The vulnerable researcher: facing the challenges of sensitive research Emma Sherry Centre for Sport and Social Impact, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia Abstract Purpose – Based upon a six-year research study with a community street soccer programme, the purpose of this paper is to focus on the different faces of the researcher undertaking sensitive research – vulnerable, reflexive, reciprocal, and emotionally fatigued, in addition to the potential impacts on others, including research assistants and transcribers. Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws on detailed notes and observations from a research journal kept throughout the project using an auto-ethnographic approach. Findings – The paper discusses how the author attempted to nurture and protect himself as the person within the researcher, and managed the doubts and stresses faced by those undertaking sensitive research with vulnerable communities. Originality/value – As more research is undertaken with vulnerable communities, and more researchers share their experiences, the self-care strategies, the author and others have employed may become standard practice for research training and practice. Keywords Emotional fatigue, Self-care, Vulnerable communities Paper type Research paper I’m going to end up with a drinking problem of my own Reflecting on my six-year involvement with a Community Street Soccer Programme (CSSP), I stumbled across the above quote in my research diary. The day of the journal entry, I had just completed the latest round of interviews with street soccer participants who were all experiencing disadvantage: homelessness, drug and alcohol addiction, and mental illness. While waiting for a colleague, I took a seat at a nearby bar and frantically recorded what were meant to be observation notes, which instead became a process of self-debriefing. It was the opening quote that piqued my interest in the impact of research on the researcher, particularly when undertaking sensitive research. Whilst re-reading my notes during the analysis phase, as I waded my way through years of interview transcripts, observations, and journal entries, I was struck by the intense nature of these interactions, and their impact on me as both a researcher and a person. Key moments, or turning points, in my research journey leapt out from the page, when the reality of my participants’ lives started to take a personal toll. I began to question my choice to undertake sensitive qualitative research after receiving a phone text message from a participant about her self-harm (cutting) and subsequent suicide attempt; I commented to a colleague “no one else’s research participants die – I’m going to do surveys instead”. This gallows humour, found commonly amongst those working with difficult situations, was a coping mechanism for another 12 months of the project. However, my ability to continue was most sorely tested, when travelling on my honeymoon six months later, I discovered via a Facebook message that a favourite participant had died. My first response to myself and my new husband was “I don’t think I can do this anymore”. The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/1443-9883.htm Qualitative Research Journal Vol. 13 No. 3, 2013 pp. 278-288 r Emerald Group Publishing Limited 1443-9883 DOI 10.1108/QRJ-10-2012-0007 278 QRJ 13,3