Memo on My Positionality

When reflecting on my positionality, I think about pre-existing factors that can influence the relationships between me and the research participants. Like every qualitative researcher, I need to consider my fixed attributes, which are either impossible or difficult to change, as well as movable or achieved characteristics which can be changed. Moreover, being aware of one's positionalities is good for one's personal development and growth. Through reflecting on one's positionality, a person can learn more about his or her identity. Below I am going to discuss various aspects of my positionality and then look in detail at the characteristic that I feel could affect my relationships with the research participants the most.

To begin with, I would like to talk about nationality. Interestingly, nationality is an attribute which is considered to be fixed, however, in my view, it could easily become a movable characteristic. To illustrate, I am Russian, but if I, for example, move to the United States and become a US citizen, my nationality will change. On the other hand, I cannot change my ancestry. I come from Russia and I also have Ukrainian roots on my mother's side. This aspect of my positionality cannot be changed. As to more movable attributes, I find that such characteristics as language and cultural identity can be changeable. Take, for example, my identity - I currently identify myself with Russian and European cultures. However, I could move, for instance, to the United States, integrate into American society and commit the so-called 'cultural suicide' getting rid of my Russian cultural identity and adopting a new American one. In this case, my cultural identity would be changed. Same happens with language; if one leaves in a foreign country long enough and neither practices speaking his or her native language nor read in it, this person eventually forgets the language or detaches himself or herself from this language. As a result, the first language of the person will change from the native to the adopted one. Thus, it is easy to see why language and cultural identity could be considered movable characteristics.

Getting back to the context of my study, I believe that my race is the characteristic which can affect my relationships with the research participants the most. I am White and in the context of Hawaii where the majority of population are people of color, it could complicate the process of inquiry. To illustrate, the participants might consider my beliefs and values to be very close to those of the White Americans who, from their point of view, might not be able to understand their struggles and, as a result, misinterpret their words and actions, and misrepresent these cultural groups and subgroups in the final wright-up. For example, a young woman from my Introduction to Higher Education class once confided in me that when she first saw me, she decided that I would not understand their lives as minorities and it would be hard to discuss minority issues with me. It took her some time to understand that being an international student, I am different from American White people and in many ways I can get what the minorities are going through in their lives. However, not every person of color can see that, and for many it can takes up some time to come to this conclusion. Thus, it could be difficult for me to establish rapport and trust with the research participants. To address this issue, I am going to spend some meaningful time with the participants before officially starting the research. I will let them get to know me as a person as well as learn about their lives. Additionally, I am going to tell them about my heritage and the struggles my family and my peoples went through. Hopefully, they will be able to relate to my struggles and, therefore, start feeling more comfortable around me and eventually develop trust towards me. However, I am aware that some people might still not be willing to open up in front of me. So I will have to learn to be patient and accepting. Trying to look at myself from the participants' perception could also be a very helpful strategy and I will do my best to understand where they are coming from.

Lastly, I am aware that I have more positionally attributes that could influence my research design. For example, among my fixed characteristics are my sex (and gender), race and ancestry, to name just a few. My achieved or movable attributes include attained educational level, socioeconomic status, institutional affiliation, job, marital status, etc. Some of these characteristics will affect the study more than others, but it is important to be aware of all of them and how they might influence relationships with the research participants.