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Dear all,
Thanks very much to everyone who sent me helpful responses to my original query last week. I have a new query:
Has anyone ever encounter uses of ethnographic writing or ethnographic case studies that are nicely written in policy reports or formal non-academic documents? If anyone has any they would like to point my clients to whilst delivering a training session to an NHS policy organisation which is basically a massive pitch for incorporate ethnography into policy, that would be great. Happy to use anyone's own examples on the book list I am handing out.
I will report back to the list on the anthropologist trains policy makers encounter sometime after Wednesday!
Thanks very much.
All the best,
Cathy Baldwin
Dr Cathy Baldwin, [log in to unmask]
Post Doctoral Associate,
Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Oxford
http://www.anthro.ox.ac.uk/about-us/affiliates-emeriti-research-fellows/dr-cathy-baldwin/
________________________________________
From: The Anthropology-Matters forum mailing list [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of McCourt, Christine [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 08 September 2012 20:53
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [Appanthlist] FW: Observer exposure to unpleasant events: participant observation references query
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* http://www.anthropologymatters.com *
* A postgraduate project comprising online journal, *
* online discussions, teaching and research resources *
* and international contacts directory. *
******************************************************
Thanks Sue - this looks really useful and I'll share it with students.
I feel ethics committees in the UK are getting to grips much more with a range of research types, and we recently have had no difficulty in getting approval for ethnographic projects, but signed consent seems to be becoming a strong norm, with applicants nervous of suggesting they should not use this, even though ethics committees may accept it in some cases. Academic institutions may also push it as a defensive strategy - being able to demonstrate that consent was sought for an interview or observation - but much of the thinking is informed by responses to clinical research, or other forms of research that are very intrusive or potentially harmful. This is not to say that all researchers should not be mindful of ethical duties and considerations, or that harm can't occur in other types of research, but defensive practice doesn't always serve people's best interests.
One student working in an area where literacy may be an issue recently tackled the consent recording issue by starting her audio tapes of interviews by asking the person on tape to confirm whether they understand what the interview is for and whether they are happy to take part. She felt this was much more acceptable for the women in her study than signed forms, especially as many people in her context were not literate, and many were nervous of forms, which they associate with 'officials'. She did not record anyone's names, for confidentiality.
On 07/09/2012 20:30, "Sue Hyatt" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
The challenges of dealing with IRBs (Institutional Review Boards) in the US and the issues of what constitutes informed consent have been problematic here for at least the last 10-15 years. As is the case at my own university, at many universities, the IRB is operated out of the medical school, and they are only oriented toward studies that use a strictly experimental model. Ethnography always confounds them. They can't seem to grasp the nature of research that does not rely on hypothesis-testing (at least in the most formal sense) and control groups. In addition, they could not seem to discriminate between research that is very high risk (drug testing, for example) and research that is not (e.g. students interviewing family members about food preferences-- I kid you not.)
In addition, the consent forms we were required to use were 2-3 pages long and gave a number to call at the medical center in case of problems or concerns, which really confused people!
Our strategy has been to work with our IRB to give them a better understanding of the iterative and open-ended nature of ethnographic research. We have managed to get them to allow us to write our own consent forms, in some case, or to even not use consent forms at all in certain instances. In addition, student projects that are carried out in fulfillment of course assignments are exempt, but technically this means that the students are not supposed to publicly present or publish their research so sometimes it's better to just go through the IRB process.
I am attaching an older article from 1994, which some of you are probably already familiar with. Although it is somewhat outdated-- the IRBs here didn't really begin to ramp up their surveillance (perhaps an unfairly negative word) here until after a couple of major scandals, mostly in biomedical research, not in medical anthropology-- Fluehr-Lobban has continued to write on this topic and has more recent materials. And then, in the early 2000s, the "darkness at El Dorado" debate, which became very public here, didn't help.
I don't know whether any of this is helpful but I offer it here in case it is!
With best wishes,
Susan Hyatt
________________________________
From: [log in to unmask] [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Cathy Baldwin [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Wednesday, September 05, 2012 10:45 AM
To: McCourt, Christine; Apply network; [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [Appanthlist] FW: Observer exposure to unpleasant events: participant observation references query
Hi Cristine,
I've just found an article on this subject by another Cristine (this isn't you, is it?) which I'm adding to my booklist for the consultancy I'm doing, which might be helpful:
Brown, C (2002) 'Entering Secure Psychiatric Settings' in Rapport, N (ed) British Subjects: An Anthropology of Britain. Oxford: Berg
- Article on experience of an anthropologist seeking ethical approval from an NHS Local Research Ethics Committees to interview people detained in high and medium psychiatric care. The application process enables her to reflect on the tension between the ways in which these individuals are constructed as 'patients' and 'criminals' in the mental health sector, what the anthropologist is able to analyse about the institutional construction of a particular group in British society, and what it reveals about power and knowledge issues in the British medical profession.
All the best,
Cathy
Dr Cathy Baldwin, [log in to unmask]
Post Doctoral Associate,
Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Oxford
http://www.anthro.ox.ac.uk/about-us/affiliates-emeriti-research-fellows/dr-cathy-baldwin/
________________________________
From: McCourt, Christine [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 05 September 2012 15:34
To: Apply network; [log in to unmask]
Cc: Cathy Baldwin
Subject: Re: [Appanthlist] FW: Observer exposure to unpleasant events: participant observation references query
Dear all
I wonder if any of you have also encountered problems if working in health related fields of translating ethics requirements in health related work to ethnographic fieldwork, in overseas or Uk contexts?
I have several PhD students working in non UK contexts, where they feel the ethics requirements set down by a UK university are inappropriate, and one working with refugees in the UK who also has a strong perspective on this from experience. She is doing interviews rather than ethnographic observation, as the latter was not practical or appropriate for her study, but the respondents have been quite un-nerved by being presented with forms for signed consent and the like. Is this an issue of concern for others? We are thinking we may potentially organise a postgrad seminar to discuss the issues they are encountering, with a view to then writing some of it up for debate.
On 05/09/2012 15:23, "Gerald Mars" <[log in to unmask] <UrlBlockedError.aspx> > wrote:
Dear Cathy,
Two of my papers recount the difficulties of PO in hostile fields: They are.
2009 East End Warehouse: A case study of 'organisational capture' and Cultural Conflicts, Culture and Organization. Vol 15 No 3. Sep. 2009 pp. 237-256
2008 From the Enclave to Hierarchy - and on to Tyranny: the micro politics of a consultant's group Culture and Organization (14.4), Dec. 2008.
Cultural Theory is central to both
In addition, as you are interested in health policy you may be interested in my daughters' book, just out which uses CT (but not PO).
Sarah G. Mars, 'The Politics of Addiction : Medical Conflict and Drug Dependence in England since the 1960's. Palgrave, Macmillan
Apologies for being so Mars centrist!
Gerald Mars.
On 4 September 2012 20:44, McCourt, Christine <[log in to unmask] <UrlBlockedError.aspx> > wrote:
------ Forwarded Message
From: Cathy Baldwin <[log in to unmask] <UrlBlockedError.aspx> <[log in to unmask]" target="_blank">http:[log in to unmask]> >
Reply-To: Cathy Baldwin <[log in to unmask] <UrlBlockedError.aspx> <[log in to unmask]" target="_blank">http:[log in to unmask]> >
Date: Tue, 4 Sep 2012 12:16:49 +0100
To: <[log in to unmask] <UrlBlockedError.aspx> <[log in to unmask]" target="_blank">http:[log in to unmask]> >
Subject: Observer exposure to unpleasant events: participant observation references query
Dear all,
I am an applied anthropologist making forays into the UK policy world, and have been hired by a health policy and research organisation to deliver a training session to their policy team on how to incorporate participant observation into policy research. Yippee. It will be an interesting encounter of two different thought groups, which I can report back to the list on. I am searching for up to date articles on:
Experiences of participant observation where the observer is exposed to negative, unpleasant and dangerous incidents, and how to avoid collusion.
Different strategies for analysing observational data, particularly from meetings.
I'd be most grateful if anyone has the time to point me to anything that springs to mind.
Thanks very much indeed.
Best wishes,
Cathy Baldwin
Dr Cathy Baldwin, [log in to unmask] <UrlBlockedError.aspx> <[log in to unmask]" target="_blank">http:[log in to unmask]>
Post Doctoral Associate,
Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Oxford
http://www.anthro.ox.ac.uk/about-us/affiliates-emeriti-research-fellows/dr-cathy-baldwin/
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