Imagining the possibilities: qualitative inquiry at the intersections of race, gender, disability, and class

Abstract

This paper reflects upon the methodology and methods of a qualitative study that examined the lived educational experiences of four African-American women labeled with disabilities and from low socioeconomic backgrounds. This paper offers discussion as to the usefulness of alternate methods of representing data, specifically poetry and narrative, as a means of circumventing dilemmas associated with intersectional research and promoting more equitable research processes for individuals that have been historically marginalized by traditional research methods. How qualitative inquiry may enhance and bring about new insights into the lived experiences of individuals located at marginalized and intersecting discourses is explored.

Keywords:

• intersectionality
• alternate methods
• qualitative research

Notes

1. Collins (2008) defined intersectionality as how systems of oppression, including gender, race, and class intersect and mutually construct one another. To these identified systems of oppression, I add disability.

2. Research methodology is understood as the philosophical underpinnings regarding epistemology and ontology that a researcher brings to the research process. The assumptions that one brings to the research process about the origins and nature of human knowledge and the nature of reality inform one’s choice of methods.