DOCUMENT RESUME ED 400 543 CS 215 516 AUTHOR Mortensen, Peter, Ed.; Kirsch, Gesa E., Ed. TITLE Ethics and Representation in Qualitative Studies of Literacy. INSTITUTION National Council of Teachers of English, Urbana, Ill. REPORT NO ISBN-0-8141-1596-9 PUB DATE 96 NOTE 347p.; With a collaborative foreword led by Andrea A. Lunsford and an afterword by Ruth E. Ray. AVAILABLE FROM National Council of Teachers of English, 1111 W. Kenyon Road, Urbana, IL 61801-1096 (Stock No. 15969: $21.95 members, $28.95 nonmembers). PUB TYPE Collected Works General (020) Reports Descriptive (141) EDRS PRICE MFO1 /PC14 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Case Studies; Elementary Secondary Education; *Ethics; *Ethnography; Higher Education; Participant Observation; *Qualitative Research; *Research Methodology; Research Problems; Social Influences; *Writing Research IDENTIFIERS Researcher Role ABSTRACT Reflecting on the practice of qualitative literacy research, this book presents 14 essays that address the most pressing questions faced by qualitative researchers today: how to represent others and themselves in research narratives; how to address ethical dilemmas in research-participant relationi; and how to deal with various rhetorical, institutional, and historical constraints on research. After a foreword ("Considering Research Methods in Composition and Rhetoric" by Andrea A. Lunsford and others) and an introduction ("Reflections on Methodology in Literacy Studies" by the editors), essays in the book are (1) "Seduction and Betrayal in Qualitative Research" (Thomas Newkirk); (2) "Still-Life: Representations and Silences in the. Participant-Observer Role" (Brenda Jo Brueggemann);(3) "Dealing with the Data: Ethical Issues in Case Study Research" (Cheri L. Williams);(4) "'Everything's Negotiable': Collaboration and Conflict in Composition Research" (Russel K. Durst and Sherry Cook Stanforth); (5) "Dilemmas of Fidelity: Qualitative Research in the Classroom" (Helen Dale); (6) "Ethnography and the Problem of the 'Other'" (Patricia A. Sullivan); (7) "Turning in upon Ourselves: Positionality, Subjectivity, and Reflexivity in Case Study and Ethnographic Research" (Elizabeth Chiseri-Strater);(8) "Constructing Voices in Writing Research: Developing Participatory Approaches to Situated Inquiry" (Ann M. Blakeslee and others);(9) "A Text for Many Voices: Representing Diversity in Reports of Naturalistic Research" (Lucille Parkinson McCarthy and Stephen M. Fishman);(10) "Culture on the Page: Experience, Rhetoric, and Aesthetics in Ethnographic Writing" (Bonnie S. Sunstein); (11) "Engendering Ethnography: Insights from the Feminist Critique of Postmodern Anthropology" (Roxanne D. Mountford); (12) "Writing, Rap, and Representation: Problematic Links between Texts and Experience" (Jabari Mahiri);(13) "Social and Institutional Power Relationships in Studies of Workplace Writing" (Jennie Dautermann); and (14) "Ethics, Institutional Review Boards, and the Involvement of Human Participants in Composition Research" (Paul V. Anderson). An afterword ("Ethics and Representation in Teacher Research" by Ruth E. Ray) is attached. Each chapter contains references. (RS) U S DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION PERMISSION TO REPRODUCEAND Office of Educational Research and Improvement Ink DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) HAS BEE GRANTED BY IA This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization Ilk originating it Minor changes have been made to 0 improve reproduction quality TO TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) official OERI position or policy a _ -.1116._ A A AIL A 11 I g Ilk . a a 6 I I 41 gi : .. ... AL A i D p A a I ^ 0 O A 11 A I 1 I II 9 EST COPY AVAILABLE Ethics and Representation in Qualitative Studies of Literacy NCTE Editorial Board: Pat Cordeiro, Colette Daiute, Hazel Davis, Bobbi Fisher, Brenda Greene, Richard Luckert, Al leen Pace Nilsen, Jerrie Cobb Scott, Karen Smith, Chair, ex officio, Dawn Boyer, ex officio College Section Committee James L. Hill, Chair, Albany State College, Georgia Frank Madden, Assistant Chair, Westchester Community College, Valhalla, New York Pat Belanoff, SUNYStony Brook Theresa Enos, CCCC Representative, University of Arizona, Tucson Gail E. Hawisher, University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign Dawn Rodrigues, Kennesaw State College, Georgia Tom Waldrep, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston Demetrice A. Worley, Bradley University, Peoria, Illinois Collett Dilworth, CEE Representative, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina Louise Smith, ex officio, Editor, College English, University of Massachusetts at Boston Miriam Chaplin, Executive Committee Liaison, Rutgers University Miles Myers, NCTE Staff Liaison 4 Ethics and Representation in Qualitative Studies of Literacy Edited by Peter Mortensen University of Kentucky Gesa E. Kirsch Wayne State University National Council of Teachers of English 1111 W. Kenyon Road, Urbana, Illinois 61801-1096 Grateful acknowledgment is made for permission to reprint the following: "You Have to Be Deaf to Understand," © 1971 by Willard J. Madsen. Staff Editor: Sheila A. Ryan Interior and Cover Design: Doug Burnett NCTE Stock Number: 15969-3050 © 1996 by the National Council of Teachers of English. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. It is the policy of NCTE in its journals and other publications to provide a fo- rum for the open discussion of ideas concerning the content and the teaching of English and the language arts. Publicity accorded to any particular point of view does not imply endorsement by the Executive Committee, the Board of Directors, or the membership at large, except in announcements of policy, where such endorsement is clearly specified. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Ethics and representation in qualitative studies of literacy/edited by Peter Mortensen, Gesa E. Kirsch. p.cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8141-1596-9 1. English languageRhetoricStudy and teachingTheory, etc. I. Mortensen, Peter, 1961- .II. Kirsch, Gesa. PE 1404.E86 1996 808'.042'07dc20 96-28521 CIP 6 Contents Foreword: Considering Research Methods in Composition and Rhetoric Andrea A. Lunsford, Melissa A. Goldthwaite, Gianna M. Marsella, Sandee K. McGlaun, Jennifer Phegley, Rob Stacy, Linda Stingily, and Rebecca Greenberg Taylor vii Acknowledgments xvii Introduction: Reflections on Methodology in Literacy Studies Gesa E. Kirsch and Peter Mortensen xix I. Confronting Ethical Dilemmas 1 1. Seduction and Betrayal in Qualitative Research Thomas Newkirk 3 2. Still-Life: Representations and Silences in the Participant- Observer Role Brenda Jo Brueggemann 17 3. Dealing with the Data: Ethical Issues in Case Study Research Cheri L. Williams 40 4. "Everything's Negotiable": Collaboration and Conflict in Composition Research Russel K. Durst and Sherry Cook Stanforth 58 5. Dilemmas of Fidelity: Qualitative Research in the Classroom Helen Dale 77 II. Representation: Positionality, Subjectivity, and Voice 95 6. Ethnography and the Problem of the "Other" Patricia A. Sullivan 97 7. Turning In upon Ourselves: Positionality, Subjectivity, and Reflexivity in Case Study and Ethnographic Research Elizabeth Chiseri-Strater 115 vi 8. Constructing Voices in Writing Research: Developing Participatory Approaches to Situated Inquiry Ann M. Blakeslee, Caroline M. Cole, and Theresa Conefrey 134 9. A Text for Many Voices: Representing Diversity in Reports of Naturalistic Research Lucille Parkinson McCarthy and Stephen M. Fishman 155 10. Culture on the Page: Experience, Rhetoric, and Aesthetics in Ethnographic Writing Bonnie S. Sunstein 177 III. Social and Institutional Contexts 203 11. Engendering Ethnography: Insights from the Feminist Critique of Postmodern Anthropology Roxanne D. Mountford 205 12. Writing, Rap, and Representation: Problematic Links between Texts and Experience Jabari Mahiri 228 13. Social and Institutional Power Relationships in Studies of Workplace Writing Jennie Dautermann 241 14. Ethics, Institutional Review Boards, and the Involvement of Human Participants in Composition Research Paul V. Anderson 260 Afterword: Ethics and Representation in Teacher Research Ruth E. Ray 287 Index 301 Editors 312 Contributors 313 S vi' Foreword: Considering Research Methods in Composition and Rhetoric Andrea A. Lunsford, Melissa A. Goldthwaite, Gianna M. Marsella, Sandee K. McGlaun, Jennifer Phegley, Rob Stacy, Linda Stingily, and Rebecca Greenberg Taylor The Ohio State University fclomposition scholars need to develop a sophisticated understanding of the methodological, ethical, and representational complexities in their research. Gesa E. Kirsch and Peter Mortensen, "Introduction: Reflections on Methodology in Literacy Studies" As a graduate student trying to find my way into the studyof rhetoric and composition in the early and mid-1970s, I felt like a rider on a somewhat out of control merry-go-round, grasping whatever methodological gold (or brass) rings came my way, hoping to cobble together research projects that would help me learn the field as well as write my way into it. I conducted case studies, carried out quan- titative analyses, used tests of significance, compared t-unit lengths all enthusiastically, and, for the most part, uncritically. While I cared deeply for students and for their writing, while I worried a great deal over how (or whether) I could be of help to them, and while I thoughtof my