Fresh out of the field: Reflections on fieldwork experiences

In this qual hub, I am going to present on the methodological process of my research; its progression from the stage of contextualising the field, the development of methods within that context and finally through the actual experience of conducting fieldwork. Aimed at arriving at an understanding of girlhood, my research explores the experience of growing up as a girl in Assam. Placing secondary school girls as the unit of analysis, it is their lived experience and the meaning that they make of these experiences, that is the focal point of the study. In doing so, I centre their voices as part of a narrative approach to this study. The context assumes importance in terms of the geographical location of Assam in the north-eastern region of India, which has been at the margins both literally and figuratively. In an attempt to decolonise the context and bring to the fore marginalised voices, this study works with indigenous methods developed specifically in relation to the context.

As methods that are being used for the first time, I will discuss the tensions between the theoretical formulation of it and the ground level implementation, as well as grappling with the data that emerged, with the recognition and acknowledgement that I did not know what kind of data to expect. After having come back to Oxford right after fieldwork, I look forward to sharing insights about the methodology, my methods, the full experience of fieldwork and the nature of the data.

Teams link: https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/3800797229488608?p=5aeQLmP0JazUr2y9F7