As my first research interview was ending, I tried to pump my interviewee for more contacts. He, as someone who seemed to love to toot his own horn, was reticent. I saved face by saying that I would contact him once I had honed my research focus, and could he please refer me to more people. He readily agreed.
Later, it occurred to me that I would possibly never be able to explain my research question to him. We come from different epistemological frameworks. One of the first things he said to me was that people from technical/engineering backgrounds are capable of mastering any subject, and asked me if I agreed. I was sure I didn't, so I mumbled something incoherent. We have such different ways of seeing and ways of knowing that neither would he appreciate my analysis, nor would he see my topic as worthy of analysis. For instance, a journalist I used to know back in the day badgered me for a draft of my prize-winning paper as she was working on an article on a similar topic. I reluctantly agreed to send it to her and told her that I welcomed her feedback. I knew I wouldn't hear from her again and I didn't. She was looking for a straight paper on whether a particular policy move was good or bad and how good or how bad. None of that flaky post-modernist stuff (I am definitely not a post-modernist, but such distinctions are lost on positivists--who believe in a concrete knowable reality even in the social sphere).
It is easy to lose heart when you are an anti-positivist in a field dominated by positivism. But, there are several advantages to it. Firstly, it makes you more open to new ideas and people since you are marginalized yourself. Secondly, it pushes you harder in your research and make it accessible and relevant to people who don't think like you do. Silos can be echo-chambers, as you are surrounded by people who have an interest in agreeing with you as there is a unspoken quid-pro-quo that you will agree with them. Maybe not on research findings but at least on the ways of seeing and the ways of knowing and the ways of explaining. Being among people who don't see and know like you can be bracing because it keeps you on your toes. Of course, they can also dash you to the ground if their criticism is mean-spirited, so it is important to choose your company well, at least when you are in the process of thickening your own skin.
Later, it occurred to me that I would possibly never be able to explain my research question to him. We come from different epistemological frameworks. One of the first things he said to me was that people from technical/engineering backgrounds are capable of mastering any subject, and asked me if I agreed. I was sure I didn't, so I mumbled something incoherent. We have such different ways of seeing and ways of knowing that neither would he appreciate my analysis, nor would he see my topic as worthy of analysis. For instance, a journalist I used to know back in the day badgered me for a draft of my prize-winning paper as she was working on an article on a similar topic. I reluctantly agreed to send it to her and told her that I welcomed her feedback. I knew I wouldn't hear from her again and I didn't. She was looking for a straight paper on whether a particular policy move was good or bad and how good or how bad. None of that flaky post-modernist stuff (I am definitely not a post-modernist, but such distinctions are lost on positivists--who believe in a concrete knowable reality even in the social sphere).
It is easy to lose heart when you are an anti-positivist in a field dominated by positivism. But, there are several advantages to it. Firstly, it makes you more open to new ideas and people since you are marginalized yourself. Secondly, it pushes you harder in your research and make it accessible and relevant to people who don't think like you do. Silos can be echo-chambers, as you are surrounded by people who have an interest in agreeing with you as there is a unspoken quid-pro-quo that you will agree with them. Maybe not on research findings but at least on the ways of seeing and the ways of knowing and the ways of explaining. Being among people who don't see and know like you can be bracing because it keeps you on your toes. Of course, they can also dash you to the ground if their criticism is mean-spirited, so it is important to choose your company well, at least when you are in the process of thickening your own skin.
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