Environmental Engineering Reference
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by the purposes of other men. It is quite within their powers to discuss its mean-
ings and decide upon its uses as matters of their own policy. (p. 177)
The presentation of findings to a concerned public is the ethnographer's
legitimate responsibility. Such advocacy, however, is a political or public rela-
tions activity. The presentation of research findings here aims to influence the
use of the information. The researcher who plays politician while conducting
and presenting findings is vulnerable to becoming a pawn in the political
game. Advocate ethnography is legitimate and ethical but should take place
after the research is complete.
RESEARCH LIFE CYCLE
Ethics pervades every stage of ethnographic work. The delicacy ethnographic
work requires, however, is nowhere more evident than at the conceptual cross-
roads where methods and ethical decision making intersect. Ethnographers
find themselves at this crossroads when they must make intelligent and
informed decisions that satisfy the demands of science and morality.
Inception and Prenatal Care: The Problem
The selection and definition of the culture or subculture and problem,
respectively, constitute significant ethical decisions. These decisions inform
both inception and prenatal care in the ethnographic life cycle. The decisions
plant the project's conceptual seeds and nurture its growth into a fully formed
idea and research plan, as discussed in Chapters 1 and 6.
Myriad problems are open to study. Some problems are more significant
than others in the larger scheme, and some are value laden and rife with vested
interests. The ethnographer's bias may favor dominant or subordinate interests.
For example, in my dropout study, the different groups of people defined the
problem in various ways. The differing perspectives derived from their various
views of the program. Policymakers were interested in the program as a viable
response to serious labor market problems—high dropout rates and high youth
unemployment. They were also specifically interested in the transition from
school to work. Social reformers, however, considered the program a vehicle
to redress historical social inequities and to promote upward social mobility
for minority youth. Researchers saw the program as an opportunity to explore
equal education opportunity in the United States. The selection and definition
of a problem, as well as of the research approach, are ethical statements.
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