Research Relationships Memo

Research Relationships Memo

1)      What kind of relationships have I established, or plan to establish, with the people in your study or setting? How did these relationships develop or how do I plan to initiate and negotiate them? Why have I planned to do this? How do I think these relationships could or do facilitate or impede my study? What alternative kinds of relationships could I create, and what advantages and disadvantages would these have?

2)      How do I think I will be seen by the people I interact within my research? How will this affect my relationships with these people? What can I do to better understand and (if necessary) modify this perception?

3)      What explicit agreements do I plan to negotiate with the participants in my study about how the research will be conducted and how I will report the results? What implicit understandings about  these issues do I think these people and I will have? How will both the implicit and the explicit terms of the study affect my relationships and my research? Do any of these need to be discussed or changed?

4)      What ethical issues or problems do these considerations raise? How do I plan to deal with these?

After deciding what topic I wished to approach in my study for EDEA 604, I realized that I would need to refine a list of possible participants who I could interview – either one-on-one or in a focus group. It is important to me that the participants are self-identified LGBTQ Student Affairs personnel who work at either University of Hawaii at Manoa (UHM) or at Hawaii Pacific University (HPU).

        Due to my professional and academic connections and in both institutions, I could easily identify at least 10 possible participants who all are self-identified LGBTQ individuals and all of whom self-disclosed their LGBTQ identity to me through either professional or personal conversations. I have been transparent and vocal about my research interests, particularly focusing on LGBTQ populations within campus communities; because all of my possible interviewees are aware of and supportive of my research interests and agendas, I do not foresee hesitation on the part of my colleagues and friends in participating in this study. Additionally, all of the possible participants have been sounding boards for my past research endeavors; all of them have, at one point or another, had conversations with me about LGBTQ campus communities and their experiences as students and/or professionals. I have an easy and comfortable professional and personal rapport with all of the individuals that I am considering for this study. Our friendships and easy working relationships are likely based on mutual professional respect and personal affection for each other.

        I believe that the ease of the rapport will allow me to have an insightful and candid conversation with whichever participants I choose and who commit to this study. Since the friendships that I have with all of these individuals are as open and strong as they are, the conversations could possibly be more revealing and/or emotional than I can reasonably foresee. When there is a pre-existing bond – emotional, friendship, affection – between people, the conversations can be deeper because the people involved have a baseline level of trust and comfort that allows for further revelation.

        I think that my possible participants find me to be forthright, empathetic, passionate, determined, sometimes tactless, and very committed. All of these individuals know about my research interests, how I see myself within the context of the LGBTQ community and within the contexts of the HPU and UHM campus communities. I am also a committed student affairs professional, and all of  my possible subjects have seen me function within my professional roles; they know what drives me and how I conduct myself professionally as well as how dedicated and passionate I am about my students. I am convinced that their knowledge and understanding of me as a professional and as a friend will allow them to engage with and divulge more to me as a researcher than if we were strangers or barely acquainted.

        I plan to be explicit about my requests, the scope of my study, the expectations of myself and hopes for the participants in relations to this study. I am hopeful that there will be few, if any, implicit understandings on either side of these research relationships. In the email that I send out for my request for participants, I will clearly outline my study parameters, the reason I am studying this topic, the questions that I expect will be asked and the scope of this project in relation to the participants’ professional roles and our personal friendships.

        The largest ethical issue that I foresee is that of involuntary disclosure by a participant to any of the other participants if I employ the use of a focus group. I know that at least two of my potential participants have not been “out” in the broader campus community and, although they have disclosed their sexual-identity orientation to me, they have not necessarily done so to their colleagues whom I am also considering for participation in this phase of my research. At this time, I am still mulling over how I should best approach these situations.