Reflexive Accounts: An Intersectional Approach to Exploring the Fluidity of Insider/Outsider Status and the Researcher’s Impact on Culturally Sensitive Post-Positivist Qualitative Research

Abstract

Reflexivity and acknowledging the role of the researcher in the research is a well-established practice in post-positivist research. In this paper we use reflexivity to examine our personal experiences in conducting qualitative research. We use reflexivity to understand how our intersecting identities and resulting insider/outsider status may have influenced the data collection phase of a study regarding the culturally and religiously sensitive issue of male-female intimate relationships. Using an intersectional approach, we explore the fluidity of our insider/outsider statuses resulting from our multiple and intersecting identities such as ethnicity, religion, age, and sex. The multiple identities a researcher possesses can cause him/her to be perceived as an insider and outsider simultaneously, which can play a significant role in shaping the interactions between the interviewer and interviewee. We present reflexive accounts on how our identities may have affected the data collection process and participants’ comfort level when discussing sensitive issues, in this case sexuality. Overall, we seek to provide insight into the role of intersecting multiple identities and the resulting insider/outsider status in qualitative data collection when examining culturally and religiously sensitive issues from the perspective of the researchers.

Intersectionality and Reflexivity: Narratives From a BME Female Researcher Inside the Hidden Social World of Prison Visits

“…During my interactions with senior members and prison oficers, there were many instances of micoaggressions of racism and sexism; and in the context to the interactions to prison officials that reinforced my outsider status of not belonging. In discussion, Couture et al (2012) states it is hard to reaffirm on the insider/outsider dichtomoties due to the complexitiy of multiple identites that are interplayed. These intriciate issues played out in my time on the field.…”

“…She reflected on her experiences by drawing on Collins (1990) Black epistemology, in which, she experiences several challenges in continuously having to re-validate her research as well as her sense of worth to White colleagues in academia. Furthermore, Couture et al (2012) argues that the dichotomy of the insider/outsider status is not as polarized and can overlap, as identities are often multifaceted and complex. The breadth of literature on intersectionality has created a platform for me to be inspired to write this reflective paper on my fieldwork in conducting research in prison waiting and visiting rooms.…”

“…Scholars have used intersectionality to explore the positionality of the researcher on being an insider to an outsider, and the the implications this has on research (See Brown, 2012; Couture et al, 2012). Intersectionality presents a deeper understanding on identites; and how this can negotoiate the insider-outsider dichtomy (See Couture et al, 2012).…”

“What Should I Do Now?”: Navigating Relational Ethics in Practice as an Early Career Researcher as Illustrated by a Qualitative Interview Study About Women’s Drinking Practices

“…She did not tell me explicitly why she chose not to participate, but it may be that she did not want to talk to me about drinking and stress in her life after we had got to know each other quite well. Indeed, feminist scholarship has illustrated that familiarity between participants and researchers is not straightforward and that sometimes it can inhibit involvement in a research study; a researcher’s position as a stranger can sometimes make it easier for people to talk about sensitive issues (Couture et al, 2012; Letherby, 2003). Overall, these examples point to the types of everyday ethical and practical dynamics that emerged in the five, different community-based recuitment settings.…”

“…However, I did not use my experience of drinking in all the interviews because my drinking practices were sometimes very different from those of the women I was interviewing. Other researchers have drawn on intersectionality theory to illustrate that structural differences between researchers and participants such as their social class, ethnicity, and disability can make experiences, and the tools they have to engage in reciprocity, very different in interview interactions (Couture et al, 2012; Ochieng, 2010; Skeggs, 2002). In this study, I noticed that some working-class women spoke about drinking at home with children in a different way to me.…”