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Hearing what research participants are really saying: The influence of researcher cultural identity
Author(s) -
West William,
Talib Mansor Abu
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
counselling and psychotherapy research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.38
H-Index - 32
eISSN - 1746-1405
pISSN - 1473-3145
DOI - 10.1080/14733140212331384735
Subject(s) - insider , faith , spirituality , qualitative research , psychology , interpretation (philosophy) , identity (music) , social psychology , sociology , epistemology , social science , aesthetics , medicine , alternative medicine , philosophy , pathology , computer science , programming language
This paper explores how the culture of the researcher can influence the interpretation of data collected in a qualitative study into counselling and spirituality. Counsellors or psychotherapists who were also members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) were interviewed about how their faith impacts on their therapeutic practice. The findings of this qualitative heuristic study were published (West, 1998). The researcher was white, British, male, a counsellor and a Quaker. Subsequently, five of the interview transcripts were randomly selected and given to a second researcher, who was Malaysian, male, a counsellor, and Muslim. These interviews were analysed thematically by the second researcher, without accessing the original analysis and published paper. The two analyses are presented and compared. Although there were many points of convergence, significant differences also emerged in the way the way the material was understood. A commentary on this process is offered by both researchers, and the implications of the insider/outsider distinction for research in counselling are discussed.