Distanciation in participatory research

In this post I shall be discussing the rather positivist concept of distanciation. While I did argue that positivist research is outdated and inadequate for the purposes of studying human action, there are some aspects, when used in conjunction with more essentially social concepts, that are helpful.

It has been theorized by multiple authors that interpretation of a certain context surpasses the limitations imposed by simply understanding a context. This type of interpretation has been termed the ‘hermeneutical function of distanciation’. The concept of distanciation is important to participatory research as it allows the researcher to find things, such as patterns of behaviour, they could not in a state of subjective empathy.

By adopting the concept of distanciation in their research, the PR practitioner may be able to discover patterns that occur across different contexts that they would not be able to find if they were situated within on particular context; in other words, when the research is subjective and empathizes with one certain community – this is also known as Verstehen. Distanciation also allows the researcher to ask questions and develop perspectives of the ‘bigger picture’ and to gain an understanding as to why intentional actions are performed in the context they are conducting their research in.

Distanciation does not only mean that the researcher places themselves outside of the present context; participatory researchers also make use of temporal-distanciation, which gives us, as it has been stated, “the benefit of hindsight”. This temporal-distanciation allows the PR researcher to view the current context in relation to the historical context of the community. It also allows the researcher to have a better understanding of the causal influences of events and patterns (that these events comprise) and how these patterns could be linked across time.

By distancing themselves from the participants and the context of the research, the participatory researcher has a greater possibility of understanding why participants perform certain actions, such as rituals, ceremonies, and superstitions. As the actor often doesn't know why (as in they do not know the reason for their action) they do the action, as they are merely conforming to conventional practices within their community, asking them directly why they do something is not the surest method of the researcher gaining a true understanding of the participant’s reasoning. Thus, as it has been suggested, distanciation has the ability to reveal the role of convention and tradition in the crafting of action.

Now that a basic theoretical overview on the participatory research approach has been in the last ten or so posts, I shall soon be moving onto a discussion concerning the ontological and epistemological views that are held within the PR approach. Stay tuned for more : }