Digging deeper: Engaging in reflexivity in interpretivist-constructivist and critical leisure research |
As interpretivist-constructivist and critical scholarship has advanced within leisure science, so too does the need for more comprehensive approaches for reflexivity. Reflexivity, which can be described as an act, capacity, or practice to self-critique one’s own biases that may influence the construction of knowledge, is an important means for meeting standards of goodness or quality within qualitative research. This study sought to strengthen leisure research through a conceptual exploration of reflexivity. The authors created a series of vignettes to analyze their past research experiences, employing hermeneutics and feminist epistemologies to guide reflexive practice. Consequently, social and relational context of knowledge, representation and voice, positionality and embodiment, awareness of politico-ideological character, and unconscious/emotional entanglement emerged as dimensions of a reflexive framework. Informed by this process, a collection of questions are offered as a tool to assist others with more holistic reflexive practice within the leisure sciences.
|
The Fatal Coupling of Race, State and Research on Disparities |
Modern technology doesn’t only offer greater opportunities for leisure experiences. It opens the door for surveillance and disempowerment as well. As the justice-oriented endeavor of leisure researchers increased over the years, so too has their access to data sources on racialized people made possible by the advent of digital technology. Geospatial datasets are used to extrapolate leisure service disparities and social patterns in predominantly racialized communities. Yet we rarely question the adverse and potentially life-threatening effects of the use of big data in our research. We draw from the concept of geographies of threat to connect leisure research on disparities and the production of State violence imparted onto racialized spatial configurations. Leisure scholars must interrogate if and how the use of large datasets may contribute to the State surveillance apparatus rendering the lives of racialized peoples more vulnerable to the violence and coercive power of the State.
|
A case for Race scholarship: A research note |
Over the past 50 years, the relationship of Race and ethnicity with leisure has been examined in many ways. In this article, the authors first recommend that leisure research give attention solely to Race and provide a justification for this recommendation. Second, this article suggests leisure researchers have primarily viewed Race as a variable within leisure studies, thus providing limited insight into the relationship between Race and leisure behavior. Finally, this research note argues that leisure researchers should commit to promoting Race scholarship where the goal is to gain a better understanding of Race itself and then identify its relationship with leisure. Examples of Race scholarship and how it can be engaged by leisure researchers are provided. While evidence of Race scholarship exists within leisure research and should be acknowledged, these occurrences are minimal. A concerted effort by leisure researchers to stimulate Race scholarship is necessary to transform the way in which we explore Race in leisure research.
|