Social Sciences and Humanities Open, vol.10, 2024 (Scopus)
This qualitative study aims to investigate the researcher identity development of novice and experienced researchers. In the study, which adopted the case study, one of the qualitative research designs, the maximum diversity and criterion sampling methods were used. Data were collected through interviews with seven novice and five experienced teacher educators. Data were analyzed by content analysis through MAXQDA software. Results showed that experienced and novice teacher educators shared similar views while depicting research and revealing the influential factors in developing researcher identity. It was found that researcher identity was developed through the interaction of three main components: academic, social, and individual factors. While individual factors were at the core of a researcher identity development process, academic and social factors influenced researcher identity through three phases: exploration, engagement, and continuous development. For each phase, there were academic and social factors that had a prevalent influence on researcher identity construction.