Ethnicity in research with young children: invitation/barrier

Abstract

This paper explores special issues that a novice, minority researcher encountered at a multi-racial research site. The first author's personal experiences as a female, Tamil-speaking Indian Singaporean shaped the research process and its reception at the research site. In this paper, she observes that, while her ethnic membership operated as a barrier at times, it also shaped the research process in positive and unexpected ways. It invited conversation about ethnicity in a multi-racial setting, creating opportunities for meaningful dialoguing of sensitive topics, culminating in an expansive definition of differences. She also explores the place for researcher subjectivity in qualitative rese..