Qualitative Approaches to Studying Marginalized Communities." In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education
Abstract
Marginalized populations are by definition composed of people who have fewer possibilities in their lives than researchers. Researchers may perceive marginalized groups as helpless victims, or as people who are able to tell their own story.
In this sense we approach the ethical aspect of the issue by means of the methodology we choose. When the researchers are from outside the marginalized group the key question is which methodology can be used to give a voice to those who are marginalized.
On the other hand, when the researcher is a representative of the group being studied the key question is how to achieve the distance necessary for analysis. All of these decisions have methodological consequences.
There are a wide range of qualitative research approaches, such as participatory research, autoethnographic research, narrative and biographical research or traditional qualitative research based on interviews with representatives of marginalized groups. In recent years a shift has also been seen from an outsider perspective that sees the marginalized as helpless victims towards more participatory research designs that promote the marginalized voice.
The common denominator of all these decisions is whose the voice is that is being heard - does it belong to the marginalized group or to outside world? Is it possible to overcome borders between these two worlds? What role does methodology play in this story?