ABSTRACT
Role-play is a dynamic, engaging, highly interactive pedagogic strategy and a very rich research technique. It can provide researchers and participants with unique experiences and insights into interpersonal relations. Its role and value in our digital age is considerable. Role-play is active, playful, participatory and creative, and encapsulates the essence of twenty-first-century skills: social, emotional and communication literacies in the exploration of a range of situations. This chapter sets out key principles of role-play for educational researchers, indicating where it is particularly valuable, what kinds of questions it can address and how researchers can utilize role-play for several different aspects of research, for example: a focus or topic in itself; a method of research and data collection; and yielding research data. The chapter takes the researcher through a series of considerations, cautions and steps in planning, conducting and following up on role-play, and working with the data collected from it. Researchers (and teachers) have been nervous of engaging with role-play, sometimes due to limited pedagogic knowledge in the area. This chapter offers practical advice and strategies on how to use role-play to optimal effect in research.
