Mitigating the Risk of Imposter Participants in Qualitative Research: Evidence-Based Guidance for Researchers and Organisations

The issue of “imposter” participants within qualitative research has become increasingly prevalent. The problem raises specific concerns for qualitive research around research inclusivity and diversity, alongside the challenge to data integrity and methodological rigour. Existing literature is dominated by case studies and commentaries with a need for multi-disciplinary guidelines that reflect the specific challenges and context of qualitative research. This study adopted a two-stage expert and evidence-based approach to develop guidance for researchers and organisations. Stage 1 was a mixed-method study with 184 qualitative researchers to establish the reach and impact of the problem, perspectives on the associated issues and potential solutions across disciplines, career stage and locality. Stage 2 involved a series of researcher and public workshops to develop and refine guidelines through an iterative analytical process. The resulting guidance for researchers and organisations is a flexible, supportive tool to enable a systematic and evidence-informed approach within their research practice. The guidance provides a framework for considering ethical, epistemological, methodological and practical considerations when determining how to mitigate the risk of imposter participants within qualitative research. It is hoped that the guidelines will inform wider understanding of the issue and encourage the adoption of evidence-based policies and processes.