A shared research journey

Abstract

The metaphor of the journey is often invoked when describing research (Midgley, Trimmer, & Davies, 2013). A journey suggests change as opposed to stasis and it is assumed that when one conducts research one not only instigates change in the outside world but experiences change within oneself. Despite having been criticized for the linearity it implies (McCulloch, 2013), the journey metaphor for research is lauded for the transformation it leads to: Researchers-as-voyagers travel from familiar inner and outer landscapes into unknown territories with new horizons. They progress through an itinerary of developing meanings, both epistemological and ontological. Researchers-asvoyagers are engaged in a process of becoming, and of discovering a voice. The ‘voyage’ tenders experimental possibilities for alternative understandings of who they are, who they could be and what they know. It opens up transitional spaces for the formation of a new sense of identity. (Batchelor & Di Napoli, 2006, p. 13) Just as the research journey is described as bountiful for those who embark on it, it is also typified as an experience replete with isolation: The research path that one takes on never promises to be easy and although many will accompany the researcher and many more will give support, one also has to realize that he or she cannot escape from the feeling of loneliness and the surfacing array of doubts here and there that one encounters. (De Levay, 2013, p. 32) This brief article highlights some of the advantages and challenges of sharing one’s research journey. As partners in research and life, we have benefited from our distinct kind of collaboration but we have also faced and overcome a number of difficulties in order to ensure that each of our own particular ambitions have come to fruition. We illustrate some of the things we have learnt while working together on research projects, conference presentations, and journal articles. It highlights some of the achievements that were made possible through our shared research journey but it also demonstrates how, along the way we have had to overcome challenges that have tested much more than the strength of our research partnership.