Navigating tensions in paradigm bridging: Methodological lessons learned in Inuit Nunangat

Abstract: Inuit worldviews are rich with knowledge that can guide research. Research in Inuit communities, however, has a history of being exploitative, extractive and grounded in the priorities and epistemologies of non-Inuit researchers. In a colonial context where power dynamics favour and default to Western ways of knowing, foregrounding Inuit worldviews in critical qualitative health research is not a straightforward endeavour. In this presentation, I will share insights from my journey as a non-Inuk researcher seeking to build an equitable, productive and coherent relationship between Inuit worldviews and the critical paradigm in the context of my doctoral research. I will present how this journey led to the creation of an accountability framework. This framework provided guidance for intentional and reflective decision-making aligned with the project’s commitments to foreground Inuit worldviews and resist Western hegemony. Concepts grounded in Inuit knowledge (piliriqatigiinniq and the Qaggiq Model) and qualitative research (meaningful coherence) guided the framework’s development. Lessons from this work highlight the importance of humility, reflexivity, and contextual relevance to the process of equitable and coherent paradigm bridging in qualitative research.
Bio: Dr. Janna MacLachlan is an occupational therapist and graduate of the Social and Behavioural Health Sciences doctoral program at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto. She is a White woman of European ancestry who is living in Nunavut. Dr. MacLachlan’s research employs Indigenous and critical social science approaches to address issues of equity, power and privilege in health, especially focusing on work that supports Inuit knowledge to be foregrounded in health and social services offered to Inuit. In her doctoral research, this included critically reflecting on the relationships between Inuit and Western systems of knowledge as they apply to rehabilitation services offered to Inuit children. Dr. MacLachlan is currently a Banting Postdoctoral Researcher at the Qaujigiartiit Health Research Centre in Iqaluit, Nunavut.