Overcoming Ambivalence: The Challenges of Exploring Socially Charged Issues
- 1 May 2003
- journal article
- other
- Published by SAGE Publications in Qualitative Health Research
- Vol. 13 (5), 718-735
- https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732303013005009
Abstract
In this article, the author considers the challenges associated with the investigation of sensitive and socially charged issues. Drawing on a qualitative study of older women's body image and embodied experience, she discusses how societal ambivalence toward older women's bodies and appearances shapes and constrains the establishment of rapport between a young researcher and the study participants. Exploring the internalized anxiety expressed by the women, she investigates how life history narratives, multiple interviews, photographs, location of the interview, self-disclosure, information sharing, provision of assistance, student and stranger statuses, collaborative interviewing, and impression management combine to enhance rapport and ease the women's sense of discomfort.Keywords
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