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approaches. What bricolage does offer in the discussion of disclosure of researcher is a
structured and theoretical base to provide this information in meaningful ways, embedded
within the research methodology, rather than as a tack-on or afterthought. As Denzin and
Lincoln explain, “the bricoleur understands that research is an interactive process shaped
by…personal history, biography, gender, social class, and ethnicity…” (1994, p. 3). Berry too
emphasizes the need for researchers to position themselves within the context of their
research, stating:
For contemporary research content and processes such as bricolage, identifying how
and why the researcher is positioned in the study is a must. Shifting positionalities
(based on place, time, gender, race, class, sexuality etc.) from which a researcher
reads, writes, analyzes, indicate a recognition of the part played by the socializing
texts of scholarly discourses, academic expectations and contexts throughout time
and space. (2006, p. 90)
The importance of this topic, as applied to this project, is evidenced through its application
and detailed description in the Disclosure of Researcher section, where other theories, from
other disciplines, concerning the disclosure of researcher, such as Gee’s (2004) frame
problem from a literacy discipline and Hexter’s (1971) second record from a history
discipline are discussed.
A number of researchers (see, for example, McKenzie, 2005; Berry 2006; Steinberg, 2006)
position bricolage within a poststructuralist framework due to, amongst other aspects, its
commitment to multiple readings of texts and interest in multiple perspectives. Relevant to
this research, a poststructuralist framework is also considered appropriate to inform a CDA
approach (Chouliaraki & Fairclough, 1999). Importantly, bricolage does not search for one
truth as positivist research does, which “…assumes there is a single, objective world of facts
and universal laws that can be captured without bias if the researcher uses the proper
scientific methods and techniques (control groups, randomization etc.)” (Lemesianou &
Grinberg, 2006, p. 213), but rather seeks a multitude of viewpoints. Bricoleurs, as claimed by
Kincheloe “…work to avoid pronouncements of final truth. Because of the changing and
impermanent nature of the world, bricoleurs propose compelling insights into their
engagement with reality and the unresolved contradictions that characterize such
interactions” (2004, p. 24). Although in the statement Kincheloe was discussing bricolage,
rather than post structuralism, this statement, nevertheless is aligned with a poststructuralist
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