This article deals with a collaborative research experience aimed at transformation and emancipation. The objective was to highlight the issues and trials related to this sort of approach. Epistemological issues are presented based on the singular practical experience of a doctoral research project. This contribution also examines the role of the methods used during the research activity to support the desired social, subjective and scientific transformations. It explores how knowledge is produced in a dual likelihood situation, both for the empirical milieu and for the academic world. Finally, the research process chosen is discussed both as an opportunity for emancipation (as much for the doctoral candidate as for the players in the field of study), and as a framework for experiencing new social relationships.