This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Scott, S. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

Researching shyness: a contradiction in terms?

School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University, UK ScottS3{at}cf.ac.uk

The image of the ‘ideal’ research participant as reflexive and articulate is typically associated with loquacious vocality. By contrast, the shy person is apparently quiet and reticent, representing the complete anathema of this ideal. Nevertheless, it is possible to conduct qualitative research with self-defined shy people if we treat shyness as an emergent property of interaction rather than a fixed personality trait. Methodological innovation can help us to avoid evoking shyness in the research encounter itself, as we see from a study in which in-depth interviews and an email-based discussion group allowed participants to step out of the shy role. Drawing on their experiences of observing social life from the margins, these actors provided detailed, reflexive narratives about the social context in which shyness is defined and managed. Paradoxically, therefore, the shy display a unique form of vocality and prove themselves to be remarkably similar to the ‘ideal’ research participant.

Key Words: cyberspace • email • hidden population • ‘ideal’ respondent • identity • interaction • interviews • resistance • shyness • vocality

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?