Chapter 24: Reflexivity and Subjectivity: Making Race, Class, and Gender Visible

Feminist researchers have been contributing to the debate around the research process, emphasizing their roles as co-producers of research data (Edwards & Ribbens, 1998; Oakley, 1981; Stanley & Wise, 1990, 1993). Approaching academic research as a relation process (Cook, 2005), and moving away from the notion of objectivity that guides traditional valid scientific knowledge, these scholars are constantly bringing their subjectivity to the center of inquiry. Rather than pursuing an ideal of neutrality in their academic engagements, they deeply implicate themselves, making their voices audible throughout the process of data collection and interpretation. It is their argument that our personal biographies, cultural background, social and political positions impact the ways in which we make sense of research questions and results. We make research and produce knowledge as people of specific genders, races, classes, religions, and ethnicities and these elements have to be part of any interpretation we make.