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Presenters: Robin Throne, PhD, Northcentral University; Linda K. Bowlin, PhD, Southeastern University; Vahick Yedgarian, PhD, University of California, Los Angeles
Contributors: Brian Bourke, PhD, Murray State University; Susan Joseph, PhD, Cochran School of Nursing; Victoria Hailey, PhD, Minnesota State University, Mankato
Insider/Outsider, Betwixt and Between: Post-Doc Perspectives of Researcher Positionality after Dissertation Research
RESEARCHER POSITIONALITY
IN CONTEXT
Researcher positionality can be considered
within the multi-faceted, complex, and
necessary structures surrounding an
inquiry before it could or should be
engaged (Bourke, 2014; Throne, 2012). It
can also offer a transparency necessary to
the perspectives brought to the inquiry or
the perspectives that serve to frame it and
the internal aspects of the researcher as a
complex instrument within the inquiry.
Conveyance of positionality purports the
power structures and social identities of an
investigator to fully self-identity their place
and position within the scholarship of the
field or discipline, and especially to define a
clear viewpoint in drawing conclusions and
implications from the results of any inquiry.
ABSTRACT
This poster session presents considerations
for post-doctoral perspectives of researcher
positionality within dissertation research at
one online university. Researcher
positionality is essential for valuable self-
examination of new investigators, especially
those who desire to focus on a dissertation
research problem from professional practice.
A doctoral candidate acquires a researcher
identity whereby the candidate must
consider and integrate through an iterative
and evolutionary process of reflection and
integration throughout the research
experience to distinguish an emergent
positionality, and these perspectives often
evolve post-doc as the researcher continues
to engage within the scholarly community.
Consideration for the inherent dualities of
insider/outsider and positionality can offer a
transparency necessary to the perspectives
brought to the inquiry especially for practice-
based research a doctoral graduate may
navigate from a post-doc perspective.
POST-DOC RESEARCHER POSITIONALITY
When entering the important and priority-
shifting engagement with graduate-level
scholarship, it is important to understand
one’s own position within this landscape
before determining how to conduct research
within it. Researcher positionality is often
considered a necessary process of a
principal investigator for critical self-reflection
and a determination of self within the social
constructs, biases, contexts, layers, power
structures, identities, transparency,
objectivity and subjectivities for the viewpoint
assumed within the research. The
acknowledgement of the role and potential
influence of researcher bias is a critical
component of qualitative researcher.
Through acknowledging biases, and
subjectivities, both of which are products of
individual positionalities, qualitative
researchers engage themselves as part of
the researcher.
Researcher positionality shifts during the
dissertation journey as doctoral scholars
acquire a researcher identity whereby an
iterative and evolutionary process of
reflection and integration occurs throughout
the research. An important aspect of the
integrative process is to assess the multiple
identities as professional practitioner,
scholar, and investigator as positionality
must also be considered within the multi-
faceted, complex, and necessary structures
surrounding research within the discipline.
The dissertation chair must guide the
doctoral scholar to recognize and take into
account the situated positionality within the
research setting. This is essential when the
researcher considers inquiry within a
workplace research setting where they
maintain the dual identities of practice
professional/new researcher. We asked
post-doctoral scholars to reflect on this after
the doctoral dissertation to pause and
declare the post-doc researcher’s
positionality (see Figure 1).
DISSERTATION CHAIR AGENCY
▪Strong mentoring ethos
▪Healthy & diverse communication style
▪Priority for quality chair-candidate
relationship
▪Resource driven not chair driven
▪Consistent iterative documental feedback
▪Transformative investigator development
▪Incremental scholarly writing development
▪Incremental research skill development
▪Meaningful suspense dates remain flexible
▪Celebratory dissertation journey measures
(THRONE, ODDI, ET AL., 2017)
RESEARCHER POSITIONALITY
BYDEFINITION
Researcher positionality (noun) A necessary
process of a principal investigator for critical
self-reflection and a determination
of self within the social constructs, biases,
contexts, layers, power structures, identities,
transparency, objectivity and subjectivities
for the viewpoint assumed within the
research.
As bias remains a naturally occurring human
characteristic, positionality is often used in
the context of the inductive approach to
social science inquiry as an exploration of
the investigator’s reflection on one’s own
placement within the many contexts, layers,
power structures, identities, and
subjectivities of the viewpoint (England,
1994; Ganga & Scott, 2006). Positionality
allows for a narrative placement for
researcher objectivity and subjectivity
whereby the researcher is situated within the
many aspects of perspective and
positionality (Lave & Wenger, 1991). This
often serves to inform a research study
rather than to invalidate it as biased or
contaminated by personal perspectives and
social or political viewpoints (Bourke, 2014;
Bowlin, Buckner, & Throne, 2016).
Figure 1. A Four-Case Assimilation of Post-Doc Situated
Researcher Positionality (N=4).
KEY REFERENCES
Bourke, B. (2014). Positionality: Reflecting on the research
process. The Qualitative Report, 19, 1–9.
Bowlin, L. K., Buckner, S. A., & Throne, R. (2016). Duality,
positionality, and stance: Workplace dissertation research as
preparation for practice-based research. Twelfth International
Congress of Qualitative Inquiry, University of Illinois, Urbana-
Champaign.
Lave, J. & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate
peripheral participation. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Throne, R. (2012). Positionality. In Practitioner research in doctoral
education (p. 56). Dubuque, IA: Kendall Hunt.
Throne, R., Oddi, B., Fore, C. J., Akagi, C, Bloomberg, L., Clowes,
M. C., O'Connor Duffy, J., Riggle, B., St. Louis, L., Shaw, M., &
Wardlow, R. (2017). The Situated Dissertation Advising Framework
for improved doctoral completion in a School of Education. 1st
Annual Conference on Academic Research in Education.