Methods for Reflexive Analysis of Positionality

This project concerns the ways in which researchers assess the power relations which exist between themselves and research participants, and how this affects their positionality, i.e. the way that the researcher’s and participant’s identities–such as nationality, religion, gender, ethnicity, social class, family, education–impact on the research setting.

The process of analyzing these relationships is termed reflexivity.

Research on ethics within the social sciences stresses the importance of engaging in reflexive assessments of positionality but the field has provided little guidance on how to make these assessments. This project fills this gap by developing a foundation for systematic reflexive analysis.

This includes developing guiding questions and an iterative methodology designed for implementation across the entire lifespan of the research process—from design to data analysis.

The project also seeks to expand our understanding of reflexivity by (1) de-centering the researcher in order to develop methods for probing participants’ assessments of positionality, and (2) considering reflexivity not only in the context of the researcher-participant interaction but also in terms of the broader social setting.

Finally, the project identifies the consequences of not conducing reflexive analyses, both in methodological terms and ethical terms—when does failing to be reflexive lead to poor data and when does it lead to potential harm to participants?