Reflexive and critical perspectives

A reflexive methodology (Alvesson & Sköldberg 1994; 2009; Alvesson & Deetz 2000) proposes interpretation and reflection with several layers. Firstly all references to data are the results of interpretation, and because of this the pre-understanding of the researcher and their theoretical assumptions are important factors to acknowledge.

Secondly, a reflection has to be made upon one´s own interpretations on different levels. In addition interpretation never happens in a vacuum, but is always politically and ideologically influenced (Alvesson & Sköldberg 1994, 17), as well as being culturally embedded. Reflexivity operates as a meta-theoretical structure that directs the interaction between the interpretations made and the questions that are asked of them (Alvesson 2011, 13). A reflection can be seen as an interpretation of one´s interpretations, as well as a critical self-evaluation of the interpretations made (Alvesson & Sköldberg 1994, 12). Therefore the researcher reconstructs the social reality by their interaction with the subjects studied, and through their active interpretation and selectiveness in the analysis and reporting of findings, where some angles are chosen and others are left out (Alvesson and Sköldberg 2009; 1994, 13;

Tavory & Timmermans 2014, 122). In addition to an active consciousness of one’s pre-supposed stances, an acknowledgement of the influence of issues such as language might have on the interpretation is also needed (Alvesson & Sköldberg 1994, 12).

This study grasps the prospective adoptive parents´ complex experiences of pre-adoption services using several aspects of social reality. Theorizing should not be restricted to academic theories, but also employ other explanatory frameworks that may be useful to the case in hand (Tavor & Timmermans 2014, 43). As Fook (2001) argues, the lens constituting one´s own experience and through which the self-reflective researcher sees the world is not only an instrument, but a source of data in itself. As such, this lens becomes important in identifying all aspects of a phenomenon (Fook 2001, 129).

Abductive reasoning in the research process contributed to understanding the complex experiences presented, drawing on both theory, literature and previous professional experience. Different kinds of knowledge have been utilized in searching for ways to derive alternative meanings. This is combined with a phronetic approach which claims contextually informed knowledge to be a vehicle for making generalizations which

extend beyond the specific cases in the data (Landman 2012, 27). According to Alvesson

& Sköldberg (1994, 220), critical theory addresses the political dimensions of the study, as social science cannot stay neutral and objective to social phenomena. The focus chosen either strengthens or challenges these existing relations, taking dominating institutions and ideologies for granted. For example one can detect attitudes that cause locked or frozen social institutions and challenge them (Alvesson & Sköldberg 1994, 212).

According to Landman (2012, 27-28), narrative inquiry is a useful process in making visible how power is perceived, and the influence it has on people’s behavior. This fits well with phronetic social science (Landman 2012; Flyvbjerg 2012) which also pays attention to power relations and offers a critical perspective.

4 Methodology

This study relies on of two different sets of data, one being mainly quantitative and the other qualitative. The two sets of data can be seen as complementing each other.

The research design moves from a study on service satisfaction based on a survey methodology, to deriving a deeper understanding of the personal experiences of prospective adoptive parents through a process of narrative inquiry. The survey data offers a generalized broad perspective on the phenomenon studied, whilst the narrative inquiry gives a deeper insight of the user perspective (Lieblich, Tuval-Mashiach &

Zilber 1998). In the research design, the quantitative survey data accounted for the first sub-study (Article I). In the lives of the adoptive parents, satisfaction scores form a retrospective view on their received services, and these were explored in more depth through the narrative data (Articles II-IV).

Four theoretical concepts were initially chosen to explore the experiences of the prospective adoptive parents´ clienthood: service satisfaction, emotion, power, and strategic interaction (presented in chapter 3.2). Service satisfaction was chosen based on readily available survey data, whereas the following three concepts were derived through inductive readings of the narrative data. In the analysis, based on these conceptual frameworks new concepts arose as important in explaining and understanding the phenomena. These were vulnerability and dependency relating to both the situation and the relationship with the professionals. Also the concept of relationship arose in the analysis of service satisfaction and in the analyses of emotion, power and interaction. A further concept of agency was derived from the power dynamics: and was represented in how agency was perceived, and also how it was used as a means to navigate within the context. None of these concepts were used as theoretical frameworks in the initial analysis, but were achieved through abductive reasoning. Together, these concepts helped to explain and understand the clienthood experience of prospective adoptive parents. Findings were then compared with relevant literature in social work contexts (especially child protection) and then situated within broader discussions about inter-country adoption and social work.

When the findings from all sub-studies were synthesized, I noticed a gap between emotion and reason in the accounts of the participants which is interesting and worth elaborating on. This gap in the accounts was also an expression of how the two different aims of the client and the professional are balanced, and was also found to be in line with two current but different discourses present in discussions about inter-country adoption further elaborated in chapter 6.

In this study, both data and theoretical triangulation was applied (Denzin 1978;

Patton 1999). Data triangulation was not applied in the initial analysis for the four sub-studies presented in the articles, but the different data sets were analysed separately utilizing different conceptual frameworks. Data triangulation was however utilized in the summary and synthesis of the original articles to grasp the complexity of the phenomenon being studied. Whilst this did not primarily strengthen the objectivity or validity of the research, it served to strengthen the research design as a whole (Silverman 2000). Triangulation should not be seen as an attempt to give a complete picture of social reality, but rather to offer several angels on the phenomenon (Silverman 2000; Layder 2013, 91), and in the context of this overall research, this aim has been achieved.