Beyond Boundaries: Methodological Insights from Researching Filipino Deaf Gay Men’s Lived Experiences

This paper seeks to contribute to the existing body of knowledge on feminist research methodology by offering a comprehensive account of my experiences as a graduate student when I studied the lived experiences of Filipino Deaf gay men employed in the private sector. I document and examine how the study was carried out during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and detail the measures I implemented to mitigate the challenges encountered at all stages of the data collection process. Specifically, this paper delves into the practical and ethical issues I faced in (1) recruiting participants, (2) providing reasonable accommodation, (3) establishing rapport, (4) obtaining informed consent, (5) conducting feminist in-depth interviews, (6) practicing duty of care, and (7) implementing measures for data analysis and validation. By explicitly writing my experiences, I seek to offer practical insights to future researchers interested in investigating the lived experiences of Deaf gay men in the Philippines and contribute to the ongoing discussions on feminist research methodology in both pandemic and post-pandemic eras.