Ethnic-matching in qualitative research: reversing the gaze on `white others' and `white' as `other'

Abstract

Writings on inter-racial/ethnic research tend to posit `nonwhite' as the researched `other'. There is scant literature dealing with `others' within whiteness or treating whiteness itself as an `other'. This article draws on the experience of a project looking at the quality of life of older people in Britain to illuminate often implicit assumptions underpinning the practice of ethnic-matching in qualitative research by reversing the research gaze. By examining the procedures involved in matching majority and minority ethnic researchers to a range of `white' respondents, this article unveils the often unscrutinized values and assumptions of certain sets of practice in qualitative research that can influence the process and products of research. Reversing the `ethnic' research gaze can help to illuminate new perspectives on the construction of otherness and positionalities within research. While this article looks at the influence of ethnicity on the research process, it acknowledges that ethnicity may not always be the primary social signifier and may also intersect with a range of other identifiers such as age, gender, class and geography.