I Didn’t See It Coming: Navigating an Uncomfortable Episode During Doctoral Research Fieldwork

Abstract

In this article, I revisit my experiences during my doctoral fieldwork from the lens of a novice qualitative researcher. Initially embracing the role of narrative inquirer, I was in the midst of navigating my inquisitive journey by re-examining my personal practical knowledge as a means to confront my puzzle of practice. Six months of fieldwork allowed me to re-experience my classroom teaching practice through a pair of new eyes. As my research was ending, events took an unexpected turn, leading to the delicate issue of female teacher/lecturer-student relationships during research fieldwork and the dilemma of deciding whether to include or ignore this so-called "uncomfortable episode" in my thesis. This article employs an autoethnographic approach to further explore the sequence of events I experienced during and after an interview session with a male research participant, as they happened. By sharing this story from an autoethnographic lens, I hope to shed some light on the implications of such an episode. The lesson learnt suggests that rigour, honesty, integrity, respect, responsibility, and reflexivity are among the principles that an ethical researcher upholds and are frequently embedded in one's own personal belief system. As such, a novice qualitative researcher should constantly embrace these values when faced with an unforeseen occurrence during research.