An Asian American Woman's Reflexive Account of Direct Research With Incels

Incels oder unfreiwillig zölibatär lebende Männer haben weltweit zunehmend Aufmerksamkeit auf sich gezogen, da sie immer wieder mit öffentlichkeitswirksamer Gewalt, Frauenfeindlichkeit und hasserfüllten Online-Inhalten in Verbindung gebracht werden. Während sich frühere Forscher*innen auf Online-Foren als Materialressource konzentrierten, habe ich in meiner jüngsten Arbeit selbst Incels rekrutiert und interviewt und dabei einen phänomenologischen Ansatz verwendet, um deren gelebten Erfahrungen besser zu untersuchen. In Anbetracht der Art der Diskussionen in Incel-Foren, in denen (insbesondere asiatische) Frauen oft verleumdet und herabgewürdigt werden, stelle ich eine reflektierte und reflexive Untersuchung meiner Identitäten im Kontext dieser Forschung vor. Ich beschreibe meine persönlichen Reaktionen auf verletzende und hasserfüllte Inhalte und wie ich schwierige oder unangenehme Situationen in Interviews gemeistert habe. Ich berichte auch, wie sie meine Perspektiven beeinflusst haben, und was dies für die Zukunft meiner Arbeit bedeutet.Incels, or involuntarily celibate men, have been the subject of increasing attention around the world due to their ongoing association with high-profile violence, misogyny, and hateful online content. While prior researchers have focused on online forums as a resource to study incel issues, in my recent work I involved the recruitment and interviewing of incels using a phenomenological approach to better examine their experiences. Given the nature of incel forum discussions in which particularly Asian women were often maligned and degraded, I provide a reflective and reflexive examination of my identities in the context of this research. In this narrative, I describe my personal reactions to hurtful and hateful content and how I have navigated difficult or uncomfortable situations in interviews. I also describe how they have influenced my perspectives and what this means for the future of my work

A Rock and a Hard Place: A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Exploration into the Lived Experience of Bisexual Women in Monogamous Relationships

This qualitative research explores the lived experience of nineteen bisexual women from all across the UK who are in monogamous relationships or who are single but desire a future monogamous relationship. The research has three broad aims 1) To explore the lived experience of bisexual women who identify as monogamous. 2) To understand the ways in which women who identify as bisexual and monogamous maintain their identity. 3) To explore the ways in which bisexual women in 'same-gender' and 'different-gender' relationships construct their identity. The research was carried out in three phases with each stage using a different data collection technique. The first stage required participants to keep a written diary for a period of four consecutive weeks, detailing thoughts and events that were related to their sexual identity. In the second stage participants took part in a semi-structured telephone interview. The interview used participants’ diary entries as a starting point to explore the research questions. The final stage involved a subset of participants taking part in a photo-assisted telephone interview. Participants in this stage were supplied with disposable cameras and were asked to take up to twelve photographs of places, objects and people who were significant in relation to their sexuality. Five participants completed this stage and took part in a photo-assisted telephone interview where they discussed the photographs they had taken. The research as a whole and the approach to analysing data was underpinned by the hermeneutic phenomenology of Ricoeur. Two different but complementary approaches were taken in the analysis of the data. Firstly, Template Analysis (King, 2004) was used to analyse the data from diaries and telephone interviews. This approach provides an opportunity to explore the data as a whole and identify themes and sub-themes relevant to the research questions. In order to complement this cross-case approach the photo-assisted interviews were analysed using a within-case approach (Hermeneutic Phenomenological Analysis) developed specifically for this research. Some of the findings support existing research which demonstrated that some bisexuals do experience ‘invisibility’ and misappropriation in relation to their sexual identity (Monro, 2015; Hayfield, Clarke & Halliwell, 2014; Savin-Williams, 2005; Blackwood, 2000; Angelides, 2001). Other findings point to aspects of bisexual monogamous women’s experience that appear to have been neglected by researchers. In particular, the gender of a participant’s partner seems to present different challenges in relation to their sexual identity. Participants in different-gender relationships appear to utilise more strategies related to displaying their same-gender attractions and keeping their bisexuality alive than those in same-gender relationships. Participants in same-gender relationships choose feminine appearance markers that are more likely to signify a heterosexual identity in contrast to participants in different-gender relationships who choose ‘traditional’ lesbian appearance markers. Women in different-gender relationships articulated a sense of longing or reminiscence for relationships or sex with women. Women in same-gender relationships did not express the same sentiment for sex and relationships with men. Identifying a community which provided support for their bisexual identity was of particular importance to all participants. The LGBT+ community seemed to be important in the early stages of participants’ struggles with the development of their sexual identity. However, over time participants experienced various forms of hostility from the LGBT+ community and one of the ways they coped with this was to disengage from it and turn to smaller network of friends

Student as researcher: rethinking how to make research methods interesting for students

This project aimed to enable students to appreciate the technical and epistemological nuances of different phenomenological approaches. We involved a small group of self-selecting honours level undergraduate students in the plural analysis of focus group data. Students reported that this supportive teaching technique, facilitating peer working, resulted in deeper learning. This case study describes the piloting of a collaborative teaching method, engaging students as researchers. The project lasted six months, with monthly meetings from tutors to guide procedure and to support academic discussion. The group had a shared interest and joint cause but as each student also had an individual task of conducting a certain analysis, we did not observe any group member failing to offer full effort and participation. Reflections of how this type of teaching could be conducted with larger cohorts are considered and critiqued

Interdisciplinary Assessment and Plan for an Energy Efficient HVAC System for Dumbarton House

Dumbarton House tells the story of life in the City of Washington during the formation of the early republic and a new national identity. This project will explore and recommend sustainable approaches to collections care and preventive conservation for the house and its collections. Recent failures in the 21-year-old patchwork HVAC system demonstrate that a planned upgrade, based on a thoughtful review, not a crisis-response, is a critical institutional responsibility. Our advisors have voiced concern over our ability to efficiently and effectively manage the current system. An interdisciplinary team of sustainability, collections and energy experts will review environmental conditions records, and all assessments, and then explore and recommend a holistic approach to measured, responsive, system and operational changes. We expect requests for energy audits and a geothermal assessment. The team will formally recommend next-steps to the board for implementation

Does vitamin D without calcium reduce fracture risk?

Q: Does vitamin D without calcium reduce fracture risk? Evidence-based answer: No. Supplemental vitamin D without calcium -- in doses averaging as much as 800 IU per day -- doesn't reduce the risk of hip, vertebral, or nonvertebral fractures in postmenopausal women and older men (strength of recommendation [SOR]: A, large, high-quality meta-analysis of randomized or quasirandomized placebo-controlled trials). The vitamin D analogs alfacalcidol and calcitriol also don't reduce hip or nonvertebral fractures (SOR: A, multiple randomized, controlled trials [RCTs]), although alfacalcidol (but not calcitriol) does reduce vertebral fractures by 43% (SOR: B, one RCT and one quasi-randomized trial with potential for bias) Vitamin D supplementation, with or without calcium, doesn't affect mortality. It does double the risk of mild hypercalcemia (about 2.7 mmol/L increase), raise the risk of renal calculi or mild renal insufficiency by 16%, and slightly increase (4%) gastrointestinal adverse effects (SOR: A, meta-analysis of RCTs or quasi-randomized trials)