Tom brings up some interesting points that I think are
open for discussion.  I would like to keep the
newsgroup just that, a forum for discussion because
most of us are moving into 'unknown' territory by
thinking about uses of the performative in our work.

The ethics of such work ideally will develop out of
trial and error, reaching consensus, modifying
existing protocols, etc. and coming up with something
that is workable for both the researcher and
researched as well as any potential audiences.

I find that most qualitative researchers, left to
their own devices, are both sensitive to the needs and
rights of others and curious for understanding of
other human beings.  Is this not a starting point for
ethical deliberations in our work? It is when we start
thinking about Ethics Committees and such, that we
freeze up and stop using our natural sensitivities as
human beings.

The word 'performative' is, in my mind, used in its
widest sense.  When we present at conferences and
workshops, we perform.  When we hold trainings we
> perform. Even when we write for journals and books,
we are utilising performative techniques if we expect
to engage the reader. (My personal interest in the
performative grew out of my own desire not be bored/or
bore at conferences!)

On a personal note and the 'performative', one of the
magical moments of my nine days of training spread
over three months with you and Prue (Biographic
Narrative Interpretive Method) was the  moment deep
into some discussion when you began reciting poetry to
each other
across the classroom (I believe it was from Tristan
and Isolda, if memory serves).  What a performative
and informative moment!

Cheers,
Kip

 -----Original Message-----
> From: Tom Wengraf (Tom3)
[mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Tue 11/8/2005 9:21 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Cc: Biographic-Narrative-BNIM;
Narrative-health-research
> Subject: 'Performance' in social science - Tom
Wengraf self-introduction
>
> My interests are in sociology and history and my
focus is on developing
> social research methodology in a way which attends
to both psycho-dynamics
> and societal-dynamics at the same time. With others,
I'm developing the
> concept of a multiple 'psycho-societal' methodology.
My personal
> specialisation is in biographic-narrative
interviewing as one component of
> such a method.
>
> I'm quite ambivalent about 'performance' but very
committed to finding ways
> in which the insights developed through group and
individual interpretation
> work can be conveyed to quite different
'stakeholders'. The processes of
> 'group interpretation' that I am most experienced in
are 'BNIM panels' in
> which the small group interprets a chunk of data
(for example, a segment of
> an interview transcript), hypothesises about its
significance making
> hypotheses about what might come next in the
interview sequence if this or
> that hypothesis were to be right, and then digests
the next chunk, doing the
> same. This chunk-by-chunk future blind interpretive
process is detailed in
> my (free) 'Short Guide to BNIM' that I could send to
anyone who would like a
> copy. (requests to <[log in to unmask]> please, not
to the whole PERFORM
> list)
>
> In a way this method of interpretation is one in
which the flow of the
> interview as it happened is 're-performed' for the
panel in a freeze-frame
> way putting the panel into a position to develop a
collective chunk-by-chunk
> discussion of what is going on.
>
> Our post-panel presentation of findings has so far
tended to be rather
> conventional. However, there is an exception. Prue
and Donovan Chamberlayne
> have used two BNIM-style interviews with a homeless
person and a hostel
> manager as the basis for a short
discussion-and-training video in which
> critical incidents were 'worked up' into video form.
This film 'Connecting
> Lives' -- together with notes for guidance and other
documentation -- is
> available from Pavilion Films at <www.pavpub.com>.
The 'Notes for Guidance'
> for those using the video for training,
sensitisation and issue-focus-group
> discussion have very good ideas about 'performing
the video' which may also
> be of interest to those using this listserve.
>
> Having said this, I think it is always necessary to
consider the
> personal-ethical dimension of 'working up and
performing' (would the
> interviewee feel happy about this?, to take but one
example) and the
> scientific-ethical dimension (are we staying true
to, or playing
> fast-and-loose-with, the facts of the case)? At a
certain point, performing
> can become a 'fact-based fictional creation' which
shows its integrity by
> acknowledging that it is not just a
re-representation of the 'facts' which
> helped to inspire it. The notion of 'docu-tainment'
suggests the strain and
> tensions inherent in re-representation sliding into
(unavowed, and therefore
> scientifically un-ethical) mis-representation.
>
> Best wishes
>
> Tom
>
> <[log in to unmask]>

Dr Kip Jones
Reader in Health Related Social Science
Centre for Qualitative Research
Institute of Health & Community Studies
Bournemouth University United Kingdom
Website: www.kipworld.net


		
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