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Researcher Positionality in Cross-Cultural and Sensitive Research

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Book cover Handbook of Research Methods in Health Social Sciences

Abstract

The status of the insider and outsider is an important concept for cross-cultural and sensitive research. In recent years, the concept of placement of the researcher has received much attention. Until a few generations ago, researchers who shared the same cultural, social, and linguistic background with those of the research participants mainly conducted research. However, over the last two decades, we have started to witness researchers who have different characteristics to that of the research participants conduct research in health and social sciences. In current times, this has led to the debates of insider versus outsider status of the researchers, as the way research participants “place” the researchers, and vice versa, is vital for the success of any research. In this chapter, we shall introduce the concept of researcher positionality. We will look at the debates on researcher positionality in cross-cultural and sensitive research and discuss “placing” issues such as gender, age, culture and ethnicity, social class, and shared experiences.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Science and Health, Western Sydney University, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Narendar Manohar & Amit Arora

  2. Sydney Dental School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Surry Hills, NSW, Australia

    Sameer Bhole

  3. Discipline of Paediatrics and Child Health, Sydney Medical School, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Amit Arora

  4. COHORTE Research Group, Ingham Institute of Applied Medical Research, Liverpool, NSW, Australia

    Amit Arora

  5. Oral Health Services, Sydney Local Health District and Sydney Dental Hospital, NSW Health, Surry Hills, NSW, Australia

    Sameer Bhole

  6. School of Science and Health, Western Sydney University, Penrith, NSW, Australia

    Pranee Liamputtong

  7. Oral Health Services, Sydney Local Health District and Sydney Dental Hospital, NSW Health, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Amit Arora

Authors
  1. Narendar Manohar
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  2. Pranee Liamputtong
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  3. Sameer Bhole
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  4. Amit Arora
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Amit Arora .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Science and Health, Western Sydney University, Penrith, NSW, Australia

    Pranee Liamputtong

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Manohar, N., Liamputtong, P., Bhole, S., Arora, A. (2019). Researcher Positionality in Cross-Cultural and Sensitive Research. In: Liamputtong, P. (eds) Handbook of Research Methods in Health Social Sciences. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-5251-4_35

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