Liberman1999a
Liberman1999a | |
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BibType | ARTICLE |
Key | Liberman1999a |
Author(s) | Kenneth Liberman |
Title | From walkabout to meditation: craft and ethics in field inquiry |
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Tag(s) | EMCA, Research Methods, Craft, Ethics, Fieldwork, Data management |
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Year | 1999 |
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Journal | Qualitative Inquiry |
Volume | 5 |
Number | 1 |
Pages | 47–63 |
URL | Link |
DOI | 10.1177/107780049900500103 |
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Abstract
Craft and ethics in qualitative field research are vitally related to each other in that the satisfaction of the demands of each is closely dependent on an honest engagement with the local contingencies of fieldwork, which includes a willingness to keep oneself and one’s research agenda open to transformation by these contingencies. Similarly, craft and ethics in fieldwork compel the researcher to provide considerable epistemological space to one’s subjects; when these epistemological obligations are fulfilled, a sound moral relationship with one’s field subjects can develop. Three professional obligations are discussed—an obligation to the integrity of the corporate life of the people one is investigating, to the individual persons one is researching, and to the value of one’s own research. Certain distinguishing features of ethnographic craft are identified.
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