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- Convenors:
-
Zahra Tizro
(University of York St. John)
Nadia Aghtaie (University of Bristol)
- Location:
- 302
- Start time:
- 17 May, 2014 at
Time zone: Asia/Tokyo
- Session slots:
- 1
Short Abstract:
Researching issues surrounding gender in Iran has always been challenging due to its highly politicised nature. This panel will present the methodological and ethical challenges which researchers and academics encounter while investigating sensitive issues surrounding gender in Iran.
Long Abstract:
Academic activities surrounding sensitive issues are not often viewed favourably in autocratic regions where there is a culture of surveillance. Investigating gender related issues such as gender based violence and national and international policies and regulations in relation to women's rights have been and will be emotive topics for activists and academics (both inside and outside of Iran). Investigating these matters, sometimes, carry a significant risk and might lead to unwelcome and undesirable consequences. Researchers might find themselves in highly volatile and complicated situations they sometimes compromise their own safety in the process of data collection and at the same time they must prioritise their participants' safety and well-being. As well as safety issues, the panel will discuss methodological concerns such as self-representation, transparency, insider and outsider factors during the fieldwork as well as translational challenges at all stages of research from fieldwork to analysis. Furthermore, disseminating and publicising the research will be discussed as they often add more complications to the pre-existing problems. The panellists intend to confer their own experiences of doing research in Iran and Iranian community in diaspora and offer solutions and suggestions in how to deal with some of these ethical and methodological challenges hoping to pave the way for future studies.
Paper's titles:
(Co-convenor 1): Researching gender based violence amongst Iranian in the UK and Iran: the conflictual nature of the insider /outsider status.
(Co-convenor 2): Conceptual framework of elite female politicians in Iran: ethical and methodological aspects.
Accepted papers:
Session 1Paper short abstract:
This paper deals with the conceptual, ethical and practical issues of conducting research in relation to domestic violence against women in Iran. The paper intends to identify a number of issues attached to conducting research on sensitive topics in complex research fields.
Paper long abstract:
Undertaking research on sensitive and private topics such as domestic violence poses a great deal of challenges for both the researcher and the researched throughout the research procedure. This is intensified further when the research is conducted in complex areas (such as Iran) where topics with a politically sensitive nature could be viewed suspiciously and, therefore, unfavourably more especially if the research is conducted by academics who study and work outside the country. This, in turn, could potentially introduce unwanted risks and harm to those who are involved in the research. Protecting the safety of the participants is at the forefront of any research design along with obtaining informed consent, facilitating the participants' anonymity and protecting their rights. However, in practice, the researchers, unwittingly, might find themselves compromising not only their participants but also their own psychological and physical well-being by putting themselves and those related to them at risk. Meanwhile, in order to conduct research the researchers are obliged to follow a series of guidelines and protocols predominantly devised in the western countries which raise questions with regard to their practicality, applicability and ethics in a non-western context. The purpose of the following paper is to identify and address the above mentioned issues based on the author's own experiences of embarking a qualitative study in relation to domestic violence against women in Iran. The strategies being adopted to deal with some of these research risks and hazards will be discussed to pave the way for future studies.
Paper short abstract:
Looking at the attitudes of Iranian students to gender-based violence in Iran and the UK, this paper challenges the dichotomy of insider or outsider status. It shows the fluidity of one’s position with a focus on the ideological and political positioning of either the researcher or the ‘researched’.
Paper long abstract:
While researching the attitudes of Iranian students to gender based violence in Iran and the UK, my position in relation to the concepts of 'outsider' and 'insider' was not static and fixed. Due to various intersecting factors such as gender, location, socio-economic status, 'visibility' of ideological and political positioning and immigration status, I was never fully an outsider or an insider. Being in tune with the context and aware of one's culture, fluency in the language can certainly help the researchers to bridge the gaps and become accepted in the field. While having these common grounds might help to locate one with research participants, the 'insider' can also be the outsider due to factors such as gender and the ideological and political positioning of either the researcher or the 'researched'. The dichotomy created by the Iranian State as 'us' and 'them' based on people's acceptance of the State gender ideology and the potential consequences of challenging the State's norms may hold back some participants from making comments about socio/religious and political issues or it might allow further access to their perspectives based on the perceived positionality of the researcher by the participants. Considering that the above issues could have an impact on the research process from recruitment, data gathering to translation and interpretation, understanding of these processes could be an important contribution to a wider anthropological discussion.