Before diving deep into the meaning of the insider and outsider approach in research methodologies, we need to know the meaning of a term that defines these two terms, “Positionality”. What does positionality mean?
What is positionality?
Researchers are the interface between science and society. Within a single project also, they play varied roles. As someone significant who takes the knowledge of innovation and discovery to the common world, researchers are bridge builders, policy advisors and sometimes even the trigger points as activists. This is something that defines the role of the researcher with the outside world but within the project itself, the role that the researcher is playing is his positionality. Positionality defines itself as whether the researcher or investigator sees himself within the project as an outsider, insider or neutral to the investigation. The researcher, during the process must wear multiple hats, the aspect where he plays the role if a scrutinizer is often taken for granted. But it is vital to be aware of the role of the researcher as an intervener in the research. However, when a researcher tries to assess his positionality, he need not only think of the role he has to play but also the way he is involved and related to the communities and organizations that he is researching. Is he an outsider, insider or is he both?
Mostly the positionality of the researcher can be split into six different categories. This can also be referred to as the insider outsider continuum. The different categories of the positionality are explained here:
Insider (Independent): As an insider the involvement of the researcher is such that he studies himself or his own practice as a part of the research. For example, a high school environment teacher researching his own teaching practice.
Insider with Insider: As an insider researcher, the research scientist can collaborate with other insiders and tends to study a group that he or she is a part of. For example, a high school teacher studying the impact of online teaching on students of their institution.
Insider with Outsider: Another way this insider positionality finds its applicability in research is when the researcher, who is an outsider, is approached by a group or an organization who are the insiders to collaborate with them for research. For instance, a company calls a researcher who is a high school teacher to understand the impact of online teaching on professional productivity of future employees.
Reciprocal Collaboration: The researcher who in this case is an outsider collaborates with a group such as an organization or community members (insiders) to form an insider-outsider team or in a partnership. For example, researchers and a group of policy makers form a team to develop a better scientific understanding of the impact of traditional teaching practices and decide whether to promote their use.
Outsider Collaborating with insider: The researcher being an outsider approaches a group of insiders. It could be a specific organization, institution, community to start a project. For instance, an environmental researcher approaches a village community to study the impact of modern agricultural techniques on their productivity.
Outsider studies Insiders: In this farthest end of the continuum, the researcher studies the phenomenon but does not do any collaboration or partnership with the insiders. For instance, a researcher studies a lot of secondary research, theories, and surveys on environment degradation to derive his own conclusion and analysis. He does not involve the persons who have taken up those researches in the first place.
Why is it important for a researcher to care about his positionality in this vast spectrum where his positionality could be any of the six. Does it really matter?
The answer to the above question is very crucial as well as vital for a researcher to understand. Positionality and its understanding by the researcher are important because it has an impact on the types of different ethical and methodological dilemmas that the researchers are faced with and the positionalities must be explored in the light of these dilemmas.
As outsiders, researchers have a strong advantage of being able to observe phenomena without having any preconceptions and are hence able to see the landscape with an unbiased perspective or a fresh lens. But at the same time, there is a flip side to it, which is that the outsider will always be lacking the lived experience that an insider would have and consequently may not be able to dive down to the bottom of the understanding of the issue and become a catalyst to instigate change.
There are advantages and disadvantages with both the positionalities and for an insider researcher, they can glean great insights that the outsider may find it difficult to access and it is important for an insider researcher to work harder than usual to identify sand bring forth the taken for granted aspects of the practices of the group of which he himself is an integral part.
The dynamic of the role of the researcher changes and strongly depends on who has initiated the research. For instance, the invitation to collaborate for research has been initiated by the company to the researcher then they will mostly have a lot of investment in the outcome of the research and in a reversed situation, if the research has been initiated by the researcher and the company is participating the company may not be concerned with the outcome so would not be inclined to invest in the outcome.
Mostly, the researcher sits in different places on the above explained continuum and the six categories. It depends on the fact that which aspect of the identity is being considered. There are different aspects of identity that should be considered by researchers. Mainly these are,
-
Getting familiar with the setting that is under study
-
The societal group one belongs to, such as class, race, ethnicity, gender, age, religion and so on)
This is because all identity groups have varying histories and relationships to hierarchies, power, imperialism, and the researchers’ identities shape their positionality.
During the project also, there is a chance that positionalities can shift. So many times, the outsider researcher who is studying a group of insiders would make a transition on the continuum and encourage a more collaborative and productive relationship with the ones they are researching. In fact, at times the positionalities can take a shift in the reverse direction as well. For instance, a doctoral researcher may start a project as an insider and collaborator, but over the long course of the Ph.D. journey, the job roles may take a change and that could subsequently revise the identity. Suddenly he may have to take an outsider view of the picture, leading him to position himself as an outsider who is collaborating with the insiders.
The impact of research questions on the positionality of an online researcher:
Are you drafting questions that are based on the understanding and experience of the problem that you have or the research questions are being framed on what has been learnt from the extensive study of the existing literature on the topic. Nothing is explicitly right or wrong about the insider or outsider approach towards the research. What is in fact more important is that one needs to be self-aware and transparent about the position and the way it impacts the research design decisions.
What is better, to be an insider or outsider in online study?
As a researcher, from the initial stages of the research design you should know your positioning in the study. You must be clearly able to explain if and to what extent, you are taking an outsider or insider position and the way that position is adding value to your study.
Qualitative researchers who interact with their participants value the closeness and contact these methods allow. The qualitative researchers who use extant data value access to posts and discussions that exhibit robust interactions or detailed knowledge of the subject. In both situations, a lot of knowledge of online groups, sites or topics being studied can enable the access that might not be there with other researchers.
How close is too close? At what point is the degree of intimacy with the organization, group or the participant or the kind of familiarity that is there with the research problem can affect the integrity of the study. So, the insider approach also beyond a certain point can be detrimental for the authenticity of the research.
Some of the researchers describe the outsider positionality as Etic and the insider position as Emic. The etic positionality culls out the research problem from the literature and the ones with emic positionality draw on their own knowledge and understanding to identify and create the research problems.
In some of the research types, the nature of the research is such that the insider or outsider approach gets pre decided. In the case of autoethnographies, the researchers must necessarily have an insider’s perspective. The typical outside researchers are those that conduct research based on observations or archiving historical record analysis.
In the case of online research there is a slight shift in the perspective when one talks of online or offline research. The interpretation must be done with a slight difference. Some degree of insider knowledge may be required for the access of research settings to for a clearer comprehension of the situation, culture, and the type of experience that is being studied. For an insider, in the case of online research, it becomes much easier for recruiting the participants because of the familiarity with the culture and trends of the group. It may also be easier to gain permissions to use the archives or the past data that is already available online. With the virtual research participants, trust can become an issue and for an insider researcher, it becomes easier to build communication and rapport as he has the familiarity with the styles of communication and the modes as well.
At the same time, in an online community where the researcher is an active member and holds a recognition, it is imperative for him to guard against having a lot of familiarity with the online settings and it becomes difficult to overlook the assumptions that are preexisting. This can come in the way of a deep probe to bring about those challenges or difficulties that cannot be ignored to maintain the quality of the research. Here the role of an outsider in positionality can add a broader perspective to research and bring in the much-needed originality to research that an outsider would ignore.
Authorities in research state that in a lot of situations, the researcher may have to switch between the outsider and insider perspective at varying stages of the study. The researcher might have inside knowledge, access, or experience with having conducted the study from an all together individual emic stance. The insider always has the advantage of starting with questions that have originated from the experience of the researcher and then help to create fresh areas of inquiry after a good consultation of literature. One can understand the options of insider and outsider positionality and the required shift from the below model
Conclusion
Let us look at positionality, not as an extreme choice but a continuum between the two extremes where the researcher might have to switch from one to another as per the different requirements and challenges of each stage of research. This is usually the approach that a seasoned researcher adopts and takes forward in a big project where a team is involved and the team is so created and roles are so assigned that as per the requirement the insider and outsider can do justice to the project. Ultimately, ethics and integrity are the fundamental commitments towards any research and something that the researcher must ensure that it will not be compromised upon in any condition. With a well-planned switch between etic and emic positionality there can be complete justice to the ethics and integrity of the research requirement.