Insider/outsider Researcher Position – Reflecting on Your Own Position in Doctoral Research
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14712/23362189.2024.4599Keywords:
insider researcher, outsider researcher, positionality, qualitative researchAbstract
This article presents some of the methodological insights and challenges that arose during the research work of my dissertation. It deals with a specific situation that arose during the research and thus represents my direct experience. Initially, I entered the research area with a very good theoretical prior knowledge of the subject matter under investigation, but without any practical experience. In the course of my work, I subsequently became an active participant in the research setting (a school employee).
The new grasp and reflection on the research brought a number of challenges and questions. This was such a fundamental change that it had an impact on the completion of the whole dissertation. Two years after I entered the research setting as an employee, I came to the conclusion that it was necessary to look more deeply into the phenomenon of the positionality of the researcher as well as some ethical issues and methodological challenges.
The new grasp and reflection on the research brought a number of challenges and questions. This was such a fundamental change that it had an impact on the completion of the whole dissertation. Two years after I entered the research setting as an employee, I came to the conclusion that it was necessary to look more deeply into the phenomenon of the positionality of the researcher as well as some ethical issues and methodological challenges.
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