Abstract
This paper deals with some of the linguistic difficulties I encountered during fieldwork conducted among cloistered and non-cloistered communities of Roman Catholic nuns. I illustrate here the necessity for taking both active and passive research modes—that is, moving from observer to participant and back—in order to counteract problems related to interaction styles, lack of language, meaning inversions, and silence as a mode of communication. These problems represent a continuum—a progression from least to most problematical in terms of the connection between researcher and researched. I argue that by adopting a stance appropriate to the groups being studied—that is, by using both active and passive research strategies with equal rigor—many linguistic barriers can not only be overcome, but usedas sources of important data.
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Wichroski, M.A. Breaking silence: Some fieldwork strategies in cloistered and non-cloistered communities. Qual Sociol 19, 153–170 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02393252
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02393252