Waiting, power and time in ethnographic and community-based research

Palmer, J; Pocock, C; Burton, L

Waiting, power and time in ethnographic and community-based research

Palmer, J

Pocock, C Burton, L

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Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Qualitative Research, 2018, 18 (4), pp. 416 - 432
Issue Date:: 2018-08-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Palmer, J https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4131-4482	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Pocock, C	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Burton, L	en_US
dc.date.issued	2018-08-01	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Qualitative Research, 2018, 18 (4), pp. 416 - 432	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	1468-7941	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/131285
dc.description.abstract	© The Author(s) 2017. Waiting is one of the most common phenomena in ethnographic and other community-based research. Nevertheless, it remains under-explored in academic writing about the theoretical and methodological aspects of fieldwork. While waiting time often allows new data or information to emerge, we argue that such times have a significance independent of knowledge outcomes. We review various conceptions of waiting: as a time for self-awareness; the use of enforced waiting to exert power over the disadvantaged; and its obverse, the choice by the more powerful to ‘wait upon’ another’s needs and priorities. We use stories from our own fieldwork experience to suggest that in the particular context of ethnographic or community-based research, the choice to ‘wait upon’ others is a form of researcher reflexivity that can partially redress historical or current power imbalances.	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Qualitative Research	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1177/1468794117728413	en_US
dc.subject.classification	Social Sciences Methods	en_US
dc.title	Waiting, power and time in ethnographic and community-based research	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	4	en_US
utslib.citation.volume	18	en_US
utslib.for	160807 Sociological Methodology and Research Methods	en_US
utslib.for	13 Education	en_US
utslib.for	16 Studies in Human Society	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/DVC (Research)
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/DVC (Research)/Institute For Sustainable Futures
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access
pubs.issue	4	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	18	en_US

Abstract:

© The Author(s) 2017. Waiting is one of the most common phenomena in ethnographic and other community-based research. Nevertheless, it remains under-explored in academic writing about the theoretical and methodological aspects of fieldwork. While waiting time often allows new data or information to emerge, we argue that such times have a significance independent of knowledge outcomes. We review various conceptions of waiting: as a time for self-awareness; the use of enforced waiting to exert power over the disadvantaged; and its obverse, the choice by the more powerful to ‘wait upon’ another’s needs and priorities. We use stories from our own fieldwork experience to suggest that in the particular context of ethnographic or community-based research, the choice to ‘wait upon’ others is a form of researcher reflexivity that can partially redress historical or current power imbalances.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/131285