Moving Beyond “Insider or Outsider”: The Ethnographic Challenges of Researching Elite Sport Facilities in New Zealand

Abstract

Recently, several researchers have highlighted the difficulty with the binary terms “insider–outsider” within qualitative research. We similarly critique the insider/outsider binary in this article, but offer an alternative by utilizing Bourdieu’s theoretical concepts of capital, habitus, and field to compare two researcher’s ethnographic accounts of researching sports facilities in New Zealand. One of the ethnographers, D.S., describes himself as closer to an outsider than an insider in the context of the velodrome he was examining, while R.K. describes herself as an insider in the field of gymnastics. Through comparing their accounts, we show how the language of insider/outsider can be limiting. Instead, we argue that Bourdieu’s framework provides a more nuanced account of researcher positionality that moves beyond the insider/outsider binary, while affording insights into the reflexive and fluid researcher performances that shape the ethnographically researched field.

Digital pruning: Agency and social media use as a personal political project among female weightlifters in recovery from eating disorders

“…certain exercises or styles of training like ‘hypertrophy’) and social media (e.g. ‘stories’ on Instagram) were discussed (Kerr and Sturm, 2019).…”

Researcher Positionality in Participatory Action Research for Climate Justice in Indigenous Communities

“…The hyphen indicates not a pathway but ‘a dwelling place’ being ‘with’ participants, which is ‘a space between, a space of paradox, ambiguity… and disjunction’ (Dwyer & Buckle, 2009, p. 60). Kerr and Sturm (2019) examine how they worked the hyphen in their fields, using the expression ‘the space between’. They conclude ‘researchers can never be complete insiders or outsiders’ having to deal with ‘the nuances, oscillations, dissonances, and paradoxes’ in their space between (Kerr & Sturm, 2019, pp.…”

Parents’ discursive accounts of their children’s participation in rugby league

“…In addition, as a parent of two children who played for the club during the research process, I had existing links with the club. These connections gave me the 'insider knowledge' recognised by some qualitative researchers as beneficial to the research process for expediting the process of recruiting participants (Kerr & Sturm, 2018). (This is discussed in greater detail in the following section.)…”

“…Personal club connections were responsible for a good proportion of the interviews that went ahead without postponement, cancellation or non-attendance; I attribute this in part to my insider status, which is said to facilitate easier access to participants (Kerr & Sturm, 2018). However, over half the interviews were with people who were unknown to me and who were approached anonymously at games.…”

“…In this sense, my status as insider/outsider was not clearly defined. The propensity within qualitative research to limit positionality to this insider/outsider binary is argued by Kerr and Sturm (2018) to be an inaccurate reflection of the nuanced ways in which researchers are positioned. Even so, my position as both insider and questionable outsider afforded me the dual benefits of access to participants that insider status is said to confer, as well as objectivity to the data that outsider status is thought to allow (Kerstetter, 2012).…”