Abstract
Robots can be used as helpful tools in qualitative research to understand human beings. This paper describes the
methodology and significance of robot–mediated participant observation through our practice in communication
therapy for children. The following are our major claims here. (1) Simple robots help children understand the
robots’ “intentions” and “emotions.” (2) Remotely controlling a robot, the researcher can socially interact with
children by exchanging intentions and emotions, through which (3) the researcher can elaborate the intersubjective
understanding of the children. (4) Recording the interaction from the robot’s first–person perspective allows other
researchers to re–experience the interaction; this enables the collaborative construction of understanding of the
children. We concluded from the discussions that robots serve as helpful tools for qualitative research of human
communication.
