Ellen is a doctoral student who is working on gender and ICT in Kenya.
She has never done fieldwork before, but has talked with Peace Corps volunteers and other development workers before launching into her research. She wants to embody the "Participant-Observer" position that she has read much about in research methods courses, and is determined to fit into women's community activities and lifestyles. However, on her first day, she receives two pieces of news that make her question how she is going to fit in to the community without disrupting it or her. One seems mild, but causes Ellen some embarrassment, and one is riskier.
First, the women in the community make fun of her clothes. Ellen thinks she is dressed for fieldwork success - baggy trousers to show modesty, a long sleeve shirt, and no makeup or jewelry or hair style. The women in this rural and poor community are all in long skirts, with lots of hair ornamentation. They laugh at Ellen and tell her that she looks like a boy, and how are they supposed to trust a woman-man? They offer her some clothes, which she puts on, but she is worried that she will be seen as somehow mocking the women by appropriating their dress. She also doesn't know if the things she is being given to wear are presents or not, or if she should offer them some shillings in exchange. She feels like she is in costume the rest of the day, but the women are far more warm to her once she looks more like them. However, Ellen knows that she is supposed to be reflexive about her position, and is concerned that she is not representing herself accurately as a researcher/observer, and on top of that, she simply feels like a "fake" member of the group.
Second, Ellen assumes that she will be staying in the community. She expects to pay a family for room and board, and brings this up to one of the women who seems to be sympathetic to her, and closest to her age. The woman looks concerned and talks to the other women, who also look thoughtful and concerned. A few shake their heads "no." Ellen wonders what line she has crossed, but the first woman says that no, they cannot have her stay in the community. There is not enough food and water for an extra person, even for sale, and besides, the women cannot guarantee Ellen's safety against rape, which is prevalent in the community. Ellen has a tent in case her requests were turned down, and has her own food and water, which she shows the women, but they are adamant that they cannot secure her safety and that she should leave the community before nightfall.
1. Is there such a thing as fieldwork that isn't "disruptive" in some way, or is this a myth? What are some of the pros and cons of being an external force faced to confront community issues, from both the researcher and community perspectives?
2. Should Ellen stick to her own "cultural" way of dressing, since she is already an outsider, and hope that the women will eventually warm to her so that she can earn their trust and rapport for interviews? Or should she try to follow local customs, even though she is concerned about not representing herself as a researcher.
3. Ellen talked to many regional "experts," none of who mentioned these potential situations. How else could she have been more prepared and thus made more educated choices about her research and her positionality?
4. What are some of the things women researchers need to be specifically aware of because of their gender, and how do personal safety and cultural immersion collide and also inform each other?
5. What other questions should we ask about this scenario?
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(1) I would think that all fieldwork is disruptive - but I can imagine that sometimes the changes that it causes might even be good or desirable. Probably the researcher would have to admit up front that the work will have an effect in the community and think about ways to plan the fieldwork around it.
ReplyDeleteAs a pro of facing such an issue, there is the benefit of the lessons learned. I think it would be desirable to always keep a journal, possibly to be made public afterwards, to inform other researchers about possible issues.
(3) Talking to women experts could have given better results, as probably women would be more aware of safety issues in the region.
Contacting directly other researchers who were working in the same region, not necessarily in the same field, would have been other way of collecting useful information.
Ultimately, conducting the fieldwork with another researcher (a local woman?), could increase her safety, maybe enabling her to stay in the village as she desired.