Navigating Methodological Concerns at the Data Collection Stage: Lessons from a Qualitative Indian-Irish Adoption Study

Abstract

This paper was written to describe the experiences of the researchers in designing cross-cultural research on the culturally sensitive topic of adoptive parenthood, a field in which there is a dearth of literature. Taking the experience and examples from an Indian-Irish study on domestic adoptive parenthood, the paper details the steps as to how the researchers used their own relationship with adoption, and the different cultural contexts to which they belonged, as a starting point in designing and implementing this research. The discussion utilizes a conceptual framework involving insider-outsider positioning, reflexivity and five philosophical assumptions (ontology, epistemology, methodology, axiology, and rhetoric) to show how cross-cultural research can be negotiated. Through the research design and data collection stage, researchers' understanding about themselves and about the adoption process in the two countries, is used as a backdrop for the exploration. While various deliberations and negotiations between the researchers are described, the paper also shows the differences and methodological concerns that can be steered through inter-cultural territory, where reflexivity is central to all stages of the endeavor. These processes and reflections are summarized in this paper, with recommendations for students and academics to promote the discussions around the design of qualitative cross-cultural work.