CHAPTER 4: DESIGNING THE CASE STUDY: REACHING THE VOICES OF
4.4 Section 2: Data production
4.4.3 Establishing an enabling research relationship
Best and Kahn (2003, p. 252) mention that the relationship of researchers with their participants is based on trust and confidence. It would be impossible to study in the feminist paradigm from a perspective that claims neutrality (Skeggs, 2005, p. 88).
According to Merriam (2002, p. 6), in qualitative research, the researcher is often part of the researched world. However, being a female Mauritian adult from an Asian background, it was not difficult to become one with the participants and blend in, although I was aware that my position as both a researcher and outsider from the University could contribute to unequal power relations between the participants and
myself. Hence, I focused on establishing trust as well as maintaining informality and friendliness during my contact with the participants.
I found that establishing the desired relationship with some of the participants really challenging, because some of them would hesitate to speak about their experiences.
The qualitative questionnaire, which was the very first method of data production, has also helped in establishing rapport with the participants. I hoped that by filling the questionnaire privately, they would provide a rich response. The qualitative questionnaire comprised questions, amongst others, about the curriculum, their male and female peers, and academic teaching staff. During the first meeting, the participants hesitated to answer the questions in the qualitative questionnaire because I could see them looking at each other and they were smiling. From their answers, I felt that answering the questions was difficult for them and some of them did not feel free to write about their experiences about their academic teaching staff and male peers because, for some, the answers were brief. As a researcher, the fear of talking to them and asking questions was a challenge before the conduct of the focus group discussion and the critical individual conversation, because I was not aware how they would react – shy, nervous or uncomfortable. Discomfort and nervousness of participants to speak in front of others has been recognised as a limitation of discursive methods of data production (Dawson, 2009). In line with what Morrell (2003) has stated, there is a possibility that the silence of the participants did neither suggest mistrust, nor discomfort and nervousness. It was possible that the silence of the participants suggested the power relations that existed between them and me as a government employee working in a regulatory body overseeing higher education in Mauritius. I did however try my best throughout the data generation process to reassure the participants that my interests were in their telling their stories, and that there would be no punitive action that would follow at any point during and after the study.
Initially, I was hesitant to approach the participants and to ask them about their experiences, as I did not know how they would react, as they did not even know me.
They were also reluctant and shy to talk about their experiences. Moreover, they were used to more technological ways of data production, as was the case for me earlier before I engaged on this study, for example, the use of email for
questionnaires. The participants found unusual a researcher coming personally to them, because usually they fill in research questionnaires online. Fortunately, after the first month of the fieldwork, the situation and relationship between the participants and myself improved. After the collection of the qualitative questionnaires, for each group of students, I attempted to establish an enabling research relationship with my participants. In feminist research, researchers are encouraged to make participants feel comfortable by sharing experiences about their lives and this creates an atmosphere of trust and closeness with the researcher (Thwaites, 2017, pp. 3-4). According to Oakley, when a rapport is established with women, real friendships can be built (1981, p. 46). One of the principles of qualitative research is to allow reciprocity and authenticity in relationships (Thwaites, 2017, p. 3). I did so by sharing personal information about my family, my educational background and my professional background. They were happy when I talked about my experience as a student when I was doing my MSc in Computational Science and Engineering in 2005. I told them that I was the only girl in a class of 10 students and how I had to compete with the tough curriculum, sometimes the attitudes of my male peers and even sometimes of the academic teaching staff. Usually, I never discuss my personal life with others but for the sake of this study, it was important to do so. The participants were attentive and seemed to enjoy listening to all my stories, which have enabled me as a researcher to establish familiarity with them. I felt that I was considered as ‘one of their friends’
during such discussions. When considering rapport in feminist research with regard to sharing and power between interviewee and interviewer, the “feminist interview is one of equitable and honest sharing; rules of feeling, therefore, dictate genuine interest, compassion, and a desire to share openly” (Thwaites, 2017, p. 4). Thus, by trying to understand why these experiences occur, I was also transformed into a researcher with genuine interest in what the participants said.
Another method used to encourage the participants to share details of their personal experiences, critical individual conversations, was conducted with each participant.
The critical individual conversation was the main method of data production. Each critical individual conversation lasted an hour in the campus of the higher education institution (usually in the yard) and the participants spoke freely about themselves, including their families, their learning experiences, their relationships with their
male and female peers and their relationship with the academic teaching staff. From the critical individual conversations, I could notice from the body language and responses that perhaps the participants were more comfortable. I also found that some of their learning experiences were like other participants and they also reminded me of my own learning experiences as a student.