ABSTRACT
Higher education provides minimal intellectual space to fully examine what it means for researchers of color to document the lives of their brothers and sisters who are often living painful realities. In this chapter, we describe how a team orientation to the research became a vehicle for examining the ways our epistemological and ontological selves as racialized subjects impacted various aspects of the research process. To describe our experiences in the field, we share personal reflections and details from the data collection and analysis processes from twenty-two different focus group interviews with students of color in five suburban high schools. Using Critical Race Theory, we unpack the complexities of conducting research with students of color with whom we share similar racial and socioeconomic backgrounds and schooling experiences.
