Researching Ulster Loyalism: The Methodological Challenges of the Divisive and Sensitive Subject
| Date | 01 October 2012 |
| DOI | 10.1111/j.1467-9256.2012.01441.x |
| Published date | 01 October 2012 |
| Author | Richard Reed |
| Subject Matter | Research Article |
Research Article
Researching Ulster Loyalism: The
Methodological Challenges of the
Divisive and Sensitive Subjectponl_1441207..219
Richard Reed
Macquarie University
This article offers a reflection upon four aspects of methodology in the context of the author’s
doctoral research in Northern Ireland: managing identity and research relationships, the ethics of
dissemination and the reception of potentially polemic research in the academy. It argues that
identity influences research in sensitive contexts in ways that are often hard to anticipate, that
more inclusive approaches to dissemination can help counter issues related to research relation-
ships, and that responses to work in controversial contexts highlight ambiguities within the
academy regarding the nature and function of social science research, presenting particular chal-
lenges for early-career researchers.
Keywords: methodology; reflexivity; sensitive subjects; loyalism; dissemination
Introduction
The role of research practice in the exercise of academic inquiry remains a broad
and challenging area for reflection. There is a significant existing body of literature
on methodology that is applicable to empirical research across the social sciences,
including work that focuses on the specifics of managing interviews (Kezar, 2003;
King, 2004) and focus groups (Fern, 2001; Merton, Fiske and Kendall, 1990), in
addition to more general overviews (Sarantakos, 2005; Somekh and Lewin, 2005),
the possibility of ‘objective’ research (Becker, 1967; O’Brien, 2010) and the value of
reflexivity (Finlay, 2001). The question of research ethics, an integral part of the
methodological discourse, is also much-covered ground (Ford et al., 2009; Good-
hand, 2000). In recent years this journal has contributed to these reflections via a
number of valuable articles on empirical research involving political elites (McEvoy,
2006; Morris, 2009).
This article, however, offers a contribution to the literature addressed to the spe-
cifics of conducting research into politically, culturally or socially sensitive subjects,
or in complex social environments such as divided societies or areas of ongoing or
recently concluded conflict. In such situations the rules that govern good research
practice are necessarily less robust, often compelling researchers to make a number
of ‘pragmatic compromises’ that ‘depart from the textbook portrayal of ideal
research practice’ (Brewer, 1993, p. 127). Such environments, according to
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POLITICS: 2012 VOL 32(3), 207–219
doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9256.2012.01441.x
© 2012 The Author.Politics © 2012 Political Studies Association
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