Reflection / Reflexivity · 31 August 2019

Reflective Practice

Wherever I go there I am: reflections on reflexivity and the research stance

Insider/outsider research has received considerable attention often with in-depth consideration of how such positioning affects both researcher and research. This study is intended to engage with these issues from the perspective of a new researcher seeking to understand more intimately the ways in which research position informs subsequent insights.

Thus, the article explores the researcher’s own experiences of insider/outsider research and, in the course of this, challenges the notion of an absolute insider- or outsiderness. Furthermore, the work also looks to expand upon the suggestion raised by Hellawell (2006) with regard to the potential of such analysis for enhancing researcher reflexivity. Becoming a skilled researcher and understanding the link between position and derived insights is only accomplished through action and reflection (experience). Thus, the writer explores the application of a range of tools which continue to deepen her appreciation of the complexities of insider/outsider research and thereby enhance her reflexivity. This enhanced self-awareness has been reciprocal in nature, i.e., in seeking to understand the meaning structures of others the researcher has become more aware of the nuanced nature of research in terms of her own values, beliefs and identity construction and the influence upon her practice.

The writer suggests that the tools and insights derived from her research journey may prove of use to the neophyte researcher in terms of practical suggestions for developing self-awareness and enriching their learning process (Le Gallais[1]Le Gallais, T. (2008) Wherever I go there I am: reflections on reflexivity and the research stance, Reflective Practice: International and Multidisciplinary Perspectives, 9(2), pp. 145-155., 2008).

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References

References
1 Le Gallais, T. (2008) Wherever I go there I am: reflections on reflexivity and the research stance, Reflective Practice: International and Multidisciplinary Perspectives, 9(2), pp. 145-155.