Agar, etc.

Most of this will comment on Agar's Who Are You To Do This? I love this article. Agar uses a conversational and sometimes humorous way of writing.

The title alone was like a psychoanalysis of my thoughts as I am about to enter my "research site." I have dreams of people interrogating me, asking me this very question! Reading this article felt cathartic. I've been getting extremely nervous about being on the verge of starting my research, picking a topic, and revealing my intentions to the community where I will conduct my research. Heavy stuff!

The advice for us from Lewis and Redfield to consider our own biases against our own culture is duly noted. Not easy to do, but very important if we are to make an honest assessment of our perspective. Previously, I had only thought about biases in a general way, not specifically like this.

One of my favorite quotes is this, on page 94: "I get the dizzy feeling that an ethnographer ... is like a drunk pretending to walk in a straight line in a dark room with a gale-force wind blowing through it." Now I know that I'm feeling just about as I should be! Ha!

He says that he was "impossibly self-conscious." I have been feeling this way. What if members of the community don't want me digging around in their personal lives? Even if they refrain from signing an IRB form, others in the community might; how might they feel about that? I have even heard some of the jokes that Agar included on page 109 about the researcher having a room built onto the Navajo (acutally, it's Dine now) man's house!

I appreciate the explanation starting on page 98 about Agar's feelings just before entering into research mode. I think I'm more confused about "what to do" than ever. But he describes this well, when he says, "It is quite likely you have been through a funnel, coming out at the narrow end as you finished your graduate training." Exactly!

And I like the series of questions at the top of page 108. When and where we have to "identify ourselves" is really crucial in my case, since I'm already friends with some of my "participants." Business and pleasure often cross. How we handle that is what I think Agar described as a "winding road." I guess I have to start packing my bags soon! ; )