[Last modified: December, 5 2024 10:39 PM]
Multimodal Ethnography in My Study: Exploring Race and Kinship at UCL
By employing multimodal ethnography, my study moves beyond surface-level observations to explore the intricate ways in which race, kinship, and identity are experienced, constructed, and represented in the environment of UCL. This approach will provide a more comprehensive and nuanced understanding of student interactions and allow me to examine how these social dynamics evolve within an institutional context shaped by historical, political, and cultural forces.
The multimodal approach is particularly beneficial because it enables richer and more engaging dissemination of findings, appealing to both academic and non-academic audiences. The varied forms of representation—ranging from visual media to digital artifacts—make the findings accessible and compelling for a broader spectrum of individuals, including students, university administrators, and policymakers.
Empowering Participants and Capturing Subtle Nuances
One of the core advantages of multimodal ethnography is that it allows interlocutors to express themselves in diverse and organic ways, such as through images, videos, artifacts, or social media posts. This empowers them with greater agency over their narratives, providing them the freedom to express themselves beyond the constraints of structured interview questions. This approach can reveal subtleties and emotional layers of interpersonal interactions that might be overlooked or underrepresented in traditional verbal or written interviews. Through images, artifacts, and videos, participants have an opportunity to convey the non-verbal, affective aspects of their experiences, such as body language, shared humor, or emotional bonds that may inform their racial and kinship dynamics.
Additionally, correcting interview questions based on participant-driven expressions ensures a more flexible and responsive research methodology, moving away from rigid frameworks to embrace emergent, participant-led dialogue.
Reflexive Journaling and Positionality
As a Black woman conducting this study, I recognize that my positionality plays a significant role in shaping the way I interpret and interact with participants. To examine this, I will maintain a reflexive journal throughout the research process. This journal will serve as a space for me to document my thoughts, emotions, and reactions, particularly when my own experiences or biases may influence the way I perceive interactions. By consistently reflecting on my positionality, I will be better equipped to understand how my own identity as a Black woman in academia shapes my perspective and analysis of student interactions at UCL.
This reflexive practice will not only enhance the credibility of my research by ensuring transparency, but it will also contribute to a critical self-awareness of how my presence as a researcher impacts the study. Reflexivity helps mitigate potential biases, offering a clearer lens for understanding the intersection of race and kinship.
Mapping Interactions and Space Analysis
In addition to interviews and observational data, I will also incorporate spatial analysis into my ethnography. This will involve mapping interactions across UCL’s campus and analyzing the design of communal spaces to understand how physical and digital environments shape social dynamics. For instance, certain areas of the campus might serve as racial or cultural “hotspots,” influencing the formation of specific social groups or fostering a sense of belonging for particular identities.
By mapping where students of different racial backgrounds tend to congregate, I can explore how spaces are used to reinforce or challenge existing boundaries between racial or cultural groups. Additionally, analyzing digital spaces, such as student forums, social media, or university communication channels, provides insight into how students engage in discussions around race, inclusion, and kinship online. This spatial analysis will allow me to critique the effectiveness of UCL’s diversity and inclusion initiatives and how they impact student interactions, social segregation, or cross-cultural collaboration.