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Exploring Participant-centred Reflexivity in the Research Interview

University of Essex, kriach{at}essex.ac.uk

The increasing importance of reflexivity within social research highlights the importance of the construction of knowledge in relation to the research endeavour. However, researcher-orientated notions of reflexivity can often relegate a discussion of participant reflexivity. Drawing on two motifs that emerged during the analysis of interview data from one research project, I argue that developing Bourdieu's concepts of habitus, practical mastery and symbolic mastery allows us to understand how reflexivity-in-practice is situated and enacted by both parties involved in the research interaction, and how such `sticky moments' help us work towards a more participant-focussed mode of reflexivity. In situating the article within larger social research debates, I suggest that ascribing a more active role to interview participants as reflexive subjects can help to address some of the wider ethical debates over the role and positioning of participants in the research process.

Key Words: Bourdieu • interview • participant-led • reflexivity • research relationship

Sociology, Vol. 43, No. 2, 356-370 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0038038508101170


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