“Is this a chat-up line?”: A Young Female Researching Men’s Mental Health

In this paper I reflect on and examine aspects of my researcher positionality and how it shaped the current doctoral work. As an integral part of the research process, researchers are now required to reflect on their role and positon in the research process. This is becoming imperative as a means to increase the integrity and trustworthiness of the research (Finlay, 2002). Being a young female researcher interested in the lives of men, I was conscious of my positionality and it’s potential to create challenges from the beginning of the recruitment process, right through to the analysis and writing up of the data. The gendered power dynamic present in the malefemale, researcher-researched relationship (Arendel, 1997) influenced various aspects of the research process. I therefore ensured that I engaged in reflexivity and ongoing self-awareness (Finlay & Gough, 2003) throughout by taking stock of my actions and my role in the research process (Mason, 1996). In this reflection I considered how I belonged in relation to my male participants and the topic of their mental health.