Access all areas: identity issues and researcher responsibilities in workplace settings

Abstract

This article examines the particular difficulties and challenges experienced by a practitioner-researcher while collecting signed language interpreting data within the specific institutional setting of the workplace. Given the complex relationships that exist between the minority Deaf community and that of the majority hearing community, as well as the tensions present between Deaf people and signed language interpreters, undertaking research in this area requires both sensitivity and an in-depth understanding of the power imbalances involved. Practitioner-researchers in this field are positioned between the Deaf and hearing communities, and have to maintain a finely tuned awareness of the issues raised by their insider/outsider status. Exploring issues of methodology, access, identity, and participant observation, this paper examines the process of collecting video data for the analysis of interpreted events. The paper draws on an ethnographic study of interpreted interaction within the workplace, and considers the complex relationship between the hearing researcher and the Deaf research participants, concluding with what I see as a fundamental requirement—collaboration with and information dissemination to all those involved in the research process.