Marlot Kuiper

242 Connective Routines Intermezzo: ‘The reflexive professional’ Together with my first and second supervisor, I am in the office of the first supervisor to discuss an intermediate version of this dissertation. I am curious what they will think. A lot has changed compared to an earlier version, and on my own initiative I wrote personal intermezzos with additional reflections, as I felt they would add to the research and my personal development as a researcher. “What do you think about the intermezzos?” I finally ask myself as both didn’t start about them (that can mean a couple of things…) After a few seconds of silence, one of them replies; “Well actually, for me you don’t have to do it” [original: “Voor mij hoeft het niet zo..”] To which the other supervisor replies: “Really? I loved it. They need some revision and extension, but they are interesting and perfectly fit”. Writing a dissertation is all about showing that you are capable of designing, conducting and writing up scientific research. You have to design and manage your own project, and also ‘manage’ your supervisors every now and then. With this dissertation, I did strive to live up to academic standards, but in doing so also take the liberty to be creative and original, and deliver a dissertation that completely feels like ‘mine.’ I did experience this PhD research a personal learning experience, it therefore not only has theoretical or methodological implications, but also implications for the researcher that I have become and want to be. At first, I did insert these personal implications in the concluding chapter, but this apparently was too far from ‘mainstream’ academic work, so the negotiated outcome is that they ended up here. Ethnographic research is a labour-intensive activity. Dixon-Woods (2010) argued that it is a type of research only some personality types are suited for. What kind of types remains unclear. I would not describe myself as a specific ‘type’ of personality, but let me reflect on some of the skills an ethnographic researcher should have, informed by my own experience. First of all, as an ethnographer you should have high levels of flexibility. You should be able to adapt to all kinds of circumstances, different personalities, and changes in the course of events. You should be able to get close to your research participants, show empathy and understanding, but remain distanced at the same time. Especially when the participants have strong ideas (“registration