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. 2022 Mar 17;7(3):e007811. doi: 10.1136/bmjgh-2021-007811

Table 1.

The transparency matrix

Identity vector Reflection/
narrative
(how/why?)
Dimension
Pose Epistemic positionality of the autho—source of the framework employed to argue about rationale and causal relationships:

  1. Privileged (Elite) Foreign Academic Institution

  2. Global Public Health Agency (WHO, UN etc)

  3. Privileged (Elite) Institution from the same country

  4. Local institution or research entity

  5. Local/indigenous knowledge
Position Author’s position within the power structure of the transaction:

  1. Funding agency/NGO

  2. Privileged Foreign Academic Institution

  3. Global Public Health Agency

  4. Privileged (Elite) Institution from the same country

  5. Local institution or research entity

  6. Indigenous population representative
Voice Whose voice has primacy in the design of this transaction?

  1. Funders/donors

  2. Foreign academics

  3. Global policy-makers

  4. Academics from privileged local institution(s)

  5. Local policy-makers

  6. Local academics

  7. Community participants.
Gaze Who is this communication primarily addressed to?

  1. International academics

  2. Global policy makers

  3. Local policy-makers

  4. Local academics

  5. Community
Lens Primary analytical lens used to draw conclusions:

  1. Statistics

  2. Qualitative/ethnographic

  3. Mixed methods

  4. Indigenous ways of sensemaking

  5. All of the above (almost) equally.
Slice  No. of Intersectional Identities included (estimate)_____
 Total no. of Intersectional Identities potentially affected (approx.)
 

 (proportion: a real number between 0 and 1)
Taste
(Reality Check) 		User-centredness of research findings/user-experience (UX) resulting from the Project/Policy Implementation (Likert scale):

  1. User input not required or sought for this research/user-experience not an important consideration of policy/project.

  2. Minimal consideration of end-user priorities/unpleasant user-experience resulting from policy/project implementation.

  3. Moderate consideration of end-user priorities/neutral user-experience.

  4. Significant end-user involvement in different phase of research/good user-experience resulting from policy/project implementation.

  5. End-user initiated research/excellent user-experience resulting from policy/project implementation.

Transparency matrix is a data structure designed to elicit reflection in the form of a narrative justification along seven dimensions. Each narrative is indexed by a numerical value assigned in the relevant row of the ‘identity vector’ according to the description above. This should be required to be completed by each author in order to encourage reflexivity. The data structure can be used as a dictionary or hash, an identity vector or a text corpus for any subsequent computational analysis. More importantly, it can be used as a tool for qualitative analysis of value judgments.

NGO, Non-governmental organisation; UN, United Nations; WHO, World Health Organisation.