Combining Multiple Qualitative Methods in Research on Young Disabled People in the Global South

Disabled young people in the Global South have been widely considered to be among the poorest and most excluded of young people worldwide. Due to disabling social and physical environments, they are often deprived of opportunities to participate in education, employment, and social life, which complicates their transitions to adulthood. Despite a growing body of geographical research that focuses on methodological and ethical issues in investigating the lives of young people in the Global South, disabled young people and their complex everyday realities remain silent within these debates. This chapter builds upon the burgeoning use of participatory mixed method approaches within human geography. Informed by the author’s experience of conducting participatory research with disabled youth in Ghana, it reviews different qualitative research methods and explores possibilities of combining these to disentangle the complexities surrounding the needs, challenges, and capabilities of disabled young people in the

Global South. It is argued that if the different preferences and varying abilities of young people with different impairments are taken into account, a multi-method approach can be inclusive and empowering.