Self-awareness and fieldwork
Because fieldwork depends on the researcher as instrument, developing a sense of self is important for a variety of reasons. First, understanding the unchangeable attributes one brings to fieldwork is useful–things like the impact of gender, race, ethnicity, and religious beliefs. Second, monitoring your reaction to places, people and interactions may be key to identifying both over and under sampling within the research context. Third, using your own feelings, thoughts, reactions may be a pathway to developing an empathetic stance in the research context.
I have found Alan Peshkin’s notion of subjective “I”s useful. Take a look at In Search of Subjectivity.
Participant Observation
Participant observation is a central data collection strategy in much interpretive and critical research. This article <participant-observation> is a quick overview of PO–why and how it is done, and some cautions as well.
Dinosaur epistemology
From http://www.owlnet.rice.edu/~psyc351/Images/DinosaurEpistemology.png
So why is anonymity considered so important?
Very few researchers have tackled this issue, choosing instead to work within the mainstream and with the assumption that promises of confidentiality and anonymity are essential in social science research. Jan Nespor in Anonymity and Place in Qualitative Inquiry unpacks the idea of anonymity and focuses on a multiplicity of roles anonymity plays in qualitative research beyond protecting research participants.
Van Maanen on writing
John Van Maanen’s book Tales of the Field explores different forms of writing in interpretive research ~ he describes realist, confessional and impressionist ‘tales.’ Realist tales are descriptive and sometimes explanatory accounts of culture and meaning narrated in the third person. Such tales are crafted through the use of carefully chosen quotes from research participants to illustrate the tales’ authenticity. Confessional tales are first person accounts that reveal the researcher’s feelings and engagement with a cultural context. Such tales follow the conventions of autobiographical writing. Impressionist tales have the character of novels, writing that is characterized by dramatic recall, character and plot development. There are lots of examples of all three types of writing, many of them classics in the social sciences. This book is a definite read.
Here is an article by Max Van Maanen that explores what it means to write in phenomenological research.
Photovoice
Lots of good examples of photovoice are available on the web. Here is a link to two photovoice projects that explore the experience of women living in poverty in central Canada.
And, one based on research about health issues for non-gay African American men who have sex with men. This project was on display at the San Francisco Public Library in December 2007.
Poetry and representation
This article by Suzanne Baff resulted from a qualitative research course she took with me. Originally, this research was represented entirely in poetry, but to be published the journal required some prose be written around the poetry to orient the reader.
Realism, Naturalism and Dead Dudes
Another approach used in interpretive research is poetic transcription (Baff uses this technique but also uses poetry rather than prose as well). Corrine Glesne illustrates forms of poetic transcription in That Rare Feeling. This excerpt illustrates two forms of poetic transcription she discusses.
Resources on writing/publishing interpretive research
This list includes the usual style guides, helpful texts on writing for younger scholars, and some texts that are more specifically connected to interpretive research traditions.
REFERENCES ON WRITING & PUBLISHING
Allison, A., & Forngia, T. (1992). The grad student’s guide to getting published. New York: Prentice Hall.
American Psychological Association. (2001). Publication manual of the American Psychological Associations (5th ed.). Washington, DC.
Becker, H. S., & Richards, P. (1986). Writing for social scientists: How to start and finish your thesis, book, or article. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Clifford, J. & Marcus, G. E. (1986). Writing culture. University of California Press.
Frost, P. J., & Taylor, M. S. (Eds.). Rhythms of academic life: Personal accounts of careers in academia. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Geertz, C. (1989). Works and Lives: The Anthropologist as writer. Polity Press.
Matkin, R. E., & Riggar, T. F. (1991). Persist and publish: Helpful hints for academic writing and publishing. Niwot, CO: University of Colorado Press.
University of Chicago Press. (1993). The Chicago manual of style (14th ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Strunk, W. J., & White, E. B. (2005). The elements of style (3rd. Ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon. [NOTE: Treat yourself and get the edition illustrated by Maira Kalman.]
Truss, L. (2004). Eats, shoots and leaves. New York: Gotham.
Van Maanen, J. (1988). Tales of the field. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Wolcott, H. F. (2001). Writing up qualitative research (2nd edition). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
