Examining research positionality - understanding self as a first step to transnational research
Faculty Advisor
Date
2023
Keywords
transnational research, action research, social sciences research, positionality, intersectionality
Abstract (summary)
Transnational work requires a deep understanding of researcher identity to ensure unconscious bias and dominant forms of knowledge do not dictate study framing and implementation. Using practical examples from a transnational and interdisciplinary team conducting work on lymphatic filariasis in Ghana, this chapter demonstrates how unpacking layers of positionality is a vital first step to enable an understanding of researcher social location, power, learned knowledge, and cultural humility. Data collection methods were used as tools within the research team to explore identity and social location. During this extended process, team members uncover a deeper understanding of the sources of knowledge they brought to the project, how such knowledge was acquired, and the opportunities offered by intersectionality. Participation in the project's arts-based and participatory methods prior to data collection also enabled the research team to gain experiential knowledge of the vulnerability and bravery needed to engage with these methods and, in so doing, facilitated trust-building within the team and, subsequently, between researchers and participants. This chapter supports scholars, new and experienced, within the academy and the community, who seek to conduct self-reflective research that challenges default positions of power and centers social justice and marginalized voices.
Publication Information
McMillan, C., Kwarteng, A., Kenyon, K. H., & Asirifi, M. (2023). Examining research positionality – understanding self as a first step to transnational research. In M. Call-Cummings, M. Hauber-Özer, & G. P. Dazzo (Eds.), The Routledge International Handbook of Critical Participatory Inquiry in Transnational Research. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003207672-15
Notes
Item Type
Book Chapter
Language
Rights
All Rights Reserved