data misuse or misrepresentation. Presenter five will cover navigating GDY mental health crises during research interviews, how the team navigated instances of misinformation repeated by participants and their caregivers, and how conducting such interviews can impact gender-diverse community members.

Our goal is to acknowledge the realities of engaging in research with a vulnerable and stigmatized population in a time of social upheaval as researchers must be attuned to the impacts of the decisions they make. Through such a discussion, we aim to illuminate the role of responsive research practices that make space for participants' experiences in real time while adhering to methodological principles of transparency, replicability, and trustworthiness.