Insider and outsider researcher positionality impact: Lessons from researching the social construction of HIV stigma and sexual health seeking behaviour within Black sub-Sahara African communities

This paper is a reflection on the impact of researcher positionality based on lessons learnt following a research study of the social construction of HIV stigma and sexual health seeking behaviour within Black sub-Sahara African (BSSA) communities. Researcher positionality has a direct impact on the quality and nature of study outcomes. Depending on the nature and circumstances of a given research study, the researcher status in terms of position (insider or outsider) can be dynamic and instrumental in the level of participation by research participants. In this paper, we consider three important interdependent aspects central to conducting research including researcher identity, research participants, and the research topic, to assess the impact of researcher status on the quality and nature of the information provided by the research participants. Following a discussion of the impact of researcher identity as both insider and outsider, specific issues inherent in the research topic are discussed including the missing evidence related to marginalised perspectives of the research participants. Also discussed is the way in which researcher status (insider or outsider) directly impacted on how the research participants responded to the questions posed by the researcher. In conclusion, a researcher who is viewed as both an insider and outsider can either positively or negatively influenced the quality and nature of the information given by the research participants