There are a couple ways to resolve these issues. One type of ethnographic research involves telling the participants that they are being observed. This would mean that the researcher would not have to be as deceptive. They would still need to be in the background observing, but they would no longer be lying. A problem with this though is that the research may not be as authentic because people will now have a guard up or put on a front. The objectivity might be hard to overcome. The only solution I can think of would be to have more than one person conducting the research. That way, more research can be done and it is more likely the information would be accurate.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Moral Dilemmas Facing Ethnographers
There are two moral dilemmas facing ethnographers. The first is that it can be deceptive. Since this form of research involves going undercover or actually getting involved with a group the researcher may begin to develop mixed emotions. On one hand, they want to get their research; however on the other hand, they may not want to lie to people that they have grown close to in the group. Another moral dilemma is that the researcher may lose their ability to be objective. Since they are involved in the group or organization they are going to develop friendships and bonds. This could contaminate their research which would result in a biased conclusion.
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I’m not sure that the problem is fixed simply by telling the group your observing that you’re a researcher. This just creates a different problem, which is whether or not the people you are observing change the way they go about whatever it is you are there to observe. Multiple researchers are an interesting idea, but I still don’t think it solves the problem. In fact I don’t think it is possible to solve the dilemma of lying if the type of role you wish to play is covert. I suppose you simply have to accept the idea of lying, or accept the idea of going about your research in a different way.
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