For any of you who have heard me speak for more than five seconds, you would know by now that I am the self-proclaimed “biggest, fattest Taurus” you’ll ever meet in your entire life. I’m stubborn, opinionated and I can’t bear to be told that I’m in the wrong. What can I say? The bull runs deep within my soul.
Practically, however, this proves itself a challenge, especially when it comes to putting myself in the position of a researcher. In the Power and Inequity in Research panel, Carisa Showden made the point that, as researchers, we have to accept the fact that our preconceived notions and expectations may be opposed. Things that we believe to be true or ideas we’ve been taught in the past may be proven wrong through research ‒ we have to be willing to be surprised by our findings. It can be all too easy to pursue narratives and results that confirm the opinions and perspectives we already possess, but if we do all the time, we wouldn’t be learning anything new, would we? I guess that defeats the whole purpose of research and, for someone like me, this is honestly really confronting.
Researchers have the agency to control what stories they want to tell, so having the willingness to be proven wrong means that more valid research can be obtained. By letting ego, bias and stubbornness get in the way of more open understandings, the power that a researcher possesses is being disrespected.
So, I suppose I will always be true to my opinions, but I reckon an old bull can be taught new tricks.
