The price of positionality: assessing the benefits and burdens of self-identification in research methods

Abstract

What is the impact on and influence of the researcher in socio-legal studies? Drawing in part on my empirical research and professional experience, this article investigates the benefits and burdens of positionality. Positionality is the disclosure of how an author's racial, gender, class, or other self-identifications, experiences, and privileges influence research methods. A statement of positionality in a research article can enhance the validity of its empirical data as well as its theoretical contribution. However, such self-disclosure puts scholars in a vulnerable position, and those most likely to reveal how their positionality shapes their research are women, ethnic minorities, or both. At this stage of the field's methodological development, the burdens of positionality are being carried unevenly by a tiny minority of researchers. I conclude by inviting socio-legal scholars to redress this imbalance by embracing expressions of positionality.