Анализ установок исследователя в процессе изучения сензитивных тем: опыт интервьюирования участников военных конфликтов

Социологический журнал. 2024. Т. 30. № 3. С. 61–75.

Startsev S.

The article is devoted to methodological problems that arise when conducting high-quality interviews on sensitive topics, in particular with participants in military conflicts. The author analyzes the contradiction between the traditional requirement of researcher's neutrality and the need to establish trusting contact with an informant. Using the example of our own experience of interviewing participants in combat operations in Afghanistan and Ukraine, it is demonstrated that strict adherence to the principle of neutrality can prevent obtaining in-depth information. An alternative approach based on honesty, self-reflection and procedural objectivity is proposed. The author argues that the researcher's open expression of his own position and willingness to dialogue make it possible to overcome the "wall of empathy" and establish productive contact even with significant differences in views. The article contributes to the discussion on the balance between scientific impartiality and researcher's involvement in qualitative sociology. The proposed methodological recommendations can be useful in conducting research on complex social and political topics.

Keywords: качественная методология, авторефлексия, self-reflection, ​qualitative methodology, military studies, interviewer's attitudes, researcher's objectivity, study of military identity, исследования вооруженных конфликтов, установки интервьюера, объективность исследователя, изучение военной идентичности