Social Exchange in Research: Toward a “New Deal”

This paper calls for the enfranchisement of respondents into research decision making. Respondent participation is one way to overcome respondent posturing to control information. Respondent posturing is produced when researchers create an unbalanced exchange where respondents have no motivation to participate, or when, through their use of rewards, researchers change the rules of the game. Typical researcher-respondent relations are explored in relation to respondent posturing, and the problems and prospects of using respondent participation to create a more open and productive research relationship are examined. We conclude by pointing to respondent relations as an area in which social researchers need to be trained.