Practicing What We Preach: The Value and Challenges of Using Volunteers to Research Volunteerism for Development

Session Submission Type: Roundtable Discussion

Abstract

For many years, volunteers have been presenting their own experiences through social media and increasingly, volunteers or former volunteers are using their experience as a basis for academic research. In recent years, research Institutions and International Volunteer Cooperation Organisations have also sought to formalize this process. Three key examples of qualitative inquiry include VSO’s Valuing Volunteering action research (Burns et al. 2015), field research for the 2018 State of the World’s Volunteerism Report (SWVR) and research on perspectives from partners of the Coordinating Committee for International Voluntary Service (CCIVS, forthcoming). Individual academics have also been researching accounts of volunteer voices (Tiessen et al, 2017).
This panel will share experiences of, and critique the methodology of, using volunteer researchers to conduct participatory research. . The methodology aims to decenter data collection and analysis by of using regional and/or international volunteers located primarily in the Global South to understand the outcomes of volunteerism. The methodology aims to share findings in a more representative way that highlights the voices of those reflecting on their own experiences in local contexts as much as possible. The roundtable will highlight key methodological advantages and challenges with using this approach.
The roundtable will draw on the experience of 4 separate research endeavors: (1) VSO who pioneered with the Institute for Development Studies (IDS) a structured action volunteer research enquiry in 4 countries by Alok Rath; (2) recent experience using volunteers to conduct field research in 15 countries for the next SWVR by Jackie Butcher; (3) research conducted in 9 countries to understand the contributions and challenges of international volunteers by Rebecca Tiessen; and (4) The Global Review of Volunteering which draws on the voices and perspectives of almost 600 volunteer managers, delegates and volunteers from the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement by Gabriel Pictet. These experiences will be shared by staff, mentors and volunteers that participated in the research.

References
Burns, D., Picken, A., Hacker, E., Aked, J., Turner, K., Lewis, S., Lopez Franco, E. (2015). The Role of Volunteering in Sustainable Development. London, VSO International, IDS: 58.
Tiessen, R., Lough, B. J., & Cheung, S. (2016). Contributions and limitations of critical theory in explaining host country partner experiences in international volunteer service.
CCIVS (forthcoming). The effects of institutional programming on international workcamps. Paris: Coordinating Committee for International Voluntary Service.

Sub Unit

• The Third Sector and Development

Chair

• Peter Devereux, Curtin University

Presenters

• Jacqueline Butcher, Tecnológico de Monterrey

• Rebecca Tiessen, University of Ottawa

• Janet Clark, Voluntary Service Overseas

• Matt Baillie Smith, Northumbria University

• Ephron Gausi, Innovations for Development (I4D)

• Benjamin J. Lough, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Session Organizer

• Peter Devereux, Curtin University