Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Meeting scientific and ethical obligations to participants, colleagues, insti-
tutional sponsors, and taxpayers requires rigorous effort. Participants have the
most at stake in any research endeavor: The information they provide can work
for or against them. The ethnographer takes many precautions to protect the
participant. The single most important guide to protecting participants is doing
good work. An honest and thorough job presented in a clear and compelling
manner will serve the participant well. A less-than-rigorous effort will result in
misperceptions, misunderstandings, and factual inaccuracies that may con-
found the most altruistic parties in their efforts to understand and assist a group.
Ethnographers must maintain the quality of the process as well as the outcome
of their efforts. Producing a well-written description of a culture or group is not
enough. The researcher must pursue each interview, observation, and analytical
task with diligence. A lack of rigor or energy at any stage will diminish the
quality and accuracy of the final product. Similarly, any decay in human rela-
tions during fieldwork will have an adverse impact on the ethnography or
ethnographically informed report. Any of these weaknesses can endanger the
group under study through misrepresentation and misunderstanding.
A rigorous effort contributes meaning to a knowledge base. A poorly
designed or executed study only adds noise to the system, wasting time and
energy that could have more productive use elsewhere. It also wastes the time
of others who attempt to build on this shaky foundation. In addition, any activ-
ity that diminishes the credibility of scientific work through fraud or deception
has a ripple effect; it tarnishes the reputation of the entire scientific commu-
nity. Scientists without credibility cannot work effectively. Acts such as falsi-
fying data, unprofessional behavior in the field, or plagiarism undermine faith
in the integrity of the scholarly community (for a controversial case example
of plagiarism in the field, see Fetterman, 1981a, 1981c; Rist, 1981).
Retirement and Last Rites
Retirement for the project comes at its completion—when the researcher
has fulfilled the obligation to the sponsoring agency or has finished the study
of a particular culture. The researcher's ethical obligation to the sponsor is to
do the work the contract promises or at least to inform the sponsor of detours
and possible alternate routes and directions. Last rites for the project come
when the researcher is burned out from the stress and is no longer producing
high-quality work. Poor or unethical work may also bring on last rites by
resulting in the withdrawal of funds, placing the participants (and the
researcher) in a difficult position—particularly if the work is necessary to con-
tinued funding. It can also deprive peers of an opportunity to use the same
funds in a more productive and professional manner.
