Research with residential childcare practitioners: early reflections of managing harm in a qualitative diary study

Qualitative audio diary methods are an effective tool to explore emotions in social research as the method helps to elucidate diverse and sequential emotional experiences. Diary methods provide opportunities for research to be conducted over time in hard-to-reach settings, with hard-to-reach groups, producing rich data on sensitive topics. However, diary methods also provide ethical challenges, especially for novice researchers. Residential childcare practitioners are an important workforce that support looked after children and young people in residential children's homes, and this article reflects on the initial ethical challenges of using an audio diary method to study their emotional experiences. By exploring the ethical processes of minimising harm in a diary study with practitioners this article informs future diary research and highlights the potential use of audio diaries in future residential childcare practice.