The Participant as Ally and Essentialist Portraiture

Abstract

This article describes some of the essential features of a methodological approach to studying individuals' deeper motivations and experiences. The overall approach consists of "interviewing for feeling" with "the participant as ally and co-contemplator," "conceptually developed essentialist portraiture," and cross-case discussion, with an epistemology based on C. H. Cooley's principle of "sympathetic introspection." The heart of the article is an example of an analysis of excerpts from an interview with an English as a second language teacher regarding her interest in language. The analysis illustrates how to see and conceptualize the manner in which certain essential aspects in the participant's consciousness and overall orientation evolve in time. This example is then used to illustrate several concerns of portraiture and the epistemological presuppositions of the approach. E very methodological approach in qualitative research is particularly suited for certain tasks and purposes. For example the frankness, caring, and indomitable spirit of Douglas's (1985) "creative interviewing" is perfect for "ask [ing] someone to tell all about love, their life as a beautiful woman, their career as a drug smuggler, their dread of being ugly and how it fits into their entire life" (p. 59). And Clandinin and Connelly's (2000) focus on narrative fits exactly these authors' aim to enable them to have dialogue with all concerned parties in the school regarding their research. The present article describes a methodology that is especially sensitive to deeper aspects in the individual, such as sources of inspiration and higher aspirations, and to subtler levels in experience and consciousness. The methodology does not stop at the phenomenology of subjective experience but endeavors to understand this experience, with empathy and sympathy as part of the larger unity of the person of whom this experience forms a part, and to communicate this understanding in carefully constructed portraits. The whole approach was devel-246

Waheeda Remembering Her Cat Izzy

“…The picture that emerged in these two sections may be compared with our experience with this methodology with young adults and adults as it has developed since then (Witz, 2006(Witz, , 2007Witz & Bae, 2011, and about a dozen dissertations), and with the conception of a single consciousness-and-"I" in the series "Consciousness in the study of human life and experience" (Witz & Brown, 2013;Witz & Goodwin, 2012). We briefly comment on these connections.…”

Research, relationships and making understanding: a look at Brantlinger'sDarlaand the value of case study research

“…That said, we can uphold best practices within educational research when we refer to ethical guidelines, fully disclose our procedures and acknowledge the participants' competency and agency. In his article, The participant as ally and essentialist portraiture, Witz (2006) does not address participants with disabilities in particular, but his analysis of a more active role of participants in research methodology serves my purpose here for re-conceptualising the research-participant relationship. Witz's (2006) approach, 'that is especially sensitive to deeper aspects in the individual' (246), supports my argument for the value of portraiture, or other kinds of qualitative in-depth research like that of Brantlinger's Darla.…”

“…In his article, The participant as ally and essentialist portraiture, Witz (2006) does not address participants with disabilities in particular, but his analysis of a more active role of participants in research methodology serves my purpose here for re-conceptualising the research-participant relationship. Witz's (2006) approach, 'that is especially sensitive to deeper aspects in the individual' (246), supports my argument for the value of portraiture, or other kinds of qualitative in-depth research like that of Brantlinger's Darla. An examination of the researcher -participant relationship is expanding among qualitative researchers, but certainly further study is needed particularly as it relates to those considered disabled and therefore often assumed unable to express their opinions.…”

Consciousness in the Study of Human Life and Experience: “Higher Aspects” and Their Nature

“…Susan in Witz (2006) is another example where the higher aspect emerges naturally in life. We already mentioned that her feelings about language and that what language meant to her evolved from "language as a way to connect with another person" in [2] to a stage where there are suggestion of spirituality in practice [3].…”