Field Research Stuff 3: Researcher's Gender and Indentity

My field research is based on interviews. My interviewees are mainly activists, residents, bureaucrats and technocrats. I should admit that there are advantageous and disadvantageous of being a woman in a field such as mine. I have some ways of communicating with people from different backgrounds. Your name, religion, ethnicity, and gender definitely have an impact on the way people sees you and treats you.

1- bureaucrats or technocrats, if they are old, they can easily treat you as their daughter and want to teach you something, show something new and protect you. They would either try to manipulate you or be very open to protect/teach you something.

2- bureaucrats or technocrats, if they are young, they can have political aspirations and this can make it difficult for you to learn what you want to learn (if you are trying to learn something else them the political discourse they use). This is a difficult case. You may act ignorant on the subject and let them share their own worldview or ask difficult questions that would either crack them open or close more and more.

3- residents, if they have problems with the authority you need to earn their trust and convince them that you are not working for the state or another authority. When they are assured they will be much more open.

You can participate to their actions or share a piece of their life. This is the best way of assuring them that you are not a spy or something.

4- NGO people are the most friendly and open ones. They are used to do advocacy of their work, and it is easier to contact them. If they are working on the same issue area that you do, they can be really helpful to connect you with the right people. 

5- In some fields (especially in the case of deeply-divided societies such as my research countries), your religious or ethnic identity can matter for people. 

When I was conducting my research in Urfa (a majority Kurrdish city in the Southeast Turkey), I was interviewing a couple of landowners. They were talking cautiously about the state's water and electricity policies. At some point, one of them asked me where are my parents from. I told him that my mom's family is from the Kurdish region (I am not sure if they are Kurdish tho), all of a sudden everything changed. He said "ohh you are one from us!!" and started to tell me everything open-heartedly. 

The same day, I was talking to another Kurdish man on Kurdish politics. He was a leftist but somehow glorifying the Kurdish right-wing movements. I could not understand. Then, it turned out to be that he was telling me things that he does not believe, but wants me to believe as he was considering me as an outsider and wanted to draw a positive picture of the Kurdish politics. You can be in insider and outsider at the same moment, it is a really fine line and hard to not to cross. 

6- Your name can mean something to them

This is an interesting point that I never thought about before starting my field in Israel. Then, I realize that my name (Esra) stands at the very intersection of a Jewish male name (Ezra) and an Arab female name (Israa). This was a fun fact and can easily break the ice when you meet new people. The name is always one of the easy ways to start a conversation. My advisor in Israel was thinking that I am a man until the point that I entered to his office. It was a surprise for him, but fortunately enough did not negatively affect our relationship. 

To be continued...