Citation

Lavender-Stott ES, Grafsky EL, Nguyen HN, Haugen E, Steelman SM. J. Homosex. 2017; ePub(ePub): 1-14.

Affiliation

a Department of Human Development , Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University , Blacksburg , Virginia , USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/00918369.2017.1364104

PMID

28771090

Abstract

A research team that works on scholarship related to sexual minority issues has been conducting research and recruiting participants since the fall of 2012. In the years since the team was formed, there has been a variety of challenges with recruitment, approval for research through the Institutional Review Board, gaining access to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer (LGBQ) community, and general mistrust of researchers. Using concepts from feminist-informed qualitative research methodology-including reflexivity, positionality, and engaging in research with individuals from marginalized communities-we present reflections on some of the methodological challenges the research team has encountered while trying to conduct LGBQ research in Southwest Virginia. This paper encompasses the viewpoints of multiple members of the research team, including those who are faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate students with identities across the sexual orientation spectrum.

Language: en

Keywords

Appalachia; LGBQ youth; feminism; methodology; positionality; qualitative research; reflexivity; rurality; sexual orientation; sexuality