Methodological Affects: Considering Researcher Emotion in Qualitative Research

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

This international symposium critically explores the insights qualitative researchers can take from exploring their emotional experiences of research and the methodological implications of taking emotion and affect seriously as sites of reflective inquiry. Drawing on data from two qualitative projects—one focusing on affect and LGBT issues in teacher education, and the second on approaches to sexuality education that engage with religious and cultural difference—the presenters explore how affect theory and sociological studies of emotion shift the terms of data collection, research design, and analysis. We argue that taking researcher’s emotions seriously when analyzing and working with qualitative data can facilitate a deeper engagement with the issues under investigation and better reflect the co-constructed nature of qualitative research.

Sub Unit

• Division D - Measurement and Research Methodologies / Section 3: Qualitative Research Methods

Chair

• Kathleen Anne Quinlivan, University of Canterbury

Papers

• The Analytical Affordances of Engaging With Researcher Affect: What’s at Stake? - Kathleen Anne Quinlivan, University of Canterbury; Mary Louise Rasmussen, Monash University

• Affecting Affiliations: Queer Relationality and the Boy in the Dress - Mary Louise Rasmussen, Monash University

• Unflattering Affect: The Ordinary and Illuminating Experience of Boredom in Qualitative Research - Jessica Fields, San Francisco State University

Discussant

• Wanda Pillow, University of Utah