Abstract
This article discusses narrative practice and textile-making as two techniques of researcher reflexivity in diverse teams conducting qualitative-interpretive research. Specifically, it suggests definitional ceremonies—a collective structured method of storytelling and group resonances—as a useful tool to interweave diverse researchers as a team, while maintaining the plurivocity that enables deeper reflexivity. Additionally, textile-making is introduced as a material and embodied way of expression, which complements narrative practice where words fail or need a non-linguistic form of elicitation. We illustrate the two techniques with examples from our international, collaborative qualitative-interpretive research project with demobilized guerrilla fighters in Colombia.
Highlights
We have been saturated with death and pain; we have survived
Based on the fundamental assumption that the researcher-subject cannot be separated from the social world and that her research contributes to the social meaning-making processes she studies, reflexivity is a cornerstone of all qualitative-interpretive research
We argue that narrative practice and textile-making enabled reflexivity as an ongoing process that accounted for how researchers’ subjectivities evolved throughout the research, and as a collective process that wove a heterogeneous group of researchers into as a team without smoothing over differences between their respective individual experiences and perspectives
Summary
We have been saturated with death and pain; we have survived. We have seen the war very closely; it has been present in the daily life of all of us. This article proposes narrative practice and textile-making as innovative techniques through which heterogeneous teams of researchers can practice processual reflexivity in qualitative-interpretive social research, in research on violent conflict and its transformation. Based on the fundamental assumption that the researcher-subject cannot be separated from the social world and that her research contributes to the social meaning-making processes she studies, reflexivity is a cornerstone of all qualitative-interpretive research. In the context of this project, the generally assumed need for researcher reflexivity in qualitative-interpretive research became pertinent, for the past armed conflict had affected the lives of the majority of our team’s members in manifold direct and indirect ways
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
