Burlyuk, Olga

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Ghent University Academic Bibliography

Submitted by Maastricht University on Tue, 01/14/2020 - 12:17What no one told you about doing fieldwork in your country of origin | ... http://eufp.eu/what-no-one-told-you-about-doing-fieldwork-your-country...1 of 5 14-Jan-20, 1:50 PMWhat no one told you about doing fieldwork in your country of origin | ... http://eufp.eu/what-no-one-told-you-about-doing-fieldwork-your-country...2 of 5 14-Jan-20, 1:50 PMWhat no one told you about doing fieldwork in your country of origin | ... http://eufp.eu/what-no-one-told-you-about-doing-fieldwork-your-country...3 of 5 14-Jan-20, 1:50 PMWhat no one told you about doing fieldwork in your country of origin | ... http://eufp.eu/what-no-one-told-you-about-doing-fieldwork-your-country...4 of 5 14-Jan-20, 1:50 PMWhat no one told you about doing fieldwork in your country of origin | ... http://eufp.eu/what-no-one-told-you-about-doing-fieldwork-your-country...5 of 5 14-Jan-20, 1:50 PM

What no one told you about doing fieldwork in your country of origin

Olga BurlyukIdeas on EuropeWhen you choose to do research on – and eventually fieldwork in – your country of origin,you look for tips and tricks on how to do it best. Every qualitative methodology guide you pickup at your university’s library will tell you about the advantages of being native and thedisadvantages of going native. On the plus side, you get to capitalize on understanding thecontext, speaking the local language(s), having a social network that might be instrumental insecuring access to people or places you need for your research – and simply knowing yourway around. This “default familiarity” can do wonders for your data collection and save loadsof time. It might also boost your confidence upon entering the field. On the minus side, yourisk letting your personal bias, your “pre-historic” opinions, assumptions and prejudicesabout your home country take the better of you and undermine your impartiality andobjectivity towards the field. What impartiality and objectivity are supposed to be in socialsciences no one knows, but most of us are still being told – and still tell the young – to pursuethese as somehow virtuous. Because subjectivity is considered very bad for data analysis.For a moment there, you may find yourself trapped between the two conflicting dogmas ofqualitative research: only a local/an outsider [cross out the unnecessary word] is capable ofsaying anything valuable about a context. If all goes well, your research supervisor, tutor ormentor will then tell you that the magic key to doing good research on one’s country of originis no different from the magic key to doing any good research: reflect on your positioning,acknowledge your bias(es) and keep a critical mind at all costs. Be professional and keepyourself and your work to a high standard; it is as simple as that.What you are unlikely to hear from anyone while preparing for your “fieldwork trip home”,however, is that you may be (dramatically) overestimating the familiarity of the field and thatthis field – your home – may and will also have biases against you. The effect of these on youand your research is significant, even if less spoken about. It is not only you doing thingsduring fieldwork: fieldwork is also doing things to you.I write this piece in an effort to share insights from my 10+ years of experience doing researchWhat No One Told You about Doing Fieldwork in Your Country of Origin... https://uacesoneurope.ideasoneurope.eu/2020/01/15/what-no-one-told-yo...1 of 4 16-Jan-20, 11:54 AMDutch, a UK, a Belgian and a US university). It is not until I was invited to reflect on thesubject for a group of graduate students at the Central European University last month that Icame to realize one cannot easily read up on this. I believe some thoughts and warnings frommy practical experience, however partial and incomplete, can be extremely helpful forgraduate students and young researchers, as well as their supervisors. I know I wish someonehad told me this back in my day!I have grouped my observations in five categories of “challenges”: reverse culture shock andthe tricky insider/outsider positioning, different work culture and professional ethic,different gender standards and expectations, people’s opinion of you and your currentposition vis-à-vis the field, and proximity of family and friends. I discuss these one by onebelow.First of all, at the most general level, brace yourself for a reverse culture shock, the intensityof which may vary depending on how long you have been residing abroad and the degree ofcontrast between the countries of origin and residence. You may find certain practices lessobvious, intuitive or common-sense than you did before. You may also catch yourself(un)comfortably settled in an observer role more than an insider you may have initiallyexpected (or hoped!) to be; a visitor more than a home-comer. In my personal experience, thelonger I am out of the country and the older I get, the more I come to Ukraine as an observer– and the less traumatic it is to admit to myself that I am one.Second, depending on whether you have previously worked in the work culture andprofessional ethic you get to deal with in your fieldwork, you may either have little idea aboutit, or struggle to fit in, or both. In many instances, freshly-graduated students move abroadfor education in graduate and doctoral schools without ever having worked in their homecountries. And so assuming knowledgeability about professional life in one’s country of originmay be a bad idea. Here, I refer to fundamentals like spoken and unspoken hierarchies(which one usually gets a taste of as a student, but nonetheless) as well as mundane thingslike dress code, preferred means of communication, people scheduling meetings long inadvance or last minute, and so on. It is best that you comprehend such things prior to yourfield trip; if you don’t, it is essential that you adapt quickly. To illustrate this better: by virtueof my research on cooperation between Ukraine and the European Union, Kyiv (the capital ofUkraine) and Brussels (the seat of EU headquarters) are my two major sites for fieldwork,and political elites are my main “population”. Now, the work culture in the two cities iscompletely different. In Brussels, I ought to contact people by email and well in advance so asto schedule a meeting for a specific time slot months away. In Kyiv, I often contact people byemail long before my field trip only to get a brisk reply with the person’s cell phone numberor, better yet, Facebook name (“classified information” I would rarely get a hold of inBrussels!) and an invitation to be in touch via this or that App once I am actually in town. Asa popular Ukrainian joke has it, “6 months is long-term in Ukraine”: things tend to changequickly, and planning months ahead has no point. And even though I had worked in Ukrainefor two years prior to commencing my PhD abroad, I was still somewhat surprised by this onmy first field trip to Ukraine.Third, depending on the countries involved, gender standards and expectations in yourcountry of origin and fieldwork might differ from those in your current country of residenceand work (and which you may now hold as a reference). This point is relevant for men andwomen alike; but possible discrepancies in gender standards for women are arguably moredrastic than they are for men. In my case, the relationship between femininity andprofessionalism is seen differently in Ukraine than it is in Belgium (where I’ve lived for thepast 10 years) in that the demand for femininity – and the threshold of tolerance for sexism –appears to be much higher in Ukraine, also in professional settings. I remember deliberatelybuying myself high-heeled shoes and a laptop-size leather handbag “to look decent and betaken at all serious” on one of my early field trips to Ukraine: flat shoes and a backpack wouldsimply not do the trick. Or I would enter a room imagining myself a “Dr Burlyuk”, a seriousacademic, and instead my interviewee would greet me with an “Olichka”, which is thediminutive for Olga and is utterly inappropriate at my age and in this context. Or a manwould act excessively “gallant”, kissing my hand when I’d only extended it for shaking. Theseare anecdotal examples, of course, but they do illustrate the point: different gender standardsmay repeatedly startle you (as they do with me); or you may feel “treated like a woman forWhat No One Told You about Doing Fieldwork in Your Country of Origin... https://uacesoneurope.ideasoneurope.eu/2020/01/15/what-no-one-told-yo...2 of 4 16-Jan-20, 11:54 AMand decide on a course of action: either you conform, or you (pretend to) ignore, or youconfront.Fourth, you may be pleasantly or unpleasantly surprised to discover what people think of you,your current position and your research. Your own view of your “connection to the field” maybe in or out of tune with that of the people in the field. Over the years, I have encountered awide range of reactions to my person and my research: from admiration of my “havingsecured” a scholarship/position abroad, to appreciation for my research and genuinecuriosity about it, to jealousy, despise and outright judgement of me and what I am seen torepresent (that is: a traitor of the country who has abandoned the sinking ship). Likewise,while you are likely to see yourself as an insider of the context you are studying (especiallycompared to foreign colleagues researching your country of origin), people in the field maywell consider you an outsider – for you are out now, aren’t you? Without trying to generalizethe ungeneralizable here, at the very least, beware of the possibility of being judged orotherwise rejected: it may come as a heavy blow, and you ought to prepare for it mentally andpractically (e.g. what would you reply in a situation like this or that without jeopardizing yourinterview?).Last but not least, depending on whether you will be staying with or close to family, relativesand friends (and depending on how often you visit them otherwise), be prepared to fend offsome of their enthusiasm and set up a clear separation between the work part and the privatepart of your trip – or juggle the two continuously. While seeing your loved ones may be anupside of a field trip, it may also be a downside, especially in situations of a family rift orpossessive relatives. Either way, it is an extra emotional load to carry. Having done fieldworkin Brussels, Washington DC and other sites outside my country of origin, I can honestly say:fieldwork in Ukraine is always a more emotionally charged undertaking for me, for all of theabove reasons and more.I have no intention of submitting the points raised in this brief essay as universal: just as myexperience, they are subjective, partial and incomplete. Yet I believe it is important to breakthe silence and get the conversation going. My main piece of advice for preparing forfieldwork, also and especially if you are going to your country of origin, is this: prepare. Takeas little as possible for granted. And solicit advice from people who might know better.Welcome to our blog detailing the activities of the Communicating Europe UACESResearch Network. We explore the ways in which different actors communicateabout the EU, serving to legitimise or delegitimise its actions and policies.View all posts by Ideas on Europe →What No One Told You about Doing Fieldwork in Your Country of Origin... https://uacesoneurope.ideasoneurope.eu/2020/01/15/what-no-one-told-yo...3 of 4 16-Jan-20, 11:54 AMThis entry was posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink.What No One Told You about Doing Fieldwork in Your Country of Origin... https://uacesoneurope.ideasoneurope.eu/2020/01/15/what-no-one-told-yo...4 of 4 16-Jan-20, 11:54 AM

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What no one told you about doing fieldwork in your country of origin

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Ghent University Academic Bibliography

Ghent University Academic Bibliography