Open AccessBeing a Korean Studying Koreans in an American School: Reflections on Culture, Power, and Ideology
Author(s) -
Minjung Lim
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
the qualitative report
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2160-3715
DOI - 10.46743/2160-3715/2012.1803
Subject(s) - situated , ideology , reflexivity , sociology , power (physics) , insider , epistemology , field (mathematics) , negotiation , power structure , gender studies , politics , social science , ethnography , anthropology , political science , law , philosophy , physics , mathematics , quantum mechanics , artificial intelligence , computer science , pure mathematics
Recent debates on situated knowledge highlight the issue of the researcher’s position in the research process, challenging the traditional assumption of the insider/outsider dichotomy. Drawing on my fieldwork among Korean immigrant parents in an American school, I describe my shifting positions in negotiation and scrutinize the ways my reflexivity intersects with culture, power relations, and political ideologies in the research process. This self-analysis highlights partial and situated knowledge claims, questioning the author’s value-neutral, authoritative voice in texts. I argue that the researcher should critically reflect on her location in the field and articulate how this position influences the research.