Towards a theory of over-researched places

Framing over-research as ‘over’ points out that totemic case study locations in any topic—which may or may not be fair representatives of the field—are a problem. This chapter sets over-research in the context of wider trends and patterns in research. It is a problem in social research for those being researched when one group or place becomes ‘The Place’ where this research is done. By contextualising over-research, I argue that over-research is a structural issue in current academic research in that over-research arises as much from social structures as social actions. This is important because it lessens the moral responsibility of researchers and allows an analysis to be made of under-research as a corollary to, and a coexisting challenge to, over-research. Thus, the chapter also addresses under-research, what it means, and how it comes to be. In qualitative research, interviewing and ethnographic and participative evidence and experience are dulled by being ‘yet another’ researcher among a steady stream. As the quantity of research increases, interviewees can become jaded. This chapter tries to offer some theoretical tools that help to understand what over-research is and thus begin to chart a way to think through what can be done about it.