Reflections on Researcher’s Positionality and the Evolving Role of Research Participants

Abstract In this piece, we reflect on the unforeseen conditions and interactions that shaped our research experiences, bringing into focus the fluidity of one’s positionality and the evolving role of research participants across the research continuum. By drawing on ethnographic fieldnotes, Nataliia Stepaniuk (Ukrainian-Canadian) reflects on returning to her home country of Ukraine in 2015 to study civilian mobilization amidst the Donbas war, highlighting multiple roles of her interlocutors in molding her research. Next, Golrokh Niazi (Iranian-Canadian) discusses conducting fieldwork in 2016–2017 in post-revolutionary Tunisia while being confronted with the complexities of her shifting “insider/outsider” status, as well as the central role of her local network in guiding the trajectory of her project towards a new line of inquiry. Jointly, these reflections offer insights into the fundamental role of research participants and the importance of our interpersonal relationships in successfully navigating the field and generating ethnographic findings.