Navigating multi-stakeholder fieldwork in return rural entrepreneurship: methodological challenges and reflexive strategies

Abstract

Rural revitalization policies in China have encouraged urban migrants to return rural area and engage in entrepreneurship, reshaping rural economies and communities. While existing research has explored return rural entrepreneurs’ motivations and impacts, less attention has been paid to the methodological complexities of studying this phenomenon in a multi-actor setting. This paper reflects on the challenges of conducting qualitative research among return rural entrepreneurs (RRErs), local government officials, and village residents in six rural tourism villages in Zhejiang Province. Employing interviews, participant observation, and elements of action research, this study examines how researchers navigate multi-role positioning, stakeholder interactions, the boundary between observation and intervention, and ethical concerns surrounding data validity. Findings highlight the fluidity of researcher positionality, where shifting between observer, participant, and policy consultant roles influences data collection and interpretation. The paper discusses the difficulty of balancing relationships between different interest groups, ensuring research neutrality, and mitigating reactivity effects. It also reflects on ethical dilemmas such as maintaining confidentiality in close-knit rural communities and avoiding unintentional influence on entrepreneurial practices. By integrating reflexive journaling, methodological triangulation, and participatory ethics, the study proposes strategies to enhance research rigor in complex qualitative fieldwork. This paper contributes to geographies of entrepreneurship, rural development, and qualitative methodologies by offering insights into researching return migration and entrepreneurship in policy-driven rural transformation contexts. It underscores the importance of reflexivity in multi-stakeholder research and provides transferable lessons for scholars conducting engaged fieldwork in dynamic socio-spatial environments.

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ORCID for Tongming Wang: orcid.org/0000-0002-5183-7332

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