A deaf researcher in an Indian and Norwegian context – an autoethnographic journey

Abstract

By taking an autoethnographic approach I intend to explore my epistemological and ontological experiences as a deaf Norwegian PhD candidate on a data collection journey in an Indian context. The aim of this article is to delve into challenges in a research process with a complex and multilinguistic environment, with barriers occurring, and how they could be understood and met. I identify and discuss barriers and possibilities in my research journey, describe how I faced challenges with gaining access to the field, and with recruitment issues, and share my process of finding solutions regarding communication. The autoethnographic analysis reveals a complex research situation with dynamic relationships and displays intersectionality in action. This analysis illuminates how knowledge production is linked to epistemological and ontological concerns. The reflexivity of the researcher is crucial, but the power of definition is also of interest and points to my shifting positionality as a deaf researcher.