Image : https://www.integrativeinquiryllc.com/post/how-bias-influences-perception-three-lenses
Positionality was a term that I have heard of maybe a few times in my life, however without a thought or looked into deeply. As I have read from the reading by Kim V. L. England “Getting Personal: Reflexivity, Positionality, and Feminist Research”, I am introduced with more clarity on the significance of positionality in research. In other words, the importance of the positionality of the researcher among the researched, and how that can hinder the objectivity of the research. That is where reflexivity comes in. As England quotes:
Reflexivity is critical to the conduct of fieldwork; it induces self-discovery and can lead to insights and new hypotheses about the research questions. A more reflexive and flexible approach to fieldwork allows the researcher to be more open to any challenges to their theoretical position that fieldwork almost inevitably raises.
With that being said, reflexivity is a tool to look at where we stand in terms of the what is being researched and how that can affect the outcomes being discovered in the fieldwork. As I read this article, it has made me think how my positionality can even be looked at through conversation, not only in research. Through someone’s experiences and positions in the world can have greater effect beyond fieldwork. England further explains how the researcher is still a human being, like those that are being researched therefore they have what all human beings carry which are emotions and experiences. She quotes from Stanley and Wise:
We have different personal histories and lived experiences, and so, as Carol Warren (1988, 7) makes clear, the researcher as ‘any person, without gender, personality, or historical location, who would objectively produce the same findings as an other person,’ is completely mythical.
I find this intriguing to really think about now because I never really thought about it before. But maybe I did not feel the need to think about it due to my own positionality. I am a 35 year old, mixed race of Mexican and American but by looking at me I am categorized as a white woman, slim, not-disabled, no medical conditions, raised middle class, and so forth. Basically the gist is that I am someone who does not fit easily as a minority but more as dominant. I think what gives me the more obvious position of inferiority, is being a woman in a male-dominated world, other than that, where have I had to really think of how other positionalities affect mine. Concerning England’s statement above, we are all human being and for instance, being unconsciously bias can take in effect without knowing due to the nature of being human.