This is a book about research – but it is not a book about methodology. We, Tula and Marian, are or have been researchers in academic settings who have researched with people directly affected by the topic of that research. Like Carol Gilligan, we have been concerned with questions about voice. Who gets to have a say about what is important to them? What happens when some voices are considered authoritative and others aren’t? What happens to people when they are not heard or told that they are speaking in the wrong way? What about those for whom voice is not possible? And if we, as researchers, care about such things, what are the consequences of this for the way in which we approach our research and the responsibilities we carry for making a difference?

In this book we want to talk to people who do research as all or part of their work, and to those who may be invited to take part because of their membership of a particular community, because they share an experience, or because they use specific services. These latter groups of people are sometimes called ‘experts by experience’. All those people may have an interest in research as a means to social change. So we want to consider what we research and why, and who makes those decisions. This book is about how we research, what we do to try to make a difference as a result of what we have studied, and who benefits from that. To whom are we accountable and who do we feel responsible for when we do research? This book also questions who are the ‘we’ who have appeared right at the start of our introduction. Who does social research and on what authority do they draw as they do so? How do those who do research relate to others who may be the subjects of research and whose lives may be influenced by what we do?