"Booooooyaahhhh...I'm not really pregnant!"

[psy]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

Of course it isn't, hence the sarcasm.



Yes. Don't imply that social science researchers have a uniform perspective on this matter.



The bolded is the correct wording. With all due respect, as a graduate student you will learn more and more about why there are debates over ethical and methodological issues. You should have already learned that. If ethical and methodological issues were so cut and dry, there would be no room for debate. Participant observation is a complex methodology that some researchers and scholars strongly oppose regardless of how well ethics and methodology are considered and operated. That is the perceivably thin line between personal (educated) opinion and the process of conducting research.

LOL @ the rest of your post. This is some serious stuff, eh? Like I said, if she gets to college and if she has research mentors and if she wants to further this research...the world shall see whether this is respectable research that is worthy of any kind of publication. In the meantime, she's a high school student whose research has received varying opinions of the methodology and findings. Cool.

Oh, honey, I do research on abuse in "vulnerable populations"--it's not like my research is the most IRB-friendly! But telling someone that you're pregnant with their grandchild for 6 months when you know you're not? Reading off selected, derisive comments in front of the whole school, with names included? A high school psychology student could tell you that those are seriously questionable things--it's not like we're talking about wording on a consent form here.

[Drolefille]

Originally Posted by psy

Oh, honey, I do research on abuse in "vulnerable populations"--it's not like my research is the most IRB-friendly! But telling someone that you're pregnant with their grandchild for 6 months when you know you're not? Reading off selected, derisive comments in front of the whole school, with names included? A high school psychology student could tell you that those are seriously questionable things--it's not like we're talking about wording on a consent form here.

"Oh, honey" really? Really? Lay off that act.

We get all that, really we do, thing is, she is a high school student. Likely the adults supervising her were not psychologists, or people particularly trained in IRB procedures and informed consent and so on. Blah blah, stuff is problematic, but it's over and done with and something interesting might come of it. Like legit research either by her or other researchers. The fact that this could not have been done by a professional actually makes it more intriguing.

And quite frankly it was an incredibly gutsy thing to do. I give her major props.

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by psy

Oh, honey, I do research on abuse in "vulnerable populations"--it's not like my research is the most IRB-friendly!

Oh, student, it's great that you now remember that researchers and scholars don't all agree on issues of ethics and methodology, even after being well aware of "the potential." Cool.

[christiangirl]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

LOL. Yes, that is also a point of conducting such research. Do people who already know you change their behaviors of you? If so, how so? How were you treated; and how can that possibly be compared to how others have been treated?

Hmmmm....I see it as "valuable" in this vein only. I'm sure she is very proud of her efforts--she put in a lot more dedication to her senior project than any high schooler I know. However, I do agree that the reactions were very much tailored to her so I have doubts as to how much this can be generalized. I was particularly intrigued by her saying that someone made the statement, "Well, it was bound to happen." Bound to happen to whom? To a girl who had a long-term boyfriend? To a girl who was fast? To her, Gaby? Depending on how the reactionary comments were meant, they could illuminate how people feel about a particular type of teenager (and like it was said on the first page, those are sucky yet expected reactions) or if they were all personalized, then the only person who would be enlightened is the girl who did it. Now she knows what others think of her. That's great but it's not the big step toward change that she said she hoped she made.

And I agree about the boyfriend's parents being let in on the secret. There probably was a huge sense of loss after 6 months of thinking you're going to have a grandchild then finding out in a moment that it's not happening. Relief, too but the loss would be there.

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by christiangirl

Hmmmm....I see it as "valuable" in this vein only.

That is why it is micro-level qualitative research. This study by itself is not intended to be generalizable. This study is also an example of exploratory research.

[christiangirl]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

This study by itself is not intended to be generalizable.

Are you sure that wasn't her intention? In the video, Gaby talked about how many negative stereotypes there are that she wanted to break and she hoped to have impacted the lives of the other students. I am pointing out that, if the results of this "study" aren't generalizable, then even that is unlikely. The principals comments were more realistic--that one instance isn't really going to do much but it at least opens the conversation.

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by christiangirl

Are you sure that wasn't her intention? In the video, Gaby talked about how many negative stereotypes there are that she wanted to break and she hoped to have impacted the lives of the other students. I am pointing out that, if the results of this "study" aren't generalizable, then even that is unlikely.

Participant observation research by itself isn't intended to be generalizable and is not generalizable. This high school student doesn't have to understand that for it to be true; and she probably doesn't understand that.

What she is saying about stereotypes and impacting others' lives (her study did impact others' lives which is part of the potential ethical dilemmas in conducting such research) has nothing to do with the study's generalizability.

Originally Posted by christiangirl

The principals comments were more realistic--that one instance isn't really going to do much but it at least opens the conversation.

LOL. Look, this high school student didn't claim (beyond a teenager's sense of reality and understanding) to completely change the world or to have a lasting impact on everyone and everything. She did influence those who are still talking about and thinking about her study---good or bad--including but not limited people's perceptions and the future implications of conducting such research. Therefore, the principal's comments only add to the student's observations and comments of her research. The principal's comments don't invalidate the student's observations and comments.

[christiangirl]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

LOL. Look, this high school student didn't claim (beyond a teenager's sense of reality and understanding) to completely change the world or to have a lasting impact on everyone and everything.

No one said she did. The way the principal formed his statements were more realistic than her and hers, even if they both hope for the same thing. So I'm diggin' his bandwagon.

Do you really have to write a novel in response to everything? #teamkettle