Papers by Gabriela Capurro, PhD
International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 2021
This paper examines the emotional labor performed by researchers when undertaking ethnographic re... more This paper examines the emotional labor performed by researchers when undertaking ethnographic research in hospitals. Drawing on emotion work theory to situate emotions at the center of qualitative and interdisciplinary research, I provide a methodological reflection based on a 20-week long ethnography at a Canadian pediatric hospital I conducted in the context of a research project examining risk communication of antimicrobial resistance. I argue that the emotional labor in which hospital ethnographers engage starts long before the fieldwork and carries on throughout the project and into the data analysis and writing of results. I divide these instances of emotional labor into four categories: gaining and maintaining access to the field site, resolving ethical concerns, managing relations with participants, and witnessing human suffering. This paper addresses a gap in the literature regarding the various barriers that hospital ethnographers encounter as I reflect upon the challenges I faced and the emotional labor I intuitively engaged in and provide advice for researchers on how to navigate these barriers.
International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 2021
This paper examines the emotional labor performed by researchers when undertaking ethnographic re... more This paper examines the emotional labor performed by researchers when undertaking ethnographic research in hospitals. Drawing on emotion work theory to situate emotions at the center of qualitative and interdisciplinary research, I provide a methodological reflection based on a 20-week long ethnography at a Canadian pediatric hospital I conducted in the context of a research project examining risk communication of antimicrobial resistance. I argue that the emotional labor in which hospital ethnographers engage starts long before the fieldwork and carries on throughout the project and into the data analysis and writing of results. I divide these instances of emotional labor into four categories: gaining and maintaining access to the field site, resolving ethical concerns, managing relations with participants, and witnessing human suffering. This paper addresses a gap in the literature regarding the various barriers that hospital ethnographers encounter as I reflect upon the challenges I faced and the emotional labor I intuitively engaged in and provide advice for researchers on how to navigate these barriers.
Sage Open, 2020
This article examines how antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is covered in four elite North American ... more This article examines how antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is covered in four elite North American newspapers and whether
the dailies act as sites of reflexive modernization. I draw on risk society theory to situate AMR as a modern risk and news
media as key spaces for reflexivity. Through a qualitative content analysis of 89 news stories on AMR, this study shows that
this risk is communicated through inaccurate definitions and oversimplified accounts of the causes, populations at risk, and
preventive measures. Media representations of health risks affect public perceptions of risk and risk prevention. The dailies,
however, seldom expressed reflexive modernization, a key function of “mass media” in the Risk Society, which I argue could
be due to the very complexity of “modern risks.” Lack of reflexivity in the media regarding AMR could delay crucial policy
and institutional changes necessary to tackle this risk.
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Papers by Gabriela Capurro, PhD
the dailies act as sites of reflexive modernization. I draw on risk society theory to situate AMR as a modern risk and news
media as key spaces for reflexivity. Through a qualitative content analysis of 89 news stories on AMR, this study shows that
this risk is communicated through inaccurate definitions and oversimplified accounts of the causes, populations at risk, and
preventive measures. Media representations of health risks affect public perceptions of risk and risk prevention. The dailies,
however, seldom expressed reflexive modernization, a key function of “mass media” in the Risk Society, which I argue could
be due to the very complexity of “modern risks.” Lack of reflexivity in the media regarding AMR could delay crucial policy
and institutional changes necessary to tackle this risk.
the dailies act as sites of reflexive modernization. I draw on risk society theory to situate AMR as a modern risk and news
media as key spaces for reflexivity. Through a qualitative content analysis of 89 news stories on AMR, this study shows that
this risk is communicated through inaccurate definitions and oversimplified accounts of the causes, populations at risk, and
preventive measures. Media representations of health risks affect public perceptions of risk and risk prevention. The dailies,
however, seldom expressed reflexive modernization, a key function of “mass media” in the Risk Society, which I argue could
be due to the very complexity of “modern risks.” Lack of reflexivity in the media regarding AMR could delay crucial policy
and institutional changes necessary to tackle this risk.