Researching people with disabilities

There are over six million disabled adults in this country. This was the principal finding of the recent OPCS survey into disability — a finding which surprised many people. Given that disability is more prevalent among the elderly, our ageing population profile means that the number of disabled people is going to increase rather than decrease over the next decade. This, coupled with the greater marketing orientation of major charities and pressure groups representing disabled people, will mean that market research among disabled people will increasingly be in demand, and researchers will have to address the methodological issues that are involved. This paper seeks to examine some of these issues by sharing BMRB's recent experiences on two projects among people with disabilities.