Reflections on the researcher-researched relationship : A woman interviewing men

Abstract

The enactment of gender in interviews with the men in my recent study of divorced fathers is the focus of this paper. Neither the role of gender in the qualitative research process nor its influence on research products has been given much descriptive or analytical attention, especially with respect to studies of men by women. While contextually situated, the relationships which evolve during the research process are influenced by the identities and histories of those involved, including those of gender. Such questions about the researcher-researched relationship and interactional dynamics which emerge during interviewing are ones of reflexivity. This paper, then, retrospectively examines men's assertions of gender identities and the gender hierarchy during interviews with me, and suggests that the negotiation of gender in research warrants much more attention.