Milner, H, R. (2007) 'Race, Culture and Researcher Positionality: Working Through Dangers Seen, Unseen and Unforeseen', Educational Research, 36(7), pp.388-400, DOI: 10.3102/0013189X07309471
'In the process of conducting research, dangers can emerge
when and if researchers do not engage in processes that can circumvent misinterpretations, misinformation, and misrepresentations of individuals, communities, institutions, and systems.' (p.388)
To circumvent these dangers...
In mitigation of his argument that 'dangers seen, unseen and unforseen' emerge when researchers fail to carefully consider the cultural systems of coming to know, knowing and experiencing the world, Milner (2007) developed an interrelated framework to 'guide researchers into a process of... cultural awareness, consciousness and positionality' that rejects practices of detaching one's self, particularly the rejection of cultural positionality, from the research process (p.388)
Researchers should be mindful of underlying tensions that can arise when engaged in research involving issues of a culturally sensitive nature and should conduct themselves in an actively engaged, thoughtful and forthright manner.
Researchers should also possess, or be actively developing, a deeper understanding of themselves and the community they are studying.
Tillman (2002, quoted) asserts that when assessing participants' cultural knowledge, the key principle is 'whether the researcher has the cultural knowledge to accurately interpret and validate [their] experiences'. (p.388)
Arguments abound that there exists research that priveleges some voices over others (Gordon, 1990; Tillman, 2002 cited) I hold the position that, whilst this has historically been dominant white, working class male beliefs and ideologies (citation as above), arguments that (REEVES, 2022) exemplify how the once priveleged voices of men are now becoming marginalised and dismissed to the detriment of our boys and men.
I support Haberman (2000 quoted) position that 'language is not an innocent reflection of how we think' (p.389) and have long held the belief that the words we use between one another have deep-rooted messages that are internalised by those who love and respect us and turn to us for reassurance and guidance, such as our children.
FRAMEWORK:
Argues that researchers should pose 'culturally grounded questions about themselves' (p.395) - therefore, it would be remiss of me not to admit that there may be some alignment with Bourdieu's (2001) argument that masculine domination is so entrenched within society that women seek to reinforce it in any way possible and that, in seeking to highlight this issue, I am actually seeking to reinforce male domination.
Whilst I do not disagree with this notion, I would also suggest that the work of Reeves (2022) exemplifies that issues do exist for boys and men in today's society and I am not alone in my concerns about the harm that is being caused to this community.
In answering the framework questions about myself I concluded:
I believe that gender is socially constructed and my cultural heritage, being raised by an ardently feminist mother whilst simultaneously fundamentally disagreeing with her positionality about whether woman should be fighting for equality or equity, has fostered with in me a more cynical view of feminists and those who fight for women's rights. I acknowledge that there may have been times when I have used my position to say 'I am a woman that has experience with that and it has never bothered me' just to try and make a point and that my awareness of this position allows me to critically analyse the conclusions I have made and the work I have chosen to include to ensure that my biases has not affected either the data collection or the anlysis process. Bringing in the perspectives of my peers and research participants when the data collection process is concluded will enable me to do this.
Milner (2007) Continued.... As regards my participants, I actively sought to include an equal representation of both men and women in this project to ensure a balanced mix of persepectives. I am aware that my particpants benefit from a variety of different cultural, ethnic and socio-economic status backgrounds and that their present social status may not be representative of their histories, but I have consciously decided not include these backgrounds within the scope of the study due to the added layers of complexity this would require. I fully appreciate that my participants will have different views on gender than I do and I welcome the diversity of opinions that will help to develop the analysis beyond my own respresentations.