Research methodologies for work, workplaces and employment: methods that make a difference, are engaging and can enable impact

This special issue of Labour and Industry: A journal of the social and economic relations of work invited methods and methodology papers exploring how research in the field could be impactful for individuals, organisations, and society. In a world reshaped by the 2020–2023 COVID-19 pandemic, making the value of impactful research particularly crucial, the issue sought to examine novel methods and methodologies that could transcend traditional researcher-subject boundaries and actively engage participants as collaborators in the research process (e.g. Parker et al. 2022). Although four papers appear in this hard-copy issue (Ewertowska et al. 2024; Lau and Bratby 2024; Mutter 2024; Riemann et al. 2024), three other contributions previously published in issue two of 2023 form part of this special issue (Forde 2023; Sattler 2023; Szulc 2023), and we reflect upon each in this editorial.