By Jemina Napier
Click here to see a version of this blogpost in British Sign Language (BSL).
While I am on research sabbatical from Heriot-Watt University I am fortunate to be spending my time as a Visiting Research Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities (IASH) at the University of Edinburgh (see here for overview of what I am working on).
As part of my fellowship I have been able to avail of IASH facilities to organize a workshop with a leading scholar in the field of Deaf Studies, Dr Annelies Kusters, to bring together a small group of researchers who work with sign language data. The 2-day workshop took place on 25-26 October 2018 and was by invitation only. Our priority was to invite deaf and hearing researchers that are fluent British Sign Language (BSL) users, and who are currently grappling with issues either to do with the analysis of qualitative sign language data, or are exploring new and innovative qualitative research methods. One of the reasons we wanted to ensure that everyone is a fluent BSL user is because we wanted to avoid holding discussions through interpreters, to allow for more in-depth and organic discussions. And this certainly worked!
The majority of the 12 attendees were my colleagues and PhD students from the Department of Languages and Intercultural Studies at Heriot-Watt University, but we also had several attendees from other UK universities and also one Finnish university.
The first day (Thursday) was dedicated to the discussion of different approaches to data analysis, and the second day (Friday) was devoted to methodologies. Each participant was asked to give a 15-minute presentation about their topic and we built in plenty of time for discussion. The projects being conducted by the group range from experiences of deaf people seeking asylum in Finland, documentation of Indonesian Sign Language, explorations of professional and labour migration among deaf sign language users, family sign language policy, deaf tourism in Bali, video remote sign language interpreting in police settings, different perceptions of sign language interpreting, and experiences of deaf business owners, deaf professionals and deaf parents in social work contexts. As you would expect, such a range of projects calls for a range of approaches to data analysis and methodologies. Over the two days the following key issues were discussed:
- How and whether to anonymise video data
- Whether to directly code from sign language data or translate and code from written (representative) texts – and if so what and how to translate
- Use of different software for coding (such as ELAN, Atlas.ti or N-Vivo)
- Processes for deciding what and how to code
- How to code observational fieldnotes, and saturation of observational data
- Thematic coding as an organic or planned process
- Using visual methods for data collection and analysis – eco-maps, photos, film-making, social media networking sites
- Data coding fatigue
- Benefits of documenting analytical decisions as part of the research process
- Value of having conversations with others about coding/ annotation/ analytical processes
- Challenges of how and what to code
- Power dynamics in interviewing participants
- Positionality and the observer’s paradox
- Reflexivity in planning, reviewing data collection and data analysis
- Ethics of recruiting and interviewing disadvantaged people, and methods for gaining consent
- Building rapport and trust with research participants
- How to create semi-authentic simulations of sign language (interpreted) interactions
- Interviewing directly or through interpreters
- Methods for taking fieldnotes
This exploratory workshop was a huge success, so we hope to make it an annual event, and open it up to other sign language researchers. Many of the issues we dissected are not unique to sign language researchers by any means, but being able to come together and have the space to have open and frank conversations about our work in sign language was a rare and much valued opportunity. We are considering a proposal for an edited volume based on the format of this workshop, so hopefully that will be a book that we can add to the IASH library one day!
This blogpost was first posted on the IASH website on 6th November 2018: http://www.iash.ed.ac.uk/news/sign-language-researchers-talk-research