Thread by @drkakali

CRITICAL #QUALITATIVERESEARCH THREAD

1. I was asked for some sources one could follow if one wanted to disrupt dominant methodologies while doing critical social science/educational research. This thread is my response. I hope you'll read & share. #AcademicTwitter #PhD #phdchat

2. First, my conceptualization of critical: anything that interrogates power relations, such as race, class, gender, intersectionality work, culture work, disability work, sexual orientation work, etc. #AcademicTwitter #PhD #phdchat #qualitaitvresearch #quallove

3. It's important to explore/document why you're drawn to this work/topic. Not through sterile academic reasoning but through sensory, embodied, experiences, inner calling. What were your critical milestones that brought you to this work, aspirations, fear, etc. #AcademicTwitter

4. This is important to know not just for positionality, reflexivity, but to also bring clarity when you're in the thick of your work, feel fatigued, or experience challenges. This introspection needs constant revisit and vigilance. #AcademicTwitter #qualitaitvresearch #phdchat

5. While never linear, your introspective work will draw you to some critical framework & this will further inform your orientation. Here you HAVE to be honest with yourself the harm your community can experience due to what has been normalized as research. #qualitativeresearch

6. Linda Tuhiwai Smith's Decolonizing Methodologies is a brilliant must-read because she shows us how research is a dirty word for many communities. With examples, she traces history, practices, and effects of research. #AcademicTwitter #qualitaitvresearch #phdchat #highered

7. The question to ask yourself here would be, if my framework is in my head, & I understand the damaging structure and practice of research, then what makes the most sense in terms of how I'd approach participants/narratives/discourses for my work. #AcademicTwitter #qualitative

8. It's important to think if you were outside academic structure, how would you engage participants/narratives/discourses for your study? And why? Don't consider whether anyone has written about it yet. Be true to your introspection and theoretical orientation. #AcademicTwitter

9. This could as simple as hanging out, sister circles, storytelling, etc. But its important to know what is congruent with your critical and cultural understanding. Also, remain vigilant about how relationships form in various communities that defy western research structure.

10. For e.g., depending on your study, age, cultural identity, participants might form kinship relations with you. Then you have to consider how you want to balance that relationship with your inquirer role. I wrote an article on this: Consenting to the Consent form...

11. Also consider what knowledge could you share with cultural outsiders, and what is sacred communal knowledge to protect yourselves from being co-opted, exploited. Further, consider if you need to set up every step of known research process in advance like positivist research.

12. Practice-based research is part of qualitative work. Not all stages of research are pre-determined. The practice of engaging in community, tasks, informs the line of inquiry. Arts-based qualitative researchers do this a lot. See Natalie LeBlanc's award-winning dissertation.

13. Consider analytic and representative approaches informed by how you would engage the participants and community members of the study as your primary audience, the academy as your secondary. This will help deprogram what is normalized as research with oppressive effects. #phd

14. Look to cite community elders, village mothers, other mothers, as your legitimate sources of knowledge, if there aren't established work in your area. If there is work, then cite your own people, and center them. #AcademicTwitter #qualitaitvresearch #phdchat #highered #PhD

15. For e.g see works of @DrVEvansWinters, Michelle Fine, Lubna Chaudhry, Robyn Boylorn, Cynthia Dillard, Sally Campbell Galman, Johnny Saldana, Devika Chawla, Mohan Dutta, Brooke Hofsess, Sara Scott Shields, Gloria Anzaldúa, Susan Finley, Stephanie Shelton & my work if you like.

16. Ultimately, for recommended sources, "it really depends" on your orientation, topic, disciplinary politics, etc. Check out the journals Qualitative Inquiry & Qualitative Studies in Education, search for relevant pieces and see if there is congruency in theory and methodology.

17. Finally, depending on your disciplinary flexibility, you might want to push the established boundaries of data, analysis, & representation. Methodology can be reimagined, so make up a methodology that is congruent & respectful of your community. #qualitativeresearch #academia