Karen O'Reilly

Not everyone wants to hear about all your difficult decisions, changes of mind, reflections, doubts, insecurities, or achievements.  Yet researchers often seem to interpret reflexivity to mean reflection, and to involve simply dumping all the twists and turns of the project onto the reader, for them to make sense of. This is why reflexivity was sometimes referred to as ‘naval gazing’. 

Reflexivity as practice is much more active, engaged and purposeful. 

At the start of a project: be reflexive about presuppositions you might have (for example in first defining your research problem), identify any expectations, be clear about the literature you have read and how it shapes your research, clarify any theories you favour, or your philosophical leanings, and think about who you are and how your own background and experiences shape the research. Use reflexive positioning.

During the research: use reflexive positioning and navigating. 

During analysis: use reflexive interpreting. Interpreting data always involves considering the emotions and assumptions of all involved. Reflexive interpreting (Benson and O’Reilly 2020b; Chapter 3) acknowledges the reflexivity and positionality of the human individuals and groups with whom we undertake research, and therefore views social life itself as a (constantly shifting) reflexive process of negotiating and accommodating. 

But also, reflexive annotating and coding could track, reflect on, and consider personal motivations, experiences, and emotions, and how they are impacting the analysis as you proceed. Reflexive memoingcould involve articulating your thoughts, reflecting on them and acting to allow them to shape interactions (between you, participants, data, literature, and concepts). 

In your writing: consider what the reader needs to know and what will be helpful for them in terms of understanding, evaluating, and acting on your research. Usually, explain what reflexive practice means to you, with a few references to wider literature, and give a few examples of how it shaped the research – especially where it helped enlighten you.