What is it about?
In this book chapter, I explore an issue that is rarely discussed in management research ‘how-to’ textbooks: that is the emotional nature of qualitative research. In the chapter, I explore a variety of different dimensions to qualitative research that I consider render qualitative research an emotional encounter for the researcher. For example, I explore: 1. the emotional challenges of existing in two worlds: our own world and our participants’ world; 2. some of the emotional challenges of developing rapport with research participants; 3. the difficulties of conducting research with our friends and conducting research in our own employing organisation; 4. the complexities of discussing sensitive topics either by design or by accident. In each of these discussions, I draw on a carefully selected literature set to explain the key concepts, and I present examples from qualitative research studies as an illustration of these concepts. Finally, I present a series of suggestions to help prepare researchers for their emotional encounters.
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Why is it important?
In this chapter, I suggest some ideas to help prepare researchers for emotional encounters. These include: • Be aware of your own biases and ‘grievances’ and reflect on how these can influence your choice of research topic, your choice of research setting, your research design, how you engage with participants and how you interpret and present your data. • Read the papers and books cited in the chapter as they provide detailed academic debates and more practical advice and guidance on the topic of researcher emotion. Reflect on the issues they raise and prepare an action plan for your own development. • Talk to your research supervisor about any worries and concerns you may have about your research and also about any emotional encounters you may experience. It is important that you have a safe outlet for such discussions. Also, find out if your institution offers any other formal support mechanisms for researchers. • Find out if your institution has a research buddy system or researcher action learning set. These peer support mechanisms can often provide an additional and more informal source of advice and guidance. • Keep a reflective diary to record your feelings and emotions. • If you are new to qualitative research, take advantage of training and development activities aimed at helping to develop your researcher skills such as interviewing techniques. It is safer to hone such skills in the safe environment of a training room. • Accept that we all have research encounters that we wish had gone better. Reflect on what happened, discuss it with your supervisor or research buddy, and then action plan for future development
Perspectives
In this chapter, I aim to provide some advice and guidance on how to be prepared for our own and our participants’ emotions, a subject that is often taboo. However, not addressing the emotional nature of qualitative research in organisational settings risks researchers being unprepared for what they might encounter which may result in researchers feeling inadequate or incompetent. Yet, if we undertake qualitative researcher with human participants to gain insights into their lives, we have to be ready to face these human feelings and emotions.
Angela Mazzetti
Newcastle University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: The Emotional Nature of Qualitative Research, December 2017, Springer Science + Business Media,
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-65217-7_9.
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