ron chenail tqr second annual conference january 8, 2011
TRANSCRIPT
A Dance of Transparencies: Researching Identity and
Identifying ResearchersRon Chenail
TQR Second Annual ConferenceJanuary 8, 2011
Plenary OverviewPre-ConstructionConstructionDe-ConstructionRe-ConstructionPost-Construction
Pre-Construction
Plenary Defined
Fully attended by all qualified members The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition (2004)
Role of the Plenary AddressIntroduction and Orientation
Informative
Evocative
Provocative
Meta-Perspective
Construction
Preeminence of IdentityTaking its place alongside such core
metaphors as culture, phenomenon, discourse, and narrative, identity has emerged as an important trope in qualitative research.
Be it people's sense of themselves as members of a family, culture, corporation, or the world society, qualitative researchers are interested in learning how people come to define themselves within their varied contexts.
Conference ExamplesLanguage, Gender, & Identity in an English
Language Learning CMC EnvironmentIdentity Construction through Active
Listening in an Online EnvironmentSe Echa Pa’lante Pero Se Pierde Mucho:
Dominican Return Migrants’ Identities after Retirement
Examining the Influence of Skin Color Values on Hispanic Women's Identity Beliefs
Struggles with IdentityThis area of research is also fraught with
controversy as researchers and their research participants struggle with gender, sexual, cultural, brand, product, customer, and corporate identities and the methodological and ethical decisions entailed in studying such phenomena.
Conference ExamplesPerspectives on Researcher Identity: An
Exploration of the Personal, Interpersonal and Transpersonal
‘Halfie’ Research Identity: On the Intricacies of Being, Becoming, and Belonging(s)
Writing, Emotion, and Learning: the Influence of Researcher Identity and Experience on Analysis and Findings
The Researcher, the Daughter and Me: Coping with My Three Selves
Transparency of IdentityAn associated concern is how do we
clearly and ethically identify ourselves as researchers to our research participants, clients, and colleagues and how they come to identify us?
How transparent do we become as we dance with our own self-identity and the identities of others?
Identity DifferenceAs these dance steps are made, how do
we as producers and consumers of these (e)merging arcs make decisions of quality and utility?
As we explore these self-narratives and narratives of others, what are the differences that make a difference in our qualitative research?
De-Construction
Identity DefinedIdentify suggests both a sense of the
individual:Identity: The collective aspect of the set of
characteristics by which a thing is definitively recognizable or known. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition (2004)
And a sense of the relational:Identity: The set of behavioral or personal
characteristics by which an individual is recognizable as a member of a group. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language , Fourth Edition (2004)
Identity DefinedIdentify also suggests both a sense of
uniqueness:Identity: The distinct personality of an
individual regarded as a persisting entity; individuality. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition (2004)
And a sense of sameness:Identity: The quality or condition of being the
same as something else. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition (2004)
Identity as MetaphorThree Parts to a Metaphor
Two distinct but connectable partsThe perspectives each brings to the other
Individual and Relational / Unique and SameSomeone and Someone ElseFluid and Multifaceted
Epistemology of IdentityIdentity is discovered or recovered
Identity is created or performed
Identity is co-constructed and negotiated (Lavis, 2010)
Re-Construction
Identity ImpliesPopulation-Sample Relationship
Nature or Logic of this RelationshipDeductiveInductiveAbductiveSome or all of the above
Identity ImpliesSo these relational dualisms suggest we should be sensitive to both
How we identify as
And
How we identify with
Researcher IdentityAs researchers reflecting on our own identities
Who, What, When, Where, Why and How do we identify ourselves as something?
And
Who, What, When, Where, Why and How do we identify ourselves with something?
Researcher Identifies OthersAs researcher reflecting on the identities of
others
Who, What, When, Where, Why and How do we identify others as something?
And
Who, What, When, Where, Why and How do we identify others with something?
Ethical Imperative of IdentityYou may not be able to choose how someone
identifies you as something or someone else, BUT
You should be aware how you identify yourself with something or someone else, AND ESPECIALLY
You should be aware how you identify someone with something or someone else.
Conceptualizing YourselfPersonal Identities
Professional Identities
Disciplinary Identities
Methodological Identities
Relational Identities
Personal IdentitiesGender
Sexuality
Age
Cultural
Professional IdentitiesPrincipal Investigator
Researcher
Professor
Consultant
Change-Agent
Disciplinary IdentitiesPsychologistSociologistAnthropologistNurseEducatorMarket ResearcherMulti-disciplinarian
Methodological IdentitiesEthnographerAutoethnographerPhenomenologistAction ResearcherDiscourse AnalystLife HistorianGrounded TheoristProgram Evaluator
Relational IdentitiesCuriosityConfirmationComparisonChangingCollaboratingCritiquingCombining (Chenail, 2000)
Institutional Review BoardHow you identify yourself
How you identify “participants”
How you inform participants
How you de-identify
InstrumentationData Generation
Data Analysis
Data GenerationEmpathy
Switching
Attending to the one and the someone else
Data GenerationDual-Dependence
To enable
To disable
Data AnalysisPreserving uniqueness while considering
sameness
Valuing multiple identities
Expressing stability while acknowledging fluidity
Data Analysis
What is the evidence?
What is evident?
Quality Control
Transparency
Reflection
Post-Construction
Identity UbiquityAll research involves identity
Sometimes identity is more overt than others
Identity ignorance or opaqueness does not lessen ethical responsibility
Identity is an ongoing responsibility
Questions, Comments, and Conversation
ReferencesThe American Heritage Dictionary of the English
Language, Fourth Edition. (2004). Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.
Chenail, R. J. (2000). Navigating the "seven c's": Curiosity, confirmation, comparison, changing, collaborating, critiquing, and combinations. The Qualitative Report, 4(3/4). Retrieved from http://www.nova.edu/ssss/QR/QR4-3/sevencs.html
Lavis, V. (2010). Multiple researcher identities: Highlighting tensions and implications for ethical practice in qualitative interviewing. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 7(4), 316-331.
ContactRon Chenail, Ph.D.The Qualitative ReportNova Southeastern University3301 College AvenueFort Lauderdale, Florida 33317 USAEmail: [email protected]: http://www.nova.edu/ssss/QR/