In this article, I argue that a radical empirical and postpositivist approach offers new ways of understanding the other in sociological research. By ignoring mainstream sociological expectations that call for distance between the observer and observed and focusing on the interplay between them, field researchers may better understand the commonalities and differences between themselves and the observed. Through a self-reflexive, testimonial narrative depicting my covert research experiences at a conference of fundamentalist Christian ex-gays, I explore the realities of self-risk and self-change that occur when investigating the other through the self.
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