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May 19

Spring into Methods: Personal Reflexivity in Social Research: A Participatory Critical Realist Methodology Workshop for Researching Contemporary Social Dynamics

19 May 2023 @ 9:00 am - 5:00 pm

This methodology workshop aims to introduce early career researchers to critical realism as a philosophical approach and specifically to provide necessary skills, knowledge and confidence to apply ‘personal reflexivity’ as a methodological approach in arts, humanities and social science research. Critical realism is a powerful metatheory for underlabouring (clearing the ground) as an emancipatory philosophy fostering human flourishing. This approach can assist the researcher in answering the questions of ‘why, how, under which circumstances and what it takes to be human’ – the inevitable concerns within emancipatory research. Critical realism, in particular reflexive approach allows mapping a range of wider research methods within a single framework in exploring social phenomena, with greater potential to generate creative and innovative research approaches.

This one-day workshop is organised into a series of interactive, participatory ‘mini workshops’ focusing on key critical realist ontological concepts, including ‘reflexivity’ to ensure the participants being able to confidently apply critical realist principles in their own research. Reflexivity, also known as ‘internal conversations’ or ‘self-talk’, is the way we (individuals), connect with the world around us (society and culture), is a novel methodological approach, a research tool, that can provide important insights into the hidden realities associated with social action. Reflexivity is a personal power all human individuals possess through which they engage in internal conversations about themselves, their concerns, circumstances, aspirations and about the world around them, in consciously maneuvering their life journeys towards a satisfactory life situation – a modus vivendi. Through reflexivity individuals demonstrate resistance and attempt emancipation, flourishing and the good life. Reflexivity also offers a prime opportunity to recognise the individual voice – for example, through past or the present biographical narratives or texts. Thus, reflexivity as a research approach allows understanding how individuals respond to social dynamics in a wide range of fields such as education, creative and cultural industries, religion, legal work, politics, governance, EDI (equality, diversity and inclusion), digitalisation and social media, care work, language and literature and organisation studies. Reflexivity also offers greater potential to be a robust methodological approach in interdisciplinary research within and across arts, humanities and social sciences or where these intersect with other disciplines.

Please note, this event required a pre-registration application process which has now closed. Please do not register for this event unless you have been invited to do so by the SGSSS Team.  

Details

Date:
19 May 2023
Time:
9:00 am - 5:00 pm
Event Category:
Website:
https://social.sgsss.ac.uk/spring-into-methods/

Venue

Heriot-Watt University
Edinburgh, EH14 4AS United Kingdom
View Venue Website

Organisers

Dr. Lakshman Wimalasena
Dr. Caroline Kuhn
Attendance: 17 / 20