Negotiating the swamp: The opportunity and challenge of reflexivity in research practice

Negotiating the swamp: The opportunity and challenge of reflexivity in research practice

Finlay L

Qualitative Research

2002

Research; critical analysis; intersubjectivity; methodological evaluation; reflection; reflexivity; researcher's experience

How should researchers reflexively evaluation ways in which intersubjective elements transform their research? The process of engaging in reflexivity is full of muddy ambiguity and multiple trails as researchers negotiate the swamp of interminable deconstructions, self analysis and self disclosure. This article examines how researcher-explorers from a range of research traditions have negotiated this swamp in practice, by drawing on examples of their relative experiences. 'Maps' are offered on five variants of reflexivity, namely: (I) introspection; (ii) intersubjective reflection; (iii) mutual collaboration; (iv) social critique; and (v) discursive deconstruction. The diversity of practice suggests competing, though also overlapping, accounts of the rationale and practice of reflexivity. In a critical celebration of the richness of reflexivity, this article aims to demonstrate how each way of approaching reflexivity offers different opportunities and challenges. It is hoped that the mpas provided will enable researcher-explorers to choose their preferred route through the swamp. The discussion section, along with a 'meta-reflexive voice' threaded throughout, highlights the critical issues at stake when attempting reflexive analysis in practice.

2002

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