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Qualitative Research in Practice : Stories From the Field - Blogs Unpad

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<strong>Qualitative</strong> research <strong>in</strong> practice<br />

of what <strong>the</strong>y had agreed to emerged late <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> study.<br />

For example, <strong>in</strong> relation to <strong>the</strong> hospital social workers<br />

[I] believed that <strong>the</strong>y understood that I would be<br />

observ<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>take meet<strong>in</strong>gs to describe how a case and<br />

o<strong>the</strong>r agencies <strong>in</strong>volved were perceived. Yet when I<br />

presented my prelim<strong>in</strong>ary f<strong>in</strong>d<strong>in</strong>gs to <strong>the</strong> team some<br />

social workers expressed concern that I had drawn on<br />

all that I had observed and heard dur<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>take<br />

meet<strong>in</strong>gs while <strong>the</strong>y had believed that I was only at<br />

<strong>the</strong> <strong>in</strong>take meet<strong>in</strong>g to ‘pick up a new case’. I had very<br />

openly taken detailed notes throughout all of <strong>the</strong><br />

<strong>in</strong>take meet<strong>in</strong>gs [that] <strong>in</strong>cluded negative ‘off <strong>the</strong> cuff’<br />

comments social workers and o<strong>the</strong>rs had made about<br />

clients and o<strong>the</strong>r agencies. This type of data was very<br />

significant to <strong>the</strong> research questions. This placed me <strong>in</strong><br />

a dilemma. Should data be used which some subjects<br />

believed was obta<strong>in</strong>ed under false pretences, even if<br />

this was not done so deliberately? Alternatively, was<br />

<strong>the</strong> objection an attempt to restrict academic freedom,<br />

and would not us<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> data compromise <strong>the</strong> <strong>in</strong>tegrity<br />

of <strong>the</strong> research? The matter was resolved, probably not<br />

to <strong>the</strong> satisfaction of ei<strong>the</strong>r party, by remov<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong><br />

verbatim quotations and substitut<strong>in</strong>g paraphras<strong>in</strong>g of<br />

<strong>the</strong>ir comments.<br />

Ano<strong>the</strong>r ethical issue which unexpectedly arose<br />

was ‘researcher as whistle-blower’—whe<strong>the</strong>r it was<br />

appropriate for me to <strong>in</strong>tervene <strong>in</strong> a situation <strong>in</strong> which<br />

malpractice appeared to have occurred. In one case a<br />

10-year-old boy was coercively removed from his<br />

family by child protection authorities <strong>in</strong> a way which<br />

appeared both unethical and illegal. While he had<br />

already been returned home by <strong>the</strong> stage I became<br />

<strong>in</strong>volved, as <strong>the</strong> hospital social worker had <strong>in</strong>tervened<br />

to secure this, if she had not done so should I have<br />

taken on this role? If I had, would I have endangered<br />

<strong>the</strong> study? If I hadn’t, would I have been collud<strong>in</strong>g<br />

with <strong>in</strong>justice?<br />

Confidentiality also proved to be a more complex<br />

issue than I had orig<strong>in</strong>ally anticipated. As <strong>the</strong> research<br />

progressed, I become <strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>gly aware of <strong>the</strong> difficulty<br />

of present<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> f<strong>in</strong>d<strong>in</strong>gs of research based on<br />

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