ERIC Number: EJ1396866
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2023
Pages: 13
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1743-727X
EISSN: EISSN-1743-7288
From Fried Egg to Mashed Potato and Lentils: Navigating Positionalities in Ethnographic Research in a Global South Context
International Journal of Research & Method in Education, v46 n4 p408-420 2023
The current debates in the area of researchers' positionalities criticize the notion of the 'insider/outsider' dichotomy and favour the idea of a fluid inbetweener position. However, these narratives foreground researchers' perspectives and often ignore participants' agency in constructing a researcher's positionality in the field. In this paper, as an early career researcher, I analyze my journey with my own positionalities in ethnographic research in a rural community in Bangladesh. Adopting a Critical Realist ontological standpoint, I argue that positionalities are co-constructed by researcher and participant and are products of complex interactions between their agencies and the social structure. I illustrate how reflexivity, taking both my and the participants' views into account, facilitated my movement towards a position where the participants expose their habitual behaviour (not hesitating to offer their day-to-day food -- mash potato) rather than providing superficial information (as they do to a guest, for whom they will at least fry an egg -- a special arrangement -- for dinner).
Descriptors: Ethnography, Researchers, Interpersonal Relationship, Rural Areas, Reflection, Food, Foreign Countries, Cooperation, Rural Schools, Social Influences
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Bangladesh
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A