The Dynamic Process of Reflexivity: Insider Qualitative Research When Researchers and Participants Experience a Shared Crisis
The Dynamic Process of Reflexivity: Insider Qualitative Research When Researchers and Participants Experience a Shared Crisis

Summary/Abstract: This paper analyses a qualitative research process shaped by the shared experience of the COVID-19 pandemic for both the researcher and the participants. It examines the researcher’s self-reflexive process and introduces the Dynamic Reflexivity Framework (DRF) that illustrates how reflexivity can be applied across different stages of research. The DRF framework is demonstrated through the author’s insider, reflexive journey across a series of interconnected qualitative and mixed-methods research conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic. This included a longitudinal study exploring how the pandemic shaped the experiences of nearly 600 expatriates and their transnational families across 48 countries (Végh et al., 2023a), alongside qualitative research on accompanying spouses who experienced the pandemic in a host country (Végh et al., 2023b). Reflexive practices enable researchers to critically examine how their subjectivity, emotions, and positionality shape the research process, recognising unconscious motivations and biases and reflecting on one’s paradigmatic stance to ensure methodological coherence (Olmos-Vega et al., 2023). Rather than treating subjectivity solely as a source of bias, reflexivity positions it as central to knowledge production. The DRF framework presented here was developed through retrospective reflexive analysis and is structured, yet flexible. Its stages may overlap or recur as research progresses, forming a cyclical process. Drawing on qualitative research conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, the paper proposes a transferable reflexive framework to support researchers working in contexts of shared experience and to help sustain reflexive practice throughout the research lifecycle, particularly in studies characterised by shared vulnerability and insider researcher positionality.

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