Friday, July 30, 2010
Question #2
One of the major moral dilemmas ethnographers face is when they take on a covert role. It seems unethical to deceive people you are planning to study. But taking an overt role provides its’ own dilemmas. It is hard to know if you are really getting accurate research if the subjects know they are being researched. It is also hard to be objective once you have immersed yourself in a culture and established relationships with your subjects. No matter what role you take as an ethnographer, it seems it would be pretty easy to botch the research because you are not just observing a particular culture, you are interacting with them. While it doesn’t solve the accuracy dilemma, I suppose the best way to resolve the moral dilemmas of ethnographers is to only take overt roles when conducting research. This way everyone who is a part of research is made aware of it.
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I remember taking a COMM class and we studied people that did ethnography or auto-ethnography and this one researcher went to study the gangs in LA and will it was interesting to watch you could tell at times people were putting on a show. Also the guy doing the research was a Caucasian man kinda dorky but yet interviewing some seriously sketchy people. So I agree with you that these methods of research can get complicated but regardless I think it is best if everyone knows because at least you allow the opportunity for what people are really doing if you are observing then you do not have the opportunity to have a conversation and to dig deep in what is really going on.
ReplyDeleteThe dilemmas of being on ethnographer is challenging. In order to conduct research without bias or being detected, their morals are put to the side. But you are right when immersing ones self into a culture, relationships are developed are the lie of not being true to your nature the ethnographer is put into a difficult position. I agree that the only way to avoid the moral dilemmas of being an ethnographer is making everyone aware of your role in observation and conducting research. Like the television show where the boss of a big corporation goes undercover. They take on covert roles and deceive the people they are observing and working with. Only to later reveal their true identity and reward the workers with improvements and investments into their progress, because of the honesty of the workers. It is obvious that the moral dilemma of deceiving the people they are observing, who work for them, is very stressful and disturbing to them.
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