For the past 7 years, the author has conducted qualitative research projects revolving around the experiences of West Bank settlers. The political situation in Israel in general, and the West Bank in particular, has undergone rapid and dramatic political, military, and social changes during this period. In highly politically sensitive situations such as this, the researcher is faced with physical, professional, emotional, and ethical threats. This article presents a conceptual discussion and case illustration of the use of four types of reflexive positioning: (a) identification with respondents, (b) emotional enmeshment, (c) personal associations, and (d) auto-ethnography. These reflexive positions reduce risks to the trustworthiness of the research and transform threats into opportunities to enrich qualitative data analysis.
Altman, I., & Low, S. (1992). Place attachment. New York : Plenum Press.
2.
Bamberg, M. (2005). Encyclopedia entry on "positioning." In D. Herman, M. Jahn, & M.-L. Ryan (Eds.), The Routledge encyclopedia of narrative theory (pp. 445-446). New York: Routledge.
3.
Burgess, R.G. (1981) Keeping a research diary. Cambridge Journal of Education, 11(1): 75-83.
4.
Calvey, D. (2000). Getting on the door and staying there: A covert participant observational study of bouncers. In G. Lee-Treweek & S. Linkogle (Eds.), Danger in the field: Risks and ethics in social research (pp. 43-60). London: Routledge.
5.
Canella, G.S., & Lincoln, Y.S. (2007). Predatory vs. dialogic ethics: Constructing an illusion or ethical practice as the core of research methods. Qualitative Inquiry, 13, 315-335.
6.
Christians, C.G. (2007). Cultural continuity as an ethical imperative. Qualitative Inquiry, 13, 437-444.
7.
Clandinin, D.J., & Connelly, F.M. (1994). Personal experience methods . In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (pp. 413-427). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
8.
Cromer, G. (2004). A war of words: Political violence and public debate in Israel. London: Taylor & Francis.
9.
Denzin, N.K., & Lincoln, Y.S. (1994). Introduction: Entering the field of qualitative research. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (2nd ed., pp. 1-17). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
10.
Denzin, N.K., & Lincoln, Y.S. (2000). The policies and practices of interpretation. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (2nd ed., pp. 897-992). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
11.
Ellis, C., & Bochner, A. (2000). Autoethnography, personal narrative, reflexivity: Researcher as subject. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (2nd ed., pp. 733-768). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
12.
Ely, M. (1991). Doing qualitative research: Circles within circles . London: Falmer Press.
13.
Gubrium, J.F., & Holstein, J.A. (1997). The new language of qualitative method. New York: Oxford University Press.
14.
Jipson, A.F., & Litton, C.E. (2000). Body, career and community: The implications of researching dangerous groups. In G. Lee-Treweek & S. Linkogle (Eds.), Danger in the field: Risks and ethics in social research (pp. 147-167). London: Routledge.
15.
Lankshear, G. (2000). Bacteria and babies: A personal reflection on researcher risk in a hospital. In G. Lee-Treweek & S. Linkogle (Eds.), Danger in the field: Risks and ethics in social research (pp. 72-90). London : Routledge.
16.
Lee-Treweek, G. (2000). The insight of emotional danger: Research experiences in a home for older people. In G. Lee-Treweek & S. Linkogle (Eds.), Danger in the field: Risks and ethics in social research (pp. 114-131). London: Routledge.
17.
Lee-Treweek, G., & Linkogle, S. (2000). Putting danger in the frame. In G. Lee-Treweek & S. Linkogle (Eds.), Danger in the field: Risks and ethics in social research (pp. 8-25). London: Routledge .
18.
Letherby, G. (2000). Dangerous liaisons: Auto/biography in research and research writing. In G. Lee-Treweek & S. Linkogle (Eds.), Danger in the field: Risks and ethics in social research (pp. 91-113). London : Routledge.
19.
Michalowski, R. (1996). Ethnography and anxiety: Field work and reflexivity in the vortex of U.S.-Cuban relations. Qualitative Sociology , 19, 59-82.
20.
Possick, C. (2002). Place attachment and place disruption among the original Jewish settlers in the Shomron. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel.
21.
Possick, C. (2003). Place attachment and place disruption in the lives of the original Jewish settlers in the Shomron. In Y. Eshel (Ed.), Judea and Samaria Research Studies (vol. 12, pp. 291-306). Ariel, Israel: The Judea and Samaria Research Institute of the College of Judea and Samaria .
22.
Possick, C. (2004). Locating and relocating oneself as a settler on the West Bank: Ideological squatting and eviction. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 24, 53-69.
23.
Possick, C. (2006). Coping with the threat of place disruption by long-term Jewish settlers on the West Bank. International Social Work, 49, 198-207.
24.
Reed-Danahay, D. (1997). Auto/ethnography. New York : Berg.
25.
Renzetti, C. M., & Lee, R. M. (Eds.). (1993). Researching sensitive topics. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
26.
Rosenblum, J. (2000, November 10). What we still have not learned from the Rabin assassination. Jerusalem Post.
27.
Shvut, A. (2002) The ascent to the mountain: The renewal of Jewish Settlement in Judea and Samaria (Heb.)Ariel, Israel: The Academic College of Judea and Samaria.
28.
Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. (1998). Basics of qualitative research: Grounded theory, procedures and techniques (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
29.
Stronach, I., Garratt, D., Pearce, C., & Piper, H. (2007). Reflexivity, the picturing of selves, the forging of method. Qualitative Inquiry, 13, 179-203.
30.
Westmarland, L. (2000). Taking the flak: Operational policing, fear and violence. In G. Lee-Treweek & S. Linkogle (Eds.), Danger in the field: Risks and ethics in social research (pp. 26-42). London: Routledge.
31.
Yadgar, Y. (2006). A myth of peace: The vision of the New Middle East and its transformations in the Israeli political and public spheres. Journal of Peace Research, 43, 297-312.
