Contextual Reflexivity: Towards Contextually Relevant Research with South African HIV/AIDS Home-Based Care Volunteers

What are the processes through which researchers understand context and its value in the qualitative research process? This is an important question for researchers to consider and is especially pertinent in non-Western environments where Western research precepts have traditionally been followed. T...

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Main Authors: Thirusha Naidu PhD Candidate, Yvonne Sliep PhD
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SAGE Publishing 2011-12-01
Series:International Journal of Qualitative Methods
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1177/160940691101000409
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author Thirusha Naidu PhD Candidate
Yvonne Sliep PhD
author_facet Thirusha Naidu PhD Candidate
Yvonne Sliep PhD
author_sort Thirusha Naidu PhD Candidate
collection DOAJ
description What are the processes through which researchers understand context and its value in the qualitative research process? This is an important question for researchers to consider and is especially pertinent in non-Western environments where Western research precepts have traditionally been followed. This article proposes that continually addressing ethics in practice (ethical reflexivity) and maintaining methodological reflexivity keeps the researcher on the path to a deeper and broader perspective of the contextual salience of emerging data. The combination of the latter, which is referred to as ‘contextual reflexivity,’ produces an iterative-reflective-generative process, consistent with an Afrocentric view on research. This process includes ethical reflection on research activity beyond institutional requirements, as well as inter-relational reflexivity. Field material and reflective research journal extracts from a study on HIV/AIDS home-based care and support volunteers' (HBCVs) identity provide illustration of this process in practice.
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spelling doaj.art-d1c6bc33fb7045ebaf047e39e80218072022-12-21T17:49:46ZengSAGE PublishingInternational Journal of Qualitative Methods1609-40692011-12-011010.1177/16094069110100040910.1177_160940691101000409Contextual Reflexivity: Towards Contextually Relevant Research with South African HIV/AIDS Home-Based Care VolunteersThirusha Naidu PhD CandidateYvonne Sliep PhDWhat are the processes through which researchers understand context and its value in the qualitative research process? This is an important question for researchers to consider and is especially pertinent in non-Western environments where Western research precepts have traditionally been followed. This article proposes that continually addressing ethics in practice (ethical reflexivity) and maintaining methodological reflexivity keeps the researcher on the path to a deeper and broader perspective of the contextual salience of emerging data. The combination of the latter, which is referred to as ‘contextual reflexivity,’ produces an iterative-reflective-generative process, consistent with an Afrocentric view on research. This process includes ethical reflection on research activity beyond institutional requirements, as well as inter-relational reflexivity. Field material and reflective research journal extracts from a study on HIV/AIDS home-based care and support volunteers' (HBCVs) identity provide illustration of this process in practice.https://doi.org/10.1177/160940691101000409
spellingShingle Thirusha Naidu PhD Candidate
Yvonne Sliep PhD
Contextual Reflexivity: Towards Contextually Relevant Research with South African HIV/AIDS Home-Based Care Volunteers
International Journal of Qualitative Methods
title Contextual Reflexivity: Towards Contextually Relevant Research with South African HIV/AIDS Home-Based Care Volunteers
title_full Contextual Reflexivity: Towards Contextually Relevant Research with South African HIV/AIDS Home-Based Care Volunteers
title_fullStr Contextual Reflexivity: Towards Contextually Relevant Research with South African HIV/AIDS Home-Based Care Volunteers
title_full_unstemmed Contextual Reflexivity: Towards Contextually Relevant Research with South African HIV/AIDS Home-Based Care Volunteers
title_short Contextual Reflexivity: Towards Contextually Relevant Research with South African HIV/AIDS Home-Based Care Volunteers
title_sort contextual reflexivity towards contextually relevant research with south african hiv aids home based care volunteers
url https://doi.org/10.1177/160940691101000409
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AT yvonnesliepphd contextualreflexivitytowardscontextuallyrelevantresearchwithsouthafricanhivaidshomebasedcarevolunteers