In Part I, we introduced the elements and phases of care and how these can be applied to research practice. These elements and phases, in our view, are always underpinned by the feminist concerns of justice and equality and are enacted in an attempt to achieve this. In research, as in other contexts, care is purposive. But justice and equality for whom, and how might those involved in research understand this? In this part of the book we explore and expand care ethics thinking and its application to research carried out with and by different groups of people whose experiences can help us better understand its significance. We do this by drawing on conversations with a diverse group of people who all have experience of care ethics in research. Whereas in Chapter 4 we structured our discussion by reference to phases of care, in this part we use the stages of research to reflect more deeply on the issues we are discussing.

An initial research idea can be a lightbulb moment or a slow- burn realisation. In the former, the switch is flicked and the issue comes into view – we recognise its importance. We also see what we do not know, what remains in the shadows and what we need to better understand. As we extend our knowledge of previous research and build our connections with those affected by the topic, the initial idea takes a firmer shape until we have a proposal we can use to secure the relevant support to get a project off the ground. In this part of the book we explore more about how these decisions are reached, who is included in generating ideas, and how these evolve and respond to different influences and perspectives. Do researchers draw on their own experiences, how do they work with people in more and less formal ways at the ideas stage and as the research develops? We ask how researchers are attentive to the people who contribute to research and how attentiveness can improve the experiences of involvement for people and the quality of the research itself.

The research we discuss here has been undertaken in different types of research partnerships or collaborations.