Methodology I am grappling with

Research question: What explains variation in HIV-related risk among young women in Dar es Salaam?

Gendered variation of HIV infections in sub Saharan Africa (SSA) has puzzled researchers for many years.[1]In most other regions of the world, HIV is isolated to key populations (men who have sex with men, injection drug users, sex workers, etc.). However, in SSA HIV is a generalized epidemic, and therefore is predominantly spread through heterosexual sexual behavior. The assumption is therefore that men and women in SSA have relatively similar HIV prevalence rates. However, this is not the case; instead, young women are extremely more at risk for contracting HIV. Young women’s prevalence rates remain extremely higher than young men’s, and they remain the most vulnerable population in the region. This extreme vulnerability can only be explained by societal norms and behaviors that disadvantage young women. I hope that my work has the potential to speak to gender dynamics that leave young women extremely more at-risk. For this reason, it is my belief that my research interests remain reflexivist in nature. That being said, my research question is formulated in a neopositivist structure because I plan to utilize neopositivist tools to speak to reflexivist ideals.

I felt that it was extremely important for my data analysis to include neopositivist structures due to the nature of my project. HIV is an incredibly sensitive topic due to the stigma surrounding the disease, and therefore I felt it necessary to develop a systematic approach to grouping young women as being at “high risk” for contracting HIV. Similarly, it is my belief that the best approach to determining behavioral trends in the high-risk group was to perform a chi squares analysis. It was a relatively basic analysis, which I plan to discuss further below.

While my data analysis is naturally neopositivist, I also felt extremely difficult to separate myself from the research topic. As a young woman, I viewed my topic from their perspective. The majority of the women interviewed were actually the same age as me, so I felt it extremely difficult to completely separate myself from them. Reflexivists believe that knowledge directs action along pathways, that possibly leads to the overcoming of social or gender hierarchies.[2]. HIV is not an isolated phenomenon; it is impossible to isolate disease from social determinants of health. Reflexivists pride themselves on “identifying the function of a given intellectual articulation and clarifying its relationship to the dominant social order,” and this is exactly what I am attempting to do: identify why women are disproportionately more at risk, and then clarify its relationship to gendered social orders.[3]

Similarly, the data that I am analyzing consists of qualitative interviews, and seeks to “problem solve”. Researchers should learn from their mistakes and decide to re-evaluate and make changes and try again.[4]HIV is a product of and a contributing factor to intensely restrictive gender norms that ultimately leave young women in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania extremely at risk compared to men. Reflexive scholars take into account the gendered history of the sexual partnerships in Tanzania; they would problem solve and determine an all-encompassing solution, or display the hierarchies contributing to the societal ill.

[1]Simon Gregson, Heather Waddell, and Stephen Chandiwana,“School Education and HIV Control in Sub-Saharan Africa: From Discord to Harmony?,”Journal of International Development13, no. 4 (2001): 467–485; Shelley Lees et al., “Sexual Risk Behaviour for Women Working in Recreational Venues in Mwanza, Tanzania: Considerations for the Acceptability and Use of Vaginal Microbicide Gels,”Culture, Health and Sexuality11, no. 6 (2009): 581–595; Daniel T Halperin and Helen Epstein, “The Role of Multiple Concurrent Partnerships and Lack of Male Circumcision : Implications for AIDS Prevention,”The Southern African Journal of HIV Medicine, no. March (2007): 19–25; Connie L. Celum et al.,“Rethinking HIV Prevention to Prepare for Oral PrEP Implementation for Young African Women,”Journal of the International AIDS Society18, no. Suppl 3 (2015): 1–10; Rebecca Lewinsohn et al., ““This Baby Came up and Then He Said, ‘I Give up!’: The Interplay between Unintended Pregnancy, Sexual Partnership Dynamics and Social Support and the Impact on Women’s Well-Being in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa,”Midwifery62, no. August 2017 (2018): 29–35.

[2]Patrick Thaddeus Jackson, The Conduct of Inquiry in International Relations: Philosophy of Science and Its Implications for the Study of World Politics, 2nd ed. (Routledge, 2016).

[3]Ibid.

[4]Ibid.

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