Emotions and Reflexivity in Social Science Research
‘All learning has an emotional base’ Plato, 4th Century BC
Qualitative Research • Qualitative Research clarifies the deeper causes behind a given problem and its consequences; Quantitative Research describes the symptoms of the problem and how frequently they occur. But if we need some deeper insights, we need to spend more time on an issue, and gather information on the full context in which it occurs. The researcher is the main research instrument in qualitative research; importance of reflexivity (and of the research diary as a reflexive tool)
Both quantitative and qualitative social research are different from setting up an experiment in a chemistry lab, with calibrated equipment making standardised measurements. Qualitative social research is even more different, because: • The researcher is not a neutral/mechanical tool • The researcher is not doing an experiment in which she/he sets the agenda • The person/people the researcher talks to are not inanimate objects, they also have agency and they shape the research themselves.
All social research, especially qualitative social research, hinges on social relationships: • They are affected by interpersonal dynamics; and • The researcher AND researched ‘co-produce’ social encounters. This requires us to be reflexive about our research!! Reflexivity is the key!
Each day reflect on the interactions you have in a research diary:
• How did people react to you? (e.g. puzzlement; fear, aggression, warmth, openness?) • How did you present yourself? What was your body language, appearance and clothing? How and where did you agree to be seated, and how did you address people? • Was equality or hierarchy marked? (e.g. through terms of address, where you sat?) • Were you offered food or drink? If so, what did this signify? • What did people say about you, what judgments did they make about you? • How did you feel about this? How did you cope with criticism, praise or envy?
Self-critical account - reflect upon the interviews or discussions you conduct
• What was good/what was unsatisfactory about your own behavior? • How did you feel about your own performance? (Were you too pushy, or did you fail to ask follow up questions on interesting topics?) • Did you manage to complete the interview schedule? Did they get bored / tired before the end? • Do you feel confident that you have understood what people were trying to tell you? • Are there internal contradictions that might warrant another visit or discussion? • Did you feel that the interview was generating reliable information? Or were people wary of your questions? • IMPORTANCE OF KEEPING SAFE THIS INFORMATION
Researching the researcher a phrase coined by American psychologist Campbell (2001), describes the area of study focusing on the emotional experiences of researchers and especially of those researchers who investigate emotionally charged topics. Campbell has argued that there is a huge void with respect to such work in academic discourse relating in part to the small number of researchers who will openly “admit” that their research affects them on an emotional level. Campbell related this to the underlying bias toward positivist research methods within the social sciences and the entrenched conception of the ideal researcher as an objective, “value-free,” and detached truth-finder. Going back to the question: what is knowledge?
Three stories from my own research work • Emotional participant observation One Love Church, Kampala, February 2013 • Assessing risk for the participant and support/care in the post-interview: what about self-care for the interviewer? John, 18 years old, Uganda • Studying something from which I have no immunity. “There is no line that separates us, the researchers, from them, the survivors. We knew we could be or could have been on the other side of the interview—telling a story of surviving rape, not listening to one. It became more and more difficult to “think” about rape when the very things we were hearing and learning in our research project reminded us of our own vulnerabilities” (Campbell, 2001, Emotionally Involved, p. 39) Grace, 28 years old, Central Methodist Mission, Johannesburg
Exercise 1: In groups of 4 discuss and reflect upon the three readings for today, Marco Gemignani in Qualitative Enquiry, Jacqueline H Watts in Open Research Online and Hubbard et. al in International Journal of Social Research Methodology What are the main relevant points made by each article? Come up with a list of three points that you found interesting/relevant/revealing and useful in each article. When the group agrees, write down those points (3 for each article) and report to the class.
Exercise 2: Watch the two videos and write down: What are your main dominant feelings and emotions while watching each video? What was the most striking part of the interview and the most powerful words of the interviewee? Why did they touch you? Imagine you were the interviewer, how would you have concluded the interview? What would be your final words to the participant? What would you do after you have completed the task and said goodbye the the participant (where would you go, who would you contact ‌)? Then in group of three share your notes and confront your points. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiWYBV27Hv8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o76OVzMvfI0
Secondary Trauma
How to write about emotions and for whom? The importance of reflexivity – powerful use of personal journal, sharing, buddy-system, professionals, supervisor/academic community. But who should access those emotions/reflections? Bronislaw Malinowski's diary, covering the period of his fieldwork in 1914-1915 and 1917-1918 in New Guinea, published post-mortem. A Diary in the Strict Sense of the Term.
Additional readings Bondi, L. (2005) The place of emotions in research: from partitioning emotion and reason to the emotional dynamics of research relationships, in J. Davidson, L. Bondi, L. and M. Smith (eds) Emotional Geographies, Aldershot, Hampshire: Ashgate, pp. 230-246. Weeks, J. (2008) ‘Regulation, Resistance, Recognition’, Sexualities, Vol. 11 (6), pp. 787-792. Harris, J., & Huntington, A. (2001). Emotions as analytic tools: qualitative research, feelings, and psychotherapeutic insight. In K. R. Gilbert (Ed.), The emotional nature of qualitative research(pp. 129-145). Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press LLC. Campbell, R. (2001). Emotionally involved: The impact of researching rape. New York: Routledge. Campbell, R., & Wasco, S. M. (2000). Feminist approaches to social science: Epistemological and methodological tenets. American Journal of Community Psychology, 28(6), 773-791.