Researching my own backyard: inquiries into an ethnographic study

Zulfikar, Teuku

doi:10.1080/17457823.2014.919869

Cited by 15 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 23 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The use of an ethnographic research methodology allowed me to explore the phenomenon of community-based health promotion interventions from the subjective view of the residents (Lavis, 2010;Martin, 2012;Zulfikar, 2014). By taking such an approach, a qualitative health exploration of other realitiesas defined subjectively by the residentswas possible (Lavis, 2010;Martin, 2012;Zulfikar, 2014). The view of reality was both guided by predefined questions in my semi-structured interview guides and shaped by the lived experiences and meaningmaking processes of the residents in their everyday life (Kristiansen et al, 2016;Lavis, 2010).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…An 'insider' has been defined as a member of a particular group or collective with similar social, cultural and linguistic characteristics, whereas an 'outsider' is the equivalent non-member (Serrant-Green, 2002;Von Gaudecker, 2018;Weiner-Levy & Abu Rabia Queder, 2012). Yet, the formal status as an insider or an outsider is fluid and situational rather than fixed and binary, meaning the researcher can alternate between both statuses (Abu-Lughod, 1988;1991;Narayan, 1993;Weiner-Levy & Abu Rabia Queder, 2012;Zubair et al, 2012;Zulfikar, 2014). In some situations, this alternation might entail the researcher becoming a halfie (Abu-Lughod, 1991;Narayan, 1993;Von Gaudecker, 2018;Weiner-Levy & Abu Rabia Queder, 2012;Zulfikar, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Yet, the formal status as an insider or an outsider is fluid and situational rather than fixed and binary, meaning the researcher can alternate between both statuses (Abu-Lughod, 1988;1991;Narayan, 1993;Weiner-Levy & Abu Rabia Queder, 2012;Zubair et al, 2012;Zulfikar, 2014). In some situations, this alternation might entail the researcher becoming a halfie (Abu-Lughod, 1991;Narayan, 1993;Von Gaudecker, 2018;Weiner-Levy & Abu Rabia Queder, 2012;Zulfikar, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

‘You Are Kind of Like One of Us’: Exploring Researcher Positioning in Studying Community-Based Health Promotion Interventions Among Social Housing Residents of Danish, Turkish and Pakistani Origin

Srivarathan

2021

Qual Health Res

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The practice of qualitative research demands reflexivity throughout the entire research process, with special attention directed towards researcher positioning. In this article, I explore how aspects and characteristics of my social situation positioned me contrary to my expectations regarding researcher positioning. I draw on individual interviews, focus group discussions and field notes about community-based health promotion interventions among residents of Danish, Turkish and Pakistani origin in a deprived social housing area in Denmark. Rather than insider-outsider positioning, the concept represented by the term ‘halfie’ unfolds the complexity of my researcher positioning: less minority ethnic than the residents of Turkish and Pakistani origin and less Danish than the residents of Danish origin, but similar to both, being a descendant of Sri Lankan Tamil origin brought up in a Danish social housing area. Finally, I present methodological and ethical implications of being a halfie in the context of qualitative health research.

show abstract

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

‘You Are Kind of Like One of Us’: Exploring Researcher Positioning in Studying Community-Based Health Promotion Interventions Among Social Housing Residents of Danish, Turkish and Pakistani Origin

Srivarathan

2021

Qual Health Res

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…groups and communities (Bonner and Tolhurst 2002;Clifford 1986;Zulfikar 2014). Thus, insiderness has commonly been used to refer to shared experiences of, for example, institutionalised racism and of being positioned as an outsider (or a native) within white and 9 A full list of situations is provided in appendix two.…”

Section: Auto-ethnography -Collecting Personal Storiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Messy Multiculturalism - A critical conversation about state multiculturalism and the lived everyday experiences of cultural diversity in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Hansen¹

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

<p>This thesis provides an ethnographic study of multiculturalism in Aotearoa New Zealand, which investigates the tensions between government-led stories about social harmony and tolerance and the stories told by members of multicultural communities. Examining multiculturalism from an ethnographic perspective means attempting to understand this concept through the fragmented, multiform, non-systematic, evocative and constantly changing reality of social life and everyday human interactions. Essentially, this means exploring the sometimes ‘messy’ experiences of multiculturalism. The thesis is based on a narrative approach to ethnographic fieldwork, which involves the application of auto-ethnography, semi-structured interviews, participant observation, and document analysis as different avenues for story collection and analysis. I position myself as an academic listener, who makes sense of stories about multiculturalism by placing them alongside other types of stories and organising them through life-story and discourse analysis approaches. Through extensive Wellington-based fieldwork with grassroots organisations, everyday diversity experts, and multicultural activists, as well as discourse analysis of various forms of government publications and materials (i.e. conference speeches, booklets, reports, guidelines and photos), I gather evidence that reveals the complexities of multicultural identities when contrasted with government discourses of multiculturalism. I assemble and analyse two sets of stories – those told by government officials and representatives and those that emerge from the messy landscape of everyday life and grassroots multicultural movements. The key aim of this thesis is to stage a conversation between these different narrative terrains and shine a light on the disjunctive moments between government narratives about cultural diversity and the experiences, needs and aspirations of people who live multicultural lives and who engage in grassroots activism. In analysing the evidence, this thesis reveals the complex ways in which people that live multicultural lives experience cultural belonging, and documents how they deploy strategic and creative techniques to navigate government-based forms of multiculturalism. My findings suggest that stories told from those who are a part of Aotearoa’s culturally diverse communities pose challenges to the official and government led image of New Zealand as a harmonious, tolerant and welcoming nation. By applying a narrative approach to the exploration of information distributed by the government, I demonstrate how this kind of information is discursively constructed and contributes to a larger storytelling project in which state information works to craft a particular image of the nation. In the conversation that is staged throughout the thesis, it is argued that the government appears to support a weak version of multiculturalism, which only allows a tokenistic inclusion of ethnic minorities. The kind of multiculturalism which is aspired to from the ground – that is, by the everyday diversity experts and grassroots activists I interviewed during fieldwork – imagines a stronger version of multiculturalism. This version includes more radical forms of inclusion such as ethnic minorities being involved in decision making processes and being fairly represented in governing/public spaces, such as government agencies, local councils, school boards, law enforcement, legal institutions, and so on. Overall, this thesis contributes site specific and narrative-informed knowledge about the meaning of multiculturalism in New Zealand. It illustrates some of the factors that the government and policy makers need to be mindful of when they approach a multicultural population and matters of governance. It also exemplifies the kind of conversation topics and issues that are important and necessary to address in a multicultural settler society, when reflecting on how we understand and express the histories of cultural diversity and aspirations for a multicultural future.</p>

show abstract

Thinking Congregationally about British Muslims

Ahmed

2020

Islam and Christian–Muslim Relations

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Researching my own backyard: inquiries into an ethnographic study

Cited by 15 publications

References 23 publications

‘You Are Kind of Like One of Us’: Exploring Researcher Positioning in Studying Community-Based Health Promotion Interventions Among Social Housing Residents of Danish, Turkish and Pakistani Origin

‘You Are Kind of Like One of Us’: Exploring Researcher Positioning in Studying Community-Based Health Promotion Interventions Among Social Housing Residents of Danish, Turkish and Pakistani Origin

Messy Multiculturalism - A critical conversation about state multiculturalism and the lived everyday experiences of cultural diversity in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Thinking Congregationally about British Muslims

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About