Article
'That is NOT what's happening at Horizon!': ethics and misrepresenting knowledge in text
International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education
(2010)
Abstract
This paper analyzes the ethically important moments that helped build, then break,
and then negotiate the relationship between researchers and schools during an
ethnographic-type study conducted by the team of researchers from a prominent
private university. I posit that the researchers’ unskilled approach culminated in
producing written representations of the schools that were ethically problematic.
To quote one school: ‘That is NOT what’s happening at Horizon!’ Guided by
simplistic understandings of procedures, rather than by articulated moral
principles, the researchers were unable to scrutinize and interrogate their data in
light of the context from which the data were collected. They thus failed to
examine reflexively the knowledge they produced in their written representations.
My critique uses a framework that counters harm with benefit and authority with
respect, drawing on both consequential and non-consequential ethical theories,
and emphasizes an ethic of care.
Disciplines
Publication Date
Summer July 1, 2010
Citation Information
Sharon F. Rallis. "'That is NOT what's happening at Horizon!': ethics and misrepresenting knowledge in text" International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education Vol. 23 Iss. 4 (2010) Available at: http://works.bepress.com/sharon_rallis/6/