Put it this way. In carrying out the fieldwork I never pretended to be anything other than a priest; there is an ethical issue here - surely if we are expecting people to reveal something of themselves to us, then we should be honest about who we are and where we are coming from. As a consequence, in responding to me directly, or in taking part in discussion groups or meetings - or even services - that I observed, people were factoring my 'priestness' into what they were saying or doing. Furthermore, at times they would address me directly - or, as in one tranche of fieldwork - attempt to use my presence there as justification for a particular practice in a contested situation. I realized early on that any pretence at an 'objective' stance in my work would be laughed out of court come defence time, so I quite consciously am, in a sense, writing myself into the fieldwork - reporting the encounters as they unfolded and acknowledging the subjectivity of my position. It is the constant factoring in of this subjectivity that makes the writing up challenging - simply offering a seemingly objective account would be far less complex. Yet the subjective stance is the only one that I felt I could adopt that had any integrity (personal or academic). I would be fascinated to see what a very different observer would make of the same events/encounters/services that I observed if s/he adopted a similar analytical approach.

Oh, the good old 'insider-outsider' issue.

-----Original Message-----
From: Tom Hope [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 01 May 2002 13:28
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Introduction: Peter McGrail

Well done on getting towards the home straight! :) I understand entirely what you mean about other tasks interferring.... grr... I'm full time and yet still a whole bunch of things crop up.

Your research sounds interesting. Re your comment: . "Makes writing up of the fieldwork very challenging - at times having to 'write myself in' as people reacted/responded to me. " I'm interested why this makes the writing up of your fieldwork challenging. Are you using these exchanges as part of your analysis? I'm also using participant observation.

Tom Hope
Dept of Sociology
University of York
York YO10 5DD
UK
Tel. +44-01904-433046
Fax. +44-01904-433043
http://www.york.ac.uk/depts/soci/graduates/gradhope.htm

----- Original Message -----

From: [log in to unmask]>McGrail, Peter

Sent: Thursday, May 02, 2002 2:43 PM

Subject: Introduction: Peter McGrail

I'm Peter McGrail, moving towards the home straight (I hope) of a part time PhD at Birmingham University - just one more year (of 6) to go, and really beginning to resent the other tasks that crowd in whilst I am trying to write the thing up! I've found that doing the study part time carries with it a constant level of anxiety about study not done, books not read, chapters left in incomplete drafts as the demands of the 'day job' kick in - or perhaps I'm just less disciplined than others. How do other part-timers cope?

I'm researching the celebration of the First Communion ritual in a number of Liverpool inner-city Roman Catholic parishes. I'm particularly interested in issues of personal/familial identity, display and power as they surface in the lead-up to the ritual and in its celebration. Key concepts are the symbolic use of consumer goods and the exploration of different configurations of hegemony.

And, of course, it is all very participant observation - I'm a catholic priest myself, though I had no ministerial role in the parishes I studied. Makes writing up of the fieldwork very challenging - at times having to 'write myself in' as people reacted/responded to me.