Barriers affecting adult women living with Dementia.
rachealbizz1
PersonalInfluenceuponresearchOctober20192.pptxResearch from a personal perspective
Aims
Consideration of ways in which research can be influenced by personal experiences
Explore that emancipation and empowerment this makes possible
Examine ways in which sharing can influence research
Review the areas of proposition and reflexivity
Motivation to undertake research
Personal experiences throughout life are formative in terms of who we are
Most researchers begins with an area of interest generated from personal and professional interest
Closeness to a community or group / experiencing an issue will be part of the research process
It is important to be aware of personal and professional interest, to consider the effect of connection / understanding and the potential for bias
Insider perspective
Part of using personal experience related to be an insider
The boundaries between insider and outsider research may not necessarily clear-cut
Some features of a researcher’s identity are innate and unchanging, whilst other features are innate / evolving
These features influence the insider-outsider continuum
Time, place, power relationships and personalities between the researcher and researched, and the topic under examination may further influence the insider-outsider status (Mercer, 2007).
Being a part of a group of a community can mean language use is accessible and there is clear relatability
This can give a confidence to the participant which is seen to be emancipatory
Research can be a tool for empowerment ‘Giving a voice’
‘…making it possible for people to exercise power and have more control over their lives. That means having greater voice in institutions, agencies and situations which affect them’ (Croft and Beresford, 1993)
Emancipatory Research
Empowerment through participation
Participants can learn through research and can also feel they can make a different
Organisations such as Mind, Age UK, Scope raise awareness through research, influencing policy
Part of Evidence Based Practice:
‘Patient Values’
Research in health and social care to be based upon ‘inclusion’
Community, young people and Early years use accessible approaches so they are able to include a wide range of participants
Partnership approach adds ‘genuineness’ and ‘authenticity’
To engage those who will use the service gives an expert view
Disclosure and sharing experiences
Sharing power in the research setting can be critical to success
It is part of theoretical approaches, such as, Feminist research which is built upon the idea of facilitation of the ‘voice’ of participants to be heard (Letherby, 2012)
Researchers do not want to be part of the oppression and seek to make participants feel comfortable and valued
Seeing the ‘whole person’ not just as ‘data’
Sharing experiences / disclosure by researchers are seen to be important to create more equal and open dialogue
E.G. Oakley (1975) disclosed her own maternity experience
when interviewing women
Positionality
Positionality is awareness of personal experiences upon the researcher
Might also be referred to as stance / where you stand in relation to others about you
Positionality is influenced the political and socio-economic factors
To understand the researcher must consider their own origins and self
Research identity affects interaction with
participants and so data collection
Researcher identity
Researcher identity is important in terms of understanding your interest
Understanding how you relate to others
Factors which will influence you will include personal and professional
Features of race, culture, beliefs and education will influence identity and as such perception and ways of viewing others
There will be emotion connected to identity and researchers should be aware of how they bring this into the scene
Reflexivity
Reflexivity relates to re-examining the research process by reflecting back on activity and considering different approaches
This includes considering bias and questioning your own practices
Feminist discourse is based upon flexibility and ‘reflexivity’, whereby the direction of research is not predetermined, but created through the interaction with participants
Feminist informed approaches favour qualitative methods that can move with the participants, so facilitating reflexivity and potential empowerment
(Letherby, 2003; Ramazanoglu 2002).
Potential limitations
There are some issues with researching from a personal perspective on of which relates to thinking you already know the answer to the questions (pre-conceptions)
It is possible that greater emotion and subjectivity occurs
There are possibilities that the re-distribution of power is not real and that as a researcher you are different from those you seek to understand
Group discussion
Consider examples of understanding you have based upon personal experiences
Look at ways in which being part of a community / group will help with:
-access to participants
-understanding of terms and practices
What are possible pros and cons of being personally involved in research?
