Our Data, Ourselves: A Framework for Using Emotions in Qualitative Analysis

• In Event: Exploring and Questioning: Frameworks for Critical Positionality

Abstract

White scholars must hold ourselves and each other accountable for combating White fragility, and this work is both emotional and intellectual. This study focused on one interview from a year-long multi-case ethnography of three schools using restorative practices. The participant’s response to racism at her school in turn triggered researcher thoughts and feelings that, in turn, triggered a deeper understanding of the phenomenon under study as well as the researcher’s own bias. I frame my findings with an original framework that combines theories of vulnerability, relational accountability, critical Whiteness, and critical reflexivity. Researchers of all positionalities should revise this framework in ways that push our field toward more accountable, critical reflexivity.

Author

• Hilary Lustick, University of Massachusetts - Lowell