Doing fieldwork the Ghanaian way: The dilemma of conducting research in rural Ghana.

This paper describes the fieldwork experience in rural Ghana of a Ghanaian student studying in Canada. It provides a background of self‐reflections that juxtapose the need to pay attention to the researcher's positionality and personality and how that can impact fieldwork and research outcomes. Recognizing that researchers' personalities have received less consideration in geographical qualitative research methodologies, this paper focuses on how both the researcher's positionality and personality can contribute to building rapport and sustaining relationships with the researched. I argue that while researchers' positionalities can influence access to research participants, personal traits form a backbone for building trust and sustaining relationships. I conclude that the research process can be rewarding if a common ground between the researcher and research participants is established. This can be created by building partnerships in the research process. Key Messages: While it is necessary to consider a researcher's positionality in fieldwork, it is equally important to consider the influence of their personality.Researchers' personal traits can form a backbone for building trust and sustaining relationships with their participants.While a researcher's positionality is inherited and sometimes conferred on them, personality persists over time and with different situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]