An Insider/Outsider Team Approach in Research With Migrant Farmworker Women

Abstract

Investigators may encounter multiple and complex challenges in conducting research with underserved and marginalized groups. This article illustrates the benefits of using insider/outsider team research (IOTR) when researchers and their participants differ in gender, sexual orientation, culture, primary language, or social, economic, ethnic, or racial group membership. It also provides examples of how cognitively and experientially different perspectives enhanced understanding of participants' narratives. Drawing from the work of Bartunek and Lewis, which provided a conceptual basis for conducting IOTR, this article presents the historical background, characteristics, and phases of the IOTR concept and discusses how this research approach was implemented with a small-scale study of Mexican and Mexican American migrant farmworker women.