What is it about?
This dataset is designed for teaching students interested in the embodied nature of experiences and memories, how to use digital reflective journals to enhance data analysis. The dataset is drawn from my research in Northern Ireland, which explored the enduring emotional legacy of the Northern Ireland conflict, euphuistically referred to as ‘The Troubles’. The research conducted in Northern Ireland between July 2016 and December 2018, explored the ways in which individuals who grew up during the Troubles, remember and frame their past experiences, and the extent to which these past experiences have had an enduring impact over the life-course. Throughout my fieldwork, I engaged in digital reflective journaling using my mobile phone to record my personal reflections. This dataset focuses on how I used these digital reflections to enhance my analysis of embodied placemaking in a post-conflict context.
Featured Image
Photo by Steve Johnson on Unsplash
Why is it important?
Throughout this dataset, I employ the term ‘reflective journaling’ to refer to the process by which researchers purposefully reflect on their personal research encounters and experiences. Reflective journaling is distinct from other forms of research record keeping, such as fieldnotes or interview notes, in that reflective journaling is used by researchers to record their own thoughts, musings and experiences rather than the experiences of their participants. Reflective journaling may take various forms such as research diaries in which ongoing and regular reflections are recorded, or critical incident logs in which researchers reflect on specific events. In this dataset, I focus on how digital reflective journaling not only served to deepen my analysis of placemaking in the context of post-conflict Northern Ireland, but also enabled me to reflect on how my personal ‘baggage’ might have impacted my interpretations and analysis.
Perspectives
In this case study, I present 3 digital video diaries and I argue that reflective journaling enables the researcher to acknowledge and be transparent about the subjective nature of their engagement with their research and their interpretation of data. Recording my reflections digitally, enhanced my analysis of placemaking because it enabled me to reflect on different dimensions of placemaking (such as feeling safe or unsafe) at the same time as I was observing these emotions. These insights may have been forgotten or lost their impact if I had waited to write up my reflections at a later stage rather than capturing them digitally in ‘real time’. As such, capturing my own observations of the placemaking digitally, rendered me more alert to the contradictions visible in the physical landscape. Furthermore, being alert to my own reflections of placemaking as captured in my digital reflective journal, prompted me to explore these insights with my research participants. As such, through my reflective journaling I was able to connect my personal experiences with those of my participants who had their own personal examples of placemaking to share. I therefore came to conclude that the Troubles had an enduring impact not only in people’s memories, but also in the living landscape of the region which impacted society members’ interpretations as to the progress of peace.
Angela Mazzetti
Newcastle University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Using Digital Reflective Journaling to Enhance Qualitative Data Analysis, January 2022, SAGE Publications,
DOI: 10.4135/9781529604337.
You can read the full text:
Contributors
The following have contributed to this page
