Challenging methodologies: Deploying liberatory epistemologies to unlock creative research practices

Abstract

Departing from the methodological story of my doctoral research and deploying feminist, postcolonial, and decolonial epistemologies, this article explores the double connotation of the phrase ‘challenging methodologies’. On the one hand, the article reviews the process of my doctoral research, the challenges I faced, and how these oriented my methodological decisions. On the other hand, it examines the three methodologies I chose – grounded theory, online research, and narrative inquiry – to understand how they originated to challenge unjust canonical research processes that undermine different ways of generating knowledge and reinforce epistemic silencing. By exploring ‘challenging methodologies’, the article invites (novice) researchers to contest unjust research processes and embark on their own creative, albeit challenging, methodological paths.