Positioning Yourself in Your Text

As we conduct our fieldwork, we must be conscious of ourselves as the key instruments of the research process. When you begin to research a site, you will need to "read" yourself in the same way that you have deciphered texts, and you will want to write that perspective into your study.

Consider the following three types of positions in relation to yourself as a researcher, and consider as well the reflective drafting questions that follow. Use the former at the start of your project and the latter once you've begun to write about your topic. Taking some time to sit and think about and more importantly to write about each of these issues, is an important part of writing well thought out research.

 

 

Positions | Reflection

 

Fixed Positions.
Fixed positions are the personal facts that might influence how you see your data-- your age, gender, class, nationality, race-- factors that do not change during the course of the study but are often taken for granted and unexamined in the research process. Does it matter that you are middle-aged and studying adolescents? Or that you grew up on a kibbutz in Israel? Does being a middle-class African American affect the way you interpret the lives of homeless African Americans? How does your gender affect your perspective?

Our word fixed is problematic; nothing is truly "fixed." sometimes fixed factors are subjected to change during the research process, and then that, too, demands the researcher's attention. If, for example, a male researcher looking at the play behaviors of preschool children becomes the father of a girl during his study, he may find himself looking at his fieldsite data not only through his own eyes but also through those of his infant daughter. If what originially seemed a fixed influence in the researcher's position becomes more fluid, then that process of changed perspectives would become part of the researcher's data.

Subjective Positions.
Subjective positions such as life history and personal experiences may also affect your research. Living through a flood, an earthquake, or a hurricane may change your stance toward the world around you. But it does not take disaster, death, divorce, or illness to alter our perspective. Someone who grew up in a large extended or blended family will see the eating, sleeping, and conversation patters of groups differently than someone from a small nuclear family.

Textual Positions.
Textual positions-- the language choices you make to represent what you see-- affect the writing of both fieldnotes and the final ethnographic report. The way that you position yourself in the field with respect to the people you study-- how close or how far away you focus your research lens-- determines the kind of data you'll gather, the voice you'll create in your finished text, and to some extent your credibility as a researcher.

 

 

Three Questions for Reflection:

 

1. What surprised me? (tracking assumptions)
This question helps you keep track of your assumptions throughout the fieldwork process. When you ask yourself this question regularly, you'll articulate your preconceived notions about this project and also record how they change.

2.What intrigued me? (tracking positions)
Asking this question makes you aware of your personal stances in relationship to your research topic. As we've already suggested, you as the fieldworker are the instrument (recorder and presenter) of the research process. So what interests and attracts you about your project will always influence what you record and how you write about it. This question helps you begin to understand the complex idea of positioning.

3. What disturbed me? (tracking tensions)
this question exposes yourself to yourself. It requires honesty about your blind spots, stereotypes, prejudices, and the things you find upsetting, no matter how small. Focusing on what bothers you about a field project is not always comfortable, but it often leads to important insights.


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