Reflecting, acknowledging and bracketing your perspectives and preconceptions

When coding, we are expected to examine our perspectives and preconceptions, including our past experience and knowledge. By so doing, we are able to put them aside – preventing them from unduly impacting the data analysis process. It is also important to let our audience know our background, views and preconceived ideas. Consequently, engaging in self-evaluation and transparency goes a long way to attain credible findings. As qualitative researchers, what involves knowing the ‘self’ and its related perspectives, biases and lens? How do we bracket (i.e., set aside) our perspectives and biases? And what are the benefits of bracketing? These are questions I address in this chapter.