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Reflexivity in fieldwork: toward a feminist epistemology
Image--The Journal of Nursing Scholarship
|January 1, 1991
Summary
This study explores how researchers can ethically support women with diabetes by viewing their dialogue as a tool for empowerment. A feminist approach reframes researcher intervention as a resource, not a data threat.
Area of Science:
- Medical Sociology
- Feminist Research Ethics
Background:
- Research with women with diabetes highlights challenges in responding to participant information requests.
- Balancing the researcher role with the desire to
- take action
- presents ethical dilemmas in fieldwork.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the ethical considerations of researcher intervention in fieldwork with women with diabetes.
- To propose a feminist perspective for understanding researcher-informant interactions.
- To reframe dialogue as a resource for informant empowerment.
Main Methods:
- Qualitative discussion drawing on research experiences.
- Application of a feminist theoretical framework.
Main Results:
- Researcher intervention, often seen as a threat to data validity, can be reframed.
- Dialogue between researcher and informant can be a valuable resource for participants.
Conclusions:
- A feminist perspective offers a constructive approach to researcher intervention.
- Empowering disadvantaged and oppressed informants is a key outcome of ethical dialogue.
- Recognizing dialogue as a resource enhances the ethical dimension of fieldwork.