Sunday, November 1, 2009

Alex Questions - Nov. 2

Q1 - Hopf, (2004) writes about the general issues behind the rules of ethics laws and policies, and how exceptions can be made but must be justified. At one point, Hopf seems to be splitting hairs, especially when it comes to the issue of complete disclosure and how some temporary deception sometimes needs to be employed. This appears to be acceptable. But isn’t what Hopf really talking about is keeping things from the research subject that could lead to biases in their response? And if so, why then would temporary deception even be an ethical issue?

Q2 - Hopf, (2004) - So what are the confidentiality laws today in terms of researchers and their data? Can courts compel researchers to turn over their data and field notes? Can “anonymity” be “guaranteed” or only promised “to the extent of the law?”

Q3 –I found refreshing in Altheide & Johnson, (1998) the lines written where ours is an interpretive world rather than a literal one. This opens validity up to greater academic possibilities. But is there a fear that this can be taken too far? Afterall within a certain point of view, or within very specific contexts, almost anything can be considered valid.

Q4 – Denzin writes about sense-making, representation, legitimation, and desire. And I follow it all well… except desiring. Can you explain this better than Denzin tried to in the two and a half paragraphs? (Sorry, no long setup for this question. I just don’t rightly understand what is meant by desiring in the writing process.)

Q5 – Denzin’s position that a researcher cannot make sense of his or her field notes and truly understand what happened until he or she sits down and writes it makes a lot of sense to me. In the last couple of assignments, we would examine the news program or article, talk about what we saw, but at that point, all we had was some sort of text, some notes, and an assortment of ideas and concepts that have little to no relationship until the writing process puts it all together. Is this how it is supposed to work? If so, why does it seem that most qualitative researchers work alone?


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