Comparative Education Bulletin - Faculty of Education - The ...

Issues Related to the Duality of the Researcher’s Position
The study that the author is undertaking compares and conceptualizes
the power structures within this project, paying attention, on one
hand, to the temporal aspects and on the other hand, to the domains
in which power is exercised. An investigation of this nature thus
places the author in a unique dual position as a researcher: that of
being concurrently an insider and an outsider. She is an insider in
the sense that through her personal active involvement in the project
for three years she is familiar with not only many of the actors in this
project but also with the cultural settings. The position that she holds
as an insider thus may add considerable strength to this research.
First, it is relatively easy for her to identify the location of necessary
information as she knows the people to approach in order to garner
information and is also cognizant of the contents of many of the key
documents related to her study. Second, the access to information is
relatively easy. While many outside researchers face difficulties in
establishing relationships with research participants (see e.g. Warwick,
1983, pp.320-322), the author has already developed relationships with
many of the participants and can obtain their support in accessing
information. Third, the information provided by research participants
has the potential of being interpreted in more a valid manner because
the author has some understanding of the culture and systems in
Cambodia.
Nonetheless, while being an insider may provide benefits to
this research, paradoxically it could also create problems. One disadvantage
lies in the in the fact that inside researchers cannot easily
perceive familiar settings from objective viewpoints, while outside
researchers may have an advantages due to their unfamiliarity with the
context that cautions them against taking anything for granted. These
two contrasting concerns, “making the familiar strange” for insider
researchers and “making the strange familiar” for outside researchers
(Spindler and Spindler, 1982), are pointed out not only by educational
researchers in less developed countries (e.g. Vulliamy, Lewin, and
Stephens, 1990, pp.166-167; Louisy, 1997, pp.200-201), but also within
the broader perspectives of comparative educationists (e.g. Bray, 2004,
p.250).
Another disadvantage of being an insider is that there is a possibility
of invoking a feeling of anxiety or threat within the participants.
According to Berg and Smith (1988, pp.217-218), if the group to which
the researcher and the research participants belong has experienced
conflicts or suspicion among the members or has unspoken norms,
it is more difficult for the insider researchers to discuss interpersonal
relationships with the group frankly. This is less likely to be the case
for outside researchers. The anxiety or threat to members demands
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