Research Ethics

 

In terms of research ethics, I looked back to Working in the Archives by Ramsey, Sharer, L’Eplatttenier, and Mastrangelo to determine how this affected my work this semester. What I realized, was that while I was pulling all of the material for DMP#1 and creating the narrative, that I had to be aware of the fact that some of my audience consisted of my subject matter.

That I was telling my father’s story, specifically, using his perspective, forced me to create a narrative that essential became very self conscious. I had to be aware that my father, his family and friends would be seeing this video on the internet therefore, I had to be mindful of the words that I used and the story that I told.

This leads me to the explanation of why I left out the clip of him telling the story of Reecy being forced to sit in the uppermost balcony of the Will Rogers Center during a major boxing tournament. I know that Reecy’s son will probably see this video and I didn’t know if he knew of this story or, if it would upset him.

So, out of respect for Reecy Jr., I left the clip out.

In Working in the Archives, Glenn and Enoch state that, “Researchers must keep in mind the members of the community they are writing about: ‘Whatever the knowledge accrued, it [should] be both presented and represented with this community, and at least its potential for participation in response, in mind.”