Accounting for – and owning up to – the messiness in cross-cultural/linguistic qualitative research: toward methodological reflexivity in South America’s Internet cafés

Abstract

The author, a polyglot and world traveler, who lives and breathes multiculturality, examines her own contextual and methodological reflexivity while conducting fieldwork to explore youth’s public Internet use (in Internet Cafés) in Brazil, Argentina, and Chile. Although the process of conducting (qualitative) research is known to be non-linear, messy, complex, and unpredictable, many published research articles still convey data collection, analysis, and even findings in an orderly and uncomplicated fashion. In this paper, the author joins other scholars to call for greater transparency about the “messiness” of the process, and the meaning-making across linguistic/cultural/social borders, and argues that there should be more acceptance toward the ambiguities inherent in our research “findings.” Drawing from the work of hermeneutic philosopher, Hans-Georg Gadamer (1900–2002), the author claims that “fusion of (hermeneutic) horizons” in cross-linguistic/cultural research requires that researchers maintain an active, critical presence in the field and beyond, as well as continuous attention to contextual and methodological flexibility and reflexivity. Finally, the author offers some practical suggestions on conducting fieldwork to researchers planning to conduct cross-cultural/linguistic qualitative inquiry.