Chapter 7: The ‘Transient Insider’: Identity and Intimacy in Home Community Research

Purpose – This reflexive account of bilingual research on rural household energy consumption within the researcher’s home community problematises her position as an insider researching ‘at home’. The chapter introduces the idea of the ‘transient insider’ as a way of better explaining her position, before going on to consider the ways in which fieldwork becomes bound up with emotionally and intellectually taxing professional and personal dilemmas.

Methodology/Approach – The study involved conducting repeat in-depth interviews with 11 households (25 individuals) – both together and apart – in rural north-west Wales.

Findings – The chapter illustrates the importance of paying heed to one’s own emotions during the research process – particularly those that may be uncomfortable – as a means of better understanding our own positionality as researchers and its role in the co-creation of interview data.

Originality/Value – The chapter builds on earlier work that has engaged with the role of emotion and subjectivity in shaping the research process and extends these discussions by examining the complexities involved in holding the position of the ‘transient insider’.