Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Going Gray
Is there such a thing as a Personal Mini Paradigm Shift (PMPS)? If so, I think I have begun to undergo one. Before I took this class, I ascribed ethnographic research as a socially euphemistic term for anthropological research.... probably the traditionalist inside of me trying once again to put the reigns on the Post Structionalist view in it's attempt to deconstruct my reality of, albeit insular, black and white., objective/subjective, opinion/fact....etc. I'm not a gray gal and eschew challenges to sometimes, too well-established views. However, through our class discussions, literature reviews, and shared experiences, I'm beginning to realize value in more than an empirical observation. Can one's personal culture be a guiding influence in observation that should be objective? Merely 7 days ago I would have said, "No!" Now, I'm beginning to warm up to the idea that it is okay to allow our 'self ' to shape our perceptions and observations, which may in fact, lead to a deeper evaluation, rather than what I formally saw as a biased or flawed. Am I'm beginning to see shades of grays in my blacks and whites?
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Rachel - I think this is a very insightful comment! Maybe you are a gray gal after all!
ReplyDeleteit sounds like you are begining to think and see the world like an ethnographer. I really enjoyed reading what you said about restructuring your perceptions:
ReplyDelete"I'm beginning to warm up to the idea that it is okay to allow our 'self ' to shape our perceptions and observations, which may in fact, lead to a deeper evaluation"
It's hard to give concrete answers and techniques to understand the complexity of ethnographic research. there are various gray areas that even researchers do not agree on a unified answer (issue of representation, validity of thick description, the issue of assessment of ethnographic research etc) So as you said it is okay to go grey...and in Bourdieu's(one of the famous French sociologists) words "it is OKAY to live with contradictions"
As novice ethnographers, I think we are all trying to understand how we can simply contribute to the dialogue in understanding the general features of human life (e.g. literacy events, language socialization etc) through the description of a daily (observable) events.
Giving the traditionalist inside of you a break? Good for you!
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