Using an Ecological Metaphor to Build Adaptive and Resilient Research Practices

Abstract

In this paper, we reflect on our efforts to undertake qualitative research in our investigations of the geographies of Aboriginal people and of rural communities across Canada. In particular, we consider the ecological metaphor to describe the nature of power relations between researched and researcher in the production of situated knowledges. Gillian Rose, in her influential 1997 article, ‘Situating knowledges: Positionality, reflexivities and other tactics’, suggested that these relations might be conceptualised as ecological, characterised by fluid connections among researcher, researched and text, marked by fragmented understandings and uncertainty throughout research and distribution practices. Although not fully developed as a metaphor in her work, Rose sees the relationship as potentially risky for the researcher and for the research subjects and thereby draws a fairly pessimistic conclusion about the outcomes of the research relationship. We have been inspired by this notion and seek to develop the ecological metaphor in this article by drawing on contemporary systems ecology that emphasises the uncertainty and surprise inherent in ecological-social systems. In contrast to Rose’s pessimism, we suggest that research practices can be designed to embrace the uncertainty and partiality of knowledge creation as well as the dynamism of the research process by methods that are adaptive and resilient. We suggest that such a position has implications for four elements of our research: preparing for surprise, how we involve research participants, how we consider our roles as researchers, and how we define research success. We interrogate our own research experiences to develop this framework and to identify challenges of putting it into practice.