5.4 The Research Field—Reflexive Accounts
67
I engaged in the three practices of reflexivity by taking notes on my own positioning in relation to the data collection and analysis phases. I also documented
my research process and progress from when I applied to the University’s ethics
committee to when I wrote my concluding paragraph in Chapter 9. I also kept a
research journal that I constantly consulted to make my research decisions. Revisiting these notes allowed me to question my own understandings of social investment
and whether these understandings derived from my emotions and values, or from an
empirical consideration of the participants’ narratives and the guideline documents.
In this research, I adopt ‘reflexivity’ in relation to my position as someone who
has worked with O&G social investment and who now researches social investment
in the O&G sector. My intentions of recounting my journey as a social investment
expert were not to use this platform as a confessional tale, where I endlessly reflect
upon my own experiences (Pillow, 2003). Rather, my intention is to provide an
account that will reassure the reader that my findings are systematically contaminated and that “this contamination with my own lived experiences results in rich
and complex understanding” (Pillow, 2003, p. 183) of how experts experience O&G
social investment.
This reflexive exercise also aims to raise awareness of what is influencing my
ontological and epistemological beliefs in relation to social investment, and how
these beliefs led me to adopt a critical theoretical approach, as outlined in Chapter 4.
This reflexive exercise also increased my awareness of what was influencing my
methodological decisions as a researcher (Dowling, 2006). By unpacking my own
processes of decision-making in this research, I am also examining the political
constructions that inform this research (Dowling, 2006). In other words, when I
identify myself with my research participants and topic, I am constantly aware of
how my values and perceptions are impacting the research process which allows for
a more in-depth understanding of my interpretations (Cohen, Manion, & Morrison,
2013; Dowling, 2006; Pillow, 2003, 2010).
5.5 Summary
In this chapter, I outlined my qualitative research design and methods, described
the formal ethical procedures, and summarised the main ethical dilemmas I encountered in the process of conducting this research. I then outlined the qualitative data
collection methods used, including my strategies for recruitment, how I conducted,
transcribed and analysed the interviews; and selected and analysed the guideline
documents.
In this chapter, I attempted to provide a careful and accurate description of my
research methodology to provide a basis for theory building that informs policy and
practices (Patton, 2002) of social investment in the O&G sector.
The three following chapters describe my research ‘findings’. In Chapter 6, I
consider participants’ understandings of social investment. I pay particular attention to the main discourses social investment experts drew on in their accounts. In
67
I engaged in the three practices of reflexivity by taking notes on my own positioning in relation to the data collection and analysis phases. I also documented
my research process and progress from when I applied to the University’s ethics
committee to when I wrote my concluding paragraph in Chapter 9. I also kept a
research journal that I constantly consulted to make my research decisions. Revisiting these notes allowed me to question my own understandings of social investment
and whether these understandings derived from my emotions and values, or from an
empirical consideration of the participants’ narratives and the guideline documents.
In this research, I adopt ‘reflexivity’ in relation to my position as someone who
has worked with O&G social investment and who now researches social investment
in the O&G sector. My intentions of recounting my journey as a social investment
expert were not to use this platform as a confessional tale, where I endlessly reflect
upon my own experiences (Pillow, 2003). Rather, my intention is to provide an
account that will reassure the reader that my findings are systematically contaminated and that “this contamination with my own lived experiences results in rich
and complex understanding” (Pillow, 2003, p. 183) of how experts experience O&G
social investment.
This reflexive exercise also aims to raise awareness of what is influencing my
ontological and epistemological beliefs in relation to social investment, and how
these beliefs led me to adopt a critical theoretical approach, as outlined in Chapter 4.
This reflexive exercise also increased my awareness of what was influencing my
methodological decisions as a researcher (Dowling, 2006). By unpacking my own
processes of decision-making in this research, I am also examining the political
constructions that inform this research (Dowling, 2006). In other words, when I
identify myself with my research participants and topic, I am constantly aware of
how my values and perceptions are impacting the research process which allows for
a more in-depth understanding of my interpretations (Cohen, Manion, & Morrison,
2013; Dowling, 2006; Pillow, 2003, 2010).
5.5 Summary
In this chapter, I outlined my qualitative research design and methods, described
the formal ethical procedures, and summarised the main ethical dilemmas I encountered in the process of conducting this research. I then outlined the qualitative data
collection methods used, including my strategies for recruitment, how I conducted,
transcribed and analysed the interviews; and selected and analysed the guideline
documents.
In this chapter, I attempted to provide a careful and accurate description of my
research methodology to provide a basis for theory building that informs policy and
practices (Patton, 2002) of social investment in the O&G sector.
The three following chapters describe my research ‘findings’. In Chapter 6, I
consider participants’ understandings of social investment. I pay particular attention to the main discourses social investment experts drew on in their accounts. In