Thinking Silence Otherwise: Toward a “Research Other” in Qualitative Research

Authors

• Rosa Vázquez Recio, University of Cádiz, SpainFollow

Abstract

Why ask about silence when it comes to research? This paper explores and analyzes how silence, unlike words and verbal expression, has received little attention in the data production process. Despite its different manifestations and meanings in social interactions and knowledge production, silence tends to be overlooked, ignored, or silenced. We focus on analyzing how we relate silence to evidence-based research to describe the “non-places” of silence in qualitative research, addressing controversies and issues. We propose a “research other,” grounded in decolonial approaches and Southern and feminist epistemologies, to argue for the inclusion of silence in the research process. Silence is presented as a tool for epistemic justice and as a pathway toward research practices grounded in a situated ethics of care. This “research other” requires a rupture with established research logics, advocating the disruption of productivist, classificatory, and monocultural knowledge systems. The work provides considerations and strategies to support this approach. While silence in alternative research poses limitations and challenges, researchers must remain attentive to them to avoid dismissing this other way of conducting research aimed at social justice.

Keywords

silence, decolonial approaches, evidence-based research, qualitative research, social justice

Author Bio(s)

Rosa Vázquez-Recio is a lecturer in the Department of Education at the University of Cádiz. She is a researcher - in some cases Principal Investigator - in regional, national and international research projects. Her research focuses on different areas related to gender, inclusion and social justice, with a qualitative-critical methodological perspective. She has been teaching in the field of gender research since 2005. She is the coordinator of the Doctoral Programme in Educational Research and Practice at the University of Cádiz and director of the Research Group on Educational Policy, Public Education and Social Justice (HUM109). Please direct correspondence to rmaria.vazquez@uca.es

Publication Date

6-28-2026

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

Recommended APA Citation

Vázquez Recio, R. (2026). Thinking Silence Otherwise: Toward a “Research Other” in Qualitative Research. The Qualitative Report, 31(6), 6093-6114. DOI: https://doi.org/10.46743/1052-0147.7689

ORCID ID

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6595-177X

ResearcherID

O-1727-2015