In this blog I am sharing some of my PhD journey and how I developed as a researcher during that period. My experience will never be identical to others and people may have different ways of learning. Nevertheless I am hoping that some aspects of my experience can be helpful to someone here or there. In this post I will talk about the thesis writing.
At the early stages of my PhD I was not clear about the value of my previous experience. I had tried to avoid bias, maintain objectivity and as a result tried to separate myself from the research, using a passive tone of writing and when needed I referred to myself as “the researcher, the author… etc.”. As my research progressed, it became apparent to me how important my position from the research was and how separating myself from it was not possible. It appeared that claiming objectivity is not realistic, and does not really strengthen my research. Instead, my previous experience could be a valuable contribution. My role as a researcher was emphasised by my readings of the different research paradigms which led me to adopt a constructivist paradigm.
Once I settled on a paradigm and realised the importance of my role in the research. I was not worried about showing my position from the research and discussing my experience and opinions. Looking at other PhD theses which adopted the same paradigm and reading about the role of the insider researcher, helped me to realise that discussing and reflecting on my own experience is not only acceptable, but it actually adds depths and richness and raise the awareness to my own role.
To embrace myself in the research, I have decided to take a reflexive approach as a way to highlight my own perspective and show my awareness of the context, participants and audience.
Unlike most of PhD theses I wrote mine in an active first person voice, using the terms “I” and “my”. Of course writing with an active voice is not always the appropriate way in research writing and it depends on the type of the research, adopted paradigm and the researcher position from the research. For my thesis it was an appropriate way to show my position and to help me reflect on my previous experience and show my own views.
My voice in the research was shown from the first chapter where I included an autobiographical account of my personal experiences to introduce the research problem; showing how the research idea was initially driven by my previous experience.
During the period of the research and particularly during the stages of data collection and analysis, I kept a reflective diary and shared a weekly journal with my supervisors. The diary and journal included my thoughts about the research process and they were very helpful in understanding my influence on the research; starting from originating the research question. They also drew my attention to how my identity influenced the interaction with my participants during the data collection and how it influenced my interpretation of the data. When I came to the point of writing, I was able to document and communicate the research process and explain how I made different judgments and decisions.
The use of reflexivity and showing my position from the research has significantly increased its quality. This is because it showed how the research design, process and findings were influenced by my personal background and experience, giving the reader the chance to understand my angle instead of falsely claiming objectivity.
GALLAIS, T. L. 2008. Wherever I go there I am: reflections on reflexivity and the research stance. CREP, 9(2), pp.145-155.
PATTON, M. Q. 2002. Qualitative research & evaluation methods. 3rd ed. ed. Thousand Oaks, Calif. ; London: Sage.
MAXWELL, J. A. 2013. Qualitative research design : an interactive approach. Applied social research methods. 3rd ed. Thousand Oaks, Calif. ; London: SAGE Publications.
WATT, D. 2007. On Becoming a Qualitative Researcher: The Value of Reflexivity. Qualitative Report, 12(1), pp.82-101.
At the early stages of my PhD I was not clear about the value of my previous experience. I had tried to avoid bias, maintain objectivity and as a result tried to separate myself from the research, using a passive tone of writing and when needed I referred to myself as “the researcher, the author… etc.”. As my research progressed, it became apparent to me how important my position from the research was and how separating myself from it was not possible. It appeared that claiming objectivity is not realistic, and does not really strengthen my research. Instead, my previous experience could be a valuable contribution. My role as a researcher was emphasised by my readings of the different research paradigms which led me to adopt a constructivist paradigm.
Once I settled on a paradigm and realised the importance of my role in the research. I was not worried about showing my position from the research and discussing my experience and opinions. Looking at other PhD theses which adopted the same paradigm and reading about the role of the insider researcher, helped me to realise that discussing and reflecting on my own experience is not only acceptable, but it actually adds depths and richness and raise the awareness to my own role.
To embrace myself in the research, I have decided to take a reflexive approach as a way to highlight my own perspective and show my awareness of the context, participants and audience.
Unlike most of PhD theses I wrote mine in an active first person voice, using the terms “I” and “my”. Of course writing with an active voice is not always the appropriate way in research writing and it depends on the type of the research, adopted paradigm and the researcher position from the research. For my thesis it was an appropriate way to show my position and to help me reflect on my previous experience and show my own views.
My voice in the research was shown from the first chapter where I included an autobiographical account of my personal experiences to introduce the research problem; showing how the research idea was initially driven by my previous experience.
During the period of the research and particularly during the stages of data collection and analysis, I kept a reflective diary and shared a weekly journal with my supervisors. The diary and journal included my thoughts about the research process and they were very helpful in understanding my influence on the research; starting from originating the research question. They also drew my attention to how my identity influenced the interaction with my participants during the data collection and how it influenced my interpretation of the data. When I came to the point of writing, I was able to document and communicate the research process and explain how I made different judgments and decisions.
The use of reflexivity and showing my position from the research has significantly increased its quality. This is because it showed how the research design, process and findings were influenced by my personal background and experience, giving the reader the chance to understand my angle instead of falsely claiming objectivity.
For further reading on reflexivity:
GALLAIS, T. L. 2008. Wherever I go there I am: reflections on reflexivity and the research stance. CREP, 9(2), pp.145-155.
PATTON, M. Q. 2002. Qualitative research & evaluation methods. 3rd ed. ed. Thousand Oaks, Calif. ; London: Sage.
MAXWELL, J. A. 2013. Qualitative research design : an interactive approach. Applied social research methods. 3rd ed. Thousand Oaks, Calif. ; London: SAGE Publications.
WATT, D. 2007. On Becoming a Qualitative Researcher: The Value of Reflexivity. Qualitative Report, 12(1), pp.82-101.
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