Positionality and collaboration during fieldwork:insights from research with co-nationals living abroad
The researcher is a primary instrument in qualitative research. He/she is the key person in facilitating conversations during fieldwork and in making sense of the data. Methodological literature underscores the fact that assuming insider positions or identities during fieldwork aids qualitative rese...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Institut für Qualitative Forschung
2017
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| Online Access: | http://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/2058/3717 http://hdl.handle.net/11408/2933 |
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| author | Chereni, Admire |
| author_facet | Chereni, Admire |
| author_sort | Chereni, Admire |
| collection | DSpace |
| description | The researcher is a primary instrument in qualitative research. He/she is the key person in facilitating conversations during fieldwork and in making sense of the data. Methodological literature underscores the fact that assuming insider positions or identities during fieldwork aids qualitative researchers in achieving genuine collaboration, which is necessary for collecting trustworthy data. Furthermore, the contingency nature of positionality has been acknowledged sufficiently in literature: whilst the researcher positions himself or herself, he or she is simultaneously positioned by participants. Despite these insights, the manner in which the researchers' identities unfold during fieldwork interactions has attracted little attention in social science scholarship. Detailed accounts of how the researcher might influence the processes of positionality in order to engage participants in a productive collaboration are few. How might the researcher influence his or her positionality to meet the demands of collecting trustworthy data? In this article, I draw on a qualitative study of Zimbabweans in Johannesburg to reflect on how researchers can potentially negotiate, enact, and perform identities within unique relational spaces of fieldwork in order to achieve useful collaboration. |
| format | Article |
| id | ir-11408-2933 |
| institution | My University |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publisher | Institut für Qualitative Forschung |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | ir-11408-29332022-06-27T13:49:06Z Positionality and collaboration during fieldwork:insights from research with co-nationals living abroad Chereni, Admire Collaboration Fieldwork Fieldwork relationships International migration South Africa The researcher is a primary instrument in qualitative research. He/she is the key person in facilitating conversations during fieldwork and in making sense of the data. Methodological literature underscores the fact that assuming insider positions or identities during fieldwork aids qualitative researchers in achieving genuine collaboration, which is necessary for collecting trustworthy data. Furthermore, the contingency nature of positionality has been acknowledged sufficiently in literature: whilst the researcher positions himself or herself, he or she is simultaneously positioned by participants. Despite these insights, the manner in which the researchers' identities unfold during fieldwork interactions has attracted little attention in social science scholarship. Detailed accounts of how the researcher might influence the processes of positionality in order to engage participants in a productive collaboration are few. How might the researcher influence his or her positionality to meet the demands of collecting trustworthy data? In this article, I draw on a qualitative study of Zimbabweans in Johannesburg to reflect on how researchers can potentially negotiate, enact, and perform identities within unique relational spaces of fieldwork in order to achieve useful collaboration. 2017-10-25T14:20:42Z 2017-10-25T14:20:42Z 2014 Article 1438-5627 http://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/2058/3717 http://hdl.handle.net/11408/2933 en Forum: Qualitative Social Research;Vol. 15, No. 3 ; p. 1-21 open Institut für Qualitative Forschung |
| spellingShingle | Collaboration Fieldwork Fieldwork relationships International migration South Africa Chereni, Admire Positionality and collaboration during fieldwork:insights from research with co-nationals living abroad |
| title | Positionality and collaboration during fieldwork:insights from research with co-nationals living abroad |
| title_full | Positionality and collaboration during fieldwork:insights from research with co-nationals living abroad |
| title_fullStr | Positionality and collaboration during fieldwork:insights from research with co-nationals living abroad |
| title_full_unstemmed | Positionality and collaboration during fieldwork:insights from research with co-nationals living abroad |
| title_short | Positionality and collaboration during fieldwork:insights from research with co-nationals living abroad |
| title_sort | positionality and collaboration during fieldwork:insights from research with co-nationals living abroad |
| topic | Collaboration Fieldwork Fieldwork relationships International migration South Africa |
| url | http://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/2058/3717 http://hdl.handle.net/11408/2933 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT chereniadmire positionalityandcollaborationduringfieldworkinsightsfromresearchwithconationalslivingabroad |