A Dance of Transparencies: Researching Identity and

Identifying ResearchersRon Chenail

TQR Second Annual ConferenceJanuary 8, 2011

Plenary OverviewPre-ConstructionConstructionDe-ConstructionRe-ConstructionPost-Construction

Pre-Construction

Plenary Defined

Fully attended by all qualified members The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition (2004)

Role of the Plenary AddressIntroduction and Orientation

Informative

Evocative

Provocative

Meta-Perspective

Construction

Preeminence of IdentityTaking its place alongside such core

metaphors as culture, phenomenon, discourse, and narrative, identity has emerged as an important trope in qualitative research.

Be it people's sense of themselves as members of a family, culture, corporation, or the world society, qualitative researchers are interested in learning how people come to define themselves within their varied contexts.

Conference ExamplesLanguage, Gender, & Identity in an English

Language Learning CMC EnvironmentIdentity Construction through Active

Listening in an Online EnvironmentSe Echa Pa’lante Pero Se Pierde Mucho:

Dominican Return Migrants’ Identities after Retirement

Examining the Influence of Skin Color Values on Hispanic Women's Identity Beliefs

Struggles with IdentityThis area of research is also fraught with

controversy as researchers and their research participants struggle with gender, sexual, cultural, brand, product, customer, and corporate identities and the methodological and ethical decisions entailed in studying such phenomena.

Conference ExamplesPerspectives on Researcher Identity: An

Exploration of the Personal, Interpersonal and Transpersonal

‘Halfie’ Research Identity: On the Intricacies of Being, Becoming, and Belonging(s)

Writing, Emotion, and Learning: the Influence of Researcher Identity and Experience on Analysis and Findings

The Researcher, the Daughter and Me: Coping with My Three Selves

Transparency of IdentityAn associated concern is how do we

clearly and ethically identify ourselves as researchers to our research participants, clients, and colleagues and how they come to identify us?

How transparent do we become as we dance with our own self-identity and the identities of others?

Identity DifferenceAs these dance steps are made, how do

we as producers and consumers of these (e)merging arcs make decisions of quality and utility?

As we explore these self-narratives and narratives of others, what are the differences that make a difference in our qualitative research?

De-Construction

Identity DefinedIdentify suggests both a sense of the

individual:Identity: The collective aspect of the set of

characteristics by which a thing is definitively recognizable or known. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition (2004)

And a sense of the relational:Identity: The set of behavioral or personal

characteristics by which an individual is recognizable as a member of a group. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language , Fourth Edition (2004)

Identity DefinedIdentify also suggests both a sense of

uniqueness:Identity: The distinct personality of an

individual regarded as a persisting entity; individuality. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition (2004)

And a sense of sameness:Identity: The quality or condition of being the

same as something else. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition (2004)

Identity as MetaphorThree Parts to a Metaphor

Two distinct but connectable partsThe perspectives each brings to the other

Individual and Relational / Unique and SameSomeone and Someone ElseFluid and Multifaceted

Epistemology of IdentityIdentity is discovered or recovered

Identity is created or performed

Identity is co-constructed and negotiated (Lavis, 2010)

Re-Construction

Identity ImpliesPopulation-Sample Relationship

Nature or Logic of this RelationshipDeductiveInductiveAbductiveSome or all of the above

Identity ImpliesSo these relational dualisms suggest we should be sensitive to both

How we identify as

And

How we identify with

Researcher IdentityAs researchers reflecting on our own identities

Who, What, When, Where, Why and How do we identify ourselves as something?

And

Who, What, When, Where, Why and How do we identify ourselves with something?

Researcher Identifies OthersAs researcher reflecting on the identities of

others

Who, What, When, Where, Why and How do we identify others as something?

And

Who, What, When, Where, Why and How do we identify others with something?

Ethical Imperative of IdentityYou may not be able to choose how someone

identifies you as something or someone else, BUT

You should be aware how you identify yourself with something or someone else, AND ESPECIALLY

You should be aware how you identify someone with something or someone else.

Conceptualizing YourselfPersonal Identities

Professional Identities

Disciplinary Identities

Methodological Identities

Relational Identities

Personal IdentitiesGender

Sexuality

Age

Cultural

Professional IdentitiesPrincipal Investigator

Researcher

Professor

Consultant

Change-Agent

Disciplinary IdentitiesPsychologistSociologistAnthropologistNurseEducatorMarket ResearcherMulti-disciplinarian

Methodological IdentitiesEthnographerAutoethnographerPhenomenologistAction ResearcherDiscourse AnalystLife HistorianGrounded TheoristProgram Evaluator

Relational IdentitiesCuriosityConfirmationComparisonChangingCollaboratingCritiquingCombining (Chenail, 2000)

Institutional Review BoardHow you identify yourself

How you identify “participants”

How you inform participants

How you de-identify

InstrumentationData Generation

Data Analysis

Data GenerationEmpathy

Switching

Attending to the one and the someone else

Data GenerationDual-Dependence

To enable

To disable

Data AnalysisPreserving uniqueness while considering

sameness

Valuing multiple identities

Expressing stability while acknowledging fluidity

Data Analysis

What is the evidence?

What is evident?

Quality Control

Transparency

Reflection

Post-Construction

Identity UbiquityAll research involves identity

Sometimes identity is more overt than others

Identity ignorance or opaqueness does not lessen ethical responsibility

Identity is an ongoing responsibility

Questions, Comments, and Conversation

ReferencesThe American Heritage Dictionary of the English

Language, Fourth Edition. (2004). Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Chenail, R. J. (2000). Navigating the "seven c's": Curiosity, confirmation, comparison, changing, collaborating, critiquing, and combinations. The Qualitative Report, 4(3/4). Retrieved from http://www.nova.edu/ssss/QR/QR4-3/sevencs.html

Lavis, V. (2010). Multiple researcher identities: Highlighting tensions and implications for ethical practice in qualitative interviewing. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 7(4), 316-331.

ContactRon Chenail, Ph.D.The Qualitative ReportNova Southeastern University3301 College AvenueFort Lauderdale, Florida 33317 USAEmail: ron@nova.eduWeb: http://www.nova.edu/ssss/QR/