Tutkimuskohteena läheinen ihminen

Refleksiivisen ja dialogisen tutkimusotteen mahdollisuudet ja rajoitteet etnografisessa tutkimuksessa

Authors

• Eerika Koskinen-Koivisto

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30666/elore.79152

Abstract

Along with the so-called reflexive turn and dialogic and constructive epistemologies, reflexivity became a crucial part of the ethnographic research process. The studies that are conducted among one’s close social circles require special attention when it comes to the choices made throughout the research process and the relationship between the researcher and the informant(s). This article rests upon the life narrative interviews that the author made with her grandmother for her PhD research. In the dissertation, the starting point was that a life narrative that is about negotiation between individual experience and cultural norms and ideals, is constructed within the context of intergenerational dialogue, in which the author also participated.

In the article, the author scrutinises the challenges caused by a closer relationship between the informant and their relatives, as well as the potential and risks embedded in the dialogic and reflexive approach in ethnographic research. It is argued how reflexive and dialogic epistemologies shaped the research at different phases of the process: when choosing the topic, formulating the adequate research questions, gathering the research material, analysing it, and, finally, when presenting these interpretations in a text. The author also reflects on the impact of a close relationship between the researcher and the informant in the creation of a dialogue and in the interpretations made.