A Difference That Makes a Difference? Reflexivity and Researcher Effects in an All-Foreign Prison

Abstract

Today, researchers are expected to spend considerable energy describing and discussing their own social positions and personas in the field for at least two reasons: First, researchers always observe the field from a specific point of view. Their perspective is structured by their own social position and biography and is thus unique. Second, the people in the field react differently to the presence of different researchers. The field persona of the researcher is expected to impact the data she or he is able to produce. For these reasons, critically discussing one's own field experiences is seen as an important part of the qualitative research process. This article will discuss the second part of this argument. Based on the experiences of two different researchers in the same field site, we ask whether it is true that different researchers necessarily produce different data. We conclude that in this case, at least, the differences between the two researchers did not seem to make much of a difference.

Institutional Researcher Reflexivity: How IR Professionals Can Utilize Researcher Reflexivity in Qualitative Studies of Community College Students

“…Nor do I present empirical study findings about students, staff, or faculty. Some reflexive accounts provide engage reflexively through the re-analysis of data (e.g., Gordon, 2005) while others reflect on field experiences more generally (e.g., Damsa & Ugelvik, 2017). The latter is the case in this paper.…”

“…Reflexivity is, thus, a reflection in which researchers consider who they are in the world (perspectives, beliefs, ideas, etc.) inform the research from its conceptualization to analysis (Berger, 2015;Damsa & Ugelvik, 2017). As Gordon (2005) stated, Reflexivity is meant to advance the understanding of both the researcher and the eventual readers about how past experiences and beliefs shape the ways in which stories get told.…”

Emotions and agency in prison research

“…In much of the recent scholarship on prisons, an account of the researcher’s positionality is provided (Ayete-Nyampong, 2015; Carr, 2015). It is now acknowledged that the point of view from which the researcher observes the research, and the researcher’s biography, have a bearing on the research (Damsa and Ugelvik, 2017; Jewkes, 2012). This is a relatively new dimension to prison research; as recently as 2009, Crewe (2009) posited that ‘my identity was not what the study was about’ (p. 488) and, therefore, he did not explore the issue in any substantive detail.…”

Practising reflexivity: Ethics, methodology and theory construction

“…Within these diverse forms of 'reflexivities' one can identify how reflexivity is practised and adopted: who practises 'it'; what the research is 'on'; and what the researcher's agenda 'is'. Each researcher embarks on their reflexive journey by giving significance to what they think is crucial to their research (Bradbury- Jones, 2007;Carter and Little, 2007;Damsa and Ugelvik, 2017;Guillemin and Gillam, 2004;Hammersley and Atkinson, 2007). Many have argued that it is inevitable, and essential, for researchers to be self-reflexive (Etherington, 2004;Finlay, 1998;Hertz, 1996;Lumsden, 2013;Lynch, 2000;Venkatesh, 2013;Walsh, 2003).…”