Bracketing in qualitative research is a crucial method used by researchers to manage their own perspectives and assumptions during the research process.
Understanding Bracketing
At its core, bracketing is about self-awareness and reflexivity. It helps researchers acknowledge and set aside their personal biases, experiences, and theoretical assumptions that might influence their understanding or interpretation of the data.
The Core Concept
Based on common understanding in qualitative methodologies, and as highlighted by the provided reference: Bracketing is a method used in qualitative research to mitigate the potentially deleterious effects of preconceptions that may taint the research process. This means it serves as a tool to minimize the negative impact of the researcher's own background on the study's findings.
Why is Bracketing Important?
Qualitative research often involves deep engagement with participants' experiences, perspectives, and meanings. The researcher is the primary instrument for data collection and analysis. Without managing their own biases, a researcher might:
- Unintentionally lead participants during interviews.
- Misinterpret observations based on their own worldview.
- Selectively focus on data that confirms their existing beliefs.
- Impose their own meaning onto participants' words or actions.
Bracketing helps to maintain the integrity and trustworthiness of the research by promoting a more objective and open-minded approach to data.
How Researchers Practice Bracketing
Practicing bracketing is an ongoing process, not a one-time event. It requires consistent self-reflection throughout the research journey, from designing the study to analyzing the data and writing the findings.
Techniques and Approaches
Researchers employ various techniques to practice bracketing:
- Keeping a Reflexivity Journal: Regularly writing down personal thoughts, feelings, biases, and reactions related to the research topic, participants, and data. This externalizes internal biases, making them visible.
- Dialogue and Discussion: Discussing their assumptions and potential biases with supervisors, colleagues, or peers.
- Self-Interviewing: Asking themselves critical questions about their motivations, expectations, and potential interpretations of the data.
- Memo-Writing: Writing notes during data analysis specifically addressing how their own background might be influencing their interpretation.
- Seeking Feedback: Asking peers to review transcripts or analyses to identify potential areas where bias might be present.
Examples
Consider a researcher studying the experiences of stay-at-home parents.
- Before Bracketing: The researcher, having strong personal beliefs about gender roles, might unconsciously phrase interview questions in a way that reinforces traditional stereotypes or interpret responses through the lens of those stereotypes.
- During Bracketing: The researcher uses a reflexivity journal to note down their personal beliefs about gender roles and parenting. They might write entries like, "I need to be careful not to assume mothers are the primary caregivers," or "My own experience growing up with a stay-at-home parent might shape how I hear these stories." This awareness prompts them to phrase questions more neutrally and actively look for diverse perspectives in the data.
The Goal of Bracketing
The primary goal of bracketing is not to eliminate the researcher's perspective entirely, which is impossible and undesirable in qualitative research. Instead, the goal is to make the researcher aware of their perspective so that they can consciously manage its potential influence, ensuring that the research findings genuinely reflect the participants' realities rather than the researcher's preconceived notions. It fosters a stance of openness and receptivity towards the data.
Bracketing is a cornerstone practice, particularly in phenomenological research, but its principles are valuable across various qualitative methodologies to enhance rigor and trustworthiness.
