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Multiple Identities and Representations: Experiences in the Study of People's Life‐worlds in Rural Malawi
Author(s) -
Tembo Fletcher
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
singapore journal of tropical geography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.538
H-Index - 42
eISSN - 1467-9493
pISSN - 0129-7619
DOI - 10.1111/1467-9493.00154
Subject(s) - sociology , perception , power (physics) , process (computing) , social worlds , quality (philosophy) , dynamics (music) , epistemology , computer science , social science , pedagogy , physics , quantum mechanics , operating system , philosophy
This paper argues that in generating perceptual meanings of social actors as data, researchers need to deal with multiple representations, identities and categorisations of their own and those of their informants. The need to also consider power dynamics that develop in the communication process between the “researcher” and the "researched" in the process of generating data is also emphasised. The paper suggests that an analysis of image‐conflicts can be used to reveal the “hidden meanings” during these research encounters and improve the quality of research findings.