IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/sagope/v5y2015i2p2158244015587560.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Why Did I Not Prepare for This? The Politics of Negotiating Fieldwork Access, Identity, and Methodology in Researching Microfinance Institutions

Author

Listed:
  • Juliana Siwale

Abstract

It has been increasingly recognized that undertaking qualitative research can pose many challenges for researchers. However, scanty literature focuses directly on the experiences of doctoral research students from developing countries studying in Western Europe and other similar geographic regions, and the challenges of doing fieldwork when they return “back home.†In this article, I use my experiences in the process of undertaking PhD fieldwork on two donor-funded microfinance institutions located in Zambia to demonstrate that doctoral students from specific regions (Africa in particular) undertaking research in their native countries can struggle to manage and make sense of the challenges and identity issues raised in their “familiar†environments. I also present a detailed discussion of how various gatekeepers and participants facilitated access, identity alteration, and the impact of insider–outsider positionality on collected data. It is concluded that organizational “politics†and local context can have significant bearing on power relationships, identities of researchers, and methodological preferences.

Suggested Citation

  • Juliana Siwale, 2015. "Why Did I Not Prepare for This? The Politics of Negotiating Fieldwork Access, Identity, and Methodology in Researching Microfinance Institutions," SAGE Open, , vol. 5(2), pages 21582440155, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:sagope:v:5:y:2015:i:2:p:2158244015587560
    DOI: 10.1177/2158244015587560
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2158244015587560
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/2158244015587560?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. James Copestake, 2002. "Inequality and the polarizing impact of microcredit: evidence from Zambia's copperbelt," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 14(6), pages 743-755.
    2. Rob Dixon & John Ritchie & Juliana Siwale, 2006. "Microfinance: accountability from the grassroots," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 19(3), pages 405-427, April.
    3. Laurila, Juha, 1997. "Promoting research access and informant rapport in corporate settings: Notes from research on a crisis company," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 13(4), pages 407-418, December.
    4. Mats Alvesson & Cynthia Hardy & Bill Harley, 2008. "Reflecting on Reflexivity: Reflexive Textual Practices in Organization and Management Theory," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(3), pages 480-501, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Siwale, Juliana & Gurău, Călin & Aluko, Olu & Dana, Léo-Paul & Ojo, Sanya, 2023. "Toward understanding the dynamics of the relationship between religion, entrepreneurship and social change: Empirical findings from technology-savvy African immigrants in UK," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 186(PB).
    2. Icíar García-Pérez & María Ángeles Fernández-Izquierdo & María Jesús Muñoz-Torres, 2020. "Microfinance Institutions Fostering Sustainable Development by Region," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-23, March.
    3. H. A. K. N. S. S. Surangi, 2022. "The Experience of Applying a Narrative Research Approach With Female Entrepreneurs in Sri Lanka," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(2), pages 21582440221, May.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Michelle Harbour & Jacques-Bernard Gauthier, 2020. "Complex polysemy and reflexivity in organizational research," Working Papers hal-01543416, HAL.
    2. Dambrin, Claire & Lambert, Caroline, 2012. "Who is she and who are we? A reflexive journey in research into the rarity of women in the highest ranks of accountancy," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 23(1), pages 1-16.
    3. Maddy Janssens & Chris Steyaert, 2009. "HRM and Performance: A Plea for Reflexivity in HRM Studies," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(1), pages 143-155, January.
    4. Erik Lundmark & Anna Krzeminska & Dean A. Shepherd, 2019. "Images of Entrepreneurship: Exploring Root Metaphors and Expanding Upon Them," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 43(1), pages 138-170, January.
    5. Angelo M. Solarino & Herman Aguinis, 2021. "Challenges and Best‐practice Recommendations for Designing and Conducting Interviews with Elite Informants," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(3), pages 649-672, May.
    6. Sekhon, Sumeet & Grant, Miriam, 2021. "Patterns of loan use for women’s self-help groups in rural Rajasthan," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 24(C).
    7. David S. A. Guttormsen & Fiona Moore, 2023. "‘Thinking About How We Think’: Using Bourdieu’s Epistemic Reflexivity to Reduce Bias in International Business Research," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 63(4), pages 531-559, August.
    8. Kelum Jayasinghe & Teerooven Soobaroyen, 2009. "Religious “spirit” and peoples' perceptions of accountability in Hindu and Buddhist religious organizations," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 22(7), pages 997-1028, September.
    9. Olga Gorelkina & Ioanna Grypari & Erin Hengel, 2019. "One strike and you’re out! The Master Lever’s effect on senatorial policy-making," Working Papers 201906, University of Liverpool, Department of Economics.
    10. Tony J. Watson, 2011. "Ethnography, Reality, and Truth: The Vital Need for Studies of ‘How Things Work’ in Organizations and Management," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(1), pages 202-217, January.
    11. Dan Brockington & Nicola Banks, 2014. "Exploring the Success of BRAC Tanzania’s Microcredit Programme," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series 20214, GDI, The University of Manchester.
    12. Robert, Kihlberg & Ola, Lindberg, 2021. "Reflexive sensegiving: An open-ended process of influencing the sensemaking of others during organizational change," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 39(4), pages 476-486.
    13. Giacomo Manetti & Simone Toccafondi, 2013. "Il coinvolgimento degli stakeholder nella governance e nel reporting delle fondazioni bancarie," MANAGEMENT CONTROL, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2013(3), pages 51-76.
    14. Brendan O'Dwyer & Jeffrey Unerman, 2007. "From functional to social accountability," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 20(3), pages 446-471, June.
    15. Sefa Awaworyi Churchill & Ahmed Salim Nuhu, 2016. "What has failed: microfinance or evaluation methods?," Journal of Sustainable Finance & Investment, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 6(2), pages 85-94, April.
    16. Dewi, Miranti Kartika & Manochin, Melina & Belal, Ataur, 2021. "Towards a conceptual framework of beneficiary accountability by NGOs: An Indonesian case study," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    17. Dvora Yanow & Haridimos Tsoukas, 2009. "What is Reflection‐In‐Action? A Phenomenological Account," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(8), pages 1339-1364, December.
    18. Lionel Garreau & Rodrigo Bandeira-De-Mello, 2010. "La théorie enracinée en pratique : vers un dépassement de la tension entre scientificité et créativité dans les recherches basées sur la théorie enracinée ?," Post-Print halshs-00580543, HAL.
    19. Shirazi, Nasim Shah, 2012. "Targeting and Socio-Economic Impact of Microfinance: A Case Study of Pakistan," Islamic Economic Studies, The Islamic Research and Training Institute (IRTI), vol. 20, pages 1-28.
    20. Stephen Allen & Ann L. Cunliffe & Mark Easterby-Smith, 2019. "Understanding Sustainability Through the Lens of Ecocentric Radical-Reflexivity: Implications for Management Education," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 154(3), pages 781-795, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:sagope:v:5:y:2015:i:2:p:2158244015587560. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.