Work by Guba and Lincoln (1994) indicates the importance of maintaining a critical perspective on what the ideal of an ‘objective’ viewpoint might be, thus leaving room for a broad array of implications to arise from such criticisms. However, within the realms of this thesis, focus will be given to the importance of context and reflexivity. In Guba and Lincoln’s (1994) review, critical realism was a prominent paradigm researched and is of great relevance to this thesis, as it focuses on the contextual nature of knowledge gathering, including aspects such as gender, ethnicity and culture, alongside social, political and economic factors as well as differing levels of realities (Denzin & Lincoln, 2005). This stance addresses the contextual and interactive nature of a methodology that is the transactional nature of research, and the existence of relationships between the researcher and
71 participators (Israel et al, 1998). In view of this, a reflection upon the conditions in and through which this research was conducted in order to evaluate the results is called for.
3.4.1 Reflexivity within this research
In reviewing aspects of reflexivity and the fact that it is believed to be a valuable and necessary aspect of current research approaches (Cornwall & Jewkes, 1995; Pain & Francis, 2003), the researcher was concerned with acquiring and demonstrating professional competence in identifying and gathering data. Particular emphasis was put on the relationship between theory and method, analysis, meanings and context, replication, comparison, about collecting data over time and at varied levels of organisation, as well as about the values and impact of the research in line with its original purpose.
Prior to the data gathering stages, the researcher become acquainted with the three organisations (Fight for Peace; From Boyhood to Manhood Foundation; KidGloves) through various pre-research visits which were organised with the managers beforehand. The aim of this was to meet the participants and educators that the study would involve, and become familiar with the three distinct research settings. The researcher found that the best way to understand this particular demographic group (young Black men) was to become immersed into their world and gain the subjects’ trust and rapport, this was achieved through observing their interactions within the organisations’ settings, and essentially learning about the culture that they existed within whilst they were at the organisation.
In addition to this, the researcher became a part of the culture and used the existent knowledge gained with regards to this particular subculture to obtain rich data, this included dressing ‘street’ during interview and focus group sessions and using informal English words and terminology to connect with the audience, and blend in with the young people for the purpose of the research. The payoff was immense as the researcher was able to gain more information about the subjects and their subculture, although the drawbacks meant that a lot of time, dedication and resources were required to enable immersion to take place (Crossman, 2014). Engagement and creating a sense of belief in the minds of these young men was the pinnacle point of this research study, as without their willingness to engage with
72 the researcher and believe in the value and possible impact of this particular research topic to both themselves and the Black community as a whole, then the data gathering process would be pointless.
In analysing the choice of research methods (questionnaires; semi-structured interview; focus group sessions), in terms of the how and why, it is important to note that the researcher made decisions in terms of the choices of methods based on combined elements such as the low educational attainment of the young men, volatile nature of the participants, sensitivity of subject area being researched and the purpose of the study.
In light of this, the researcher required the educators and leaders to fill out the self- completion questionnaires, as it was believed that a high majority of the young men would have found it difficult to write the answers by hand, as many had reading, spelling and grammar difficulties and had either completed mainstream education with English GCSE below a grade E, or not completed with a GCSE at all. In addition, the content of the questionnaire went through a logical order of topics: demographic /background information; delinquency patterns; neighbourhood and the city of London; aspirations and patterns of identification; advice and guidance; racial attitudes, organisations and approaches. Therefore the researcher made a judgement that eliciting such rich information would have required a combination of knowledge and experience, both of which the researcher believed would more likely have been accessible from individuals with vast experience within the youth sector, something that the young men did not possess.
Secondly, in justifying the use of semi-structured interviews with the educators and leaders, it was believed that due to the limited attention span of the young men, coupled with the amount of information that needed to be retrieved from each interview session, educators and leaders would be the most appropriate choice. Semi-structured interviews with educators and leaders also allowed room for more mature enquiry to be gained, alongside gaining insight and understanding of the mechanisms that enabled programmes and educators that used sport as a means of education for disengaged young Black men to achieve success, thus satisfying research objectives.
73 Lastly, the researcher felt that focus group sessions were more appropriate for the young Black men to participate in, as it created a sense of group unity and ethnic identity membership, due in part to the fact that the young people were able to sit together and answer questions cohesively when required. The focus group sessions also enabled participants to experience greater comfort and control within familiar settings, and allowed the researcher to view how the group interacted within the programme environment.