Eficiencia de los indicadores socioeconómicos

186

Key Readings

*Becker, H.S. (1967) ‘Whose side are we on?’, Social Problems, 14: 239–247. Burawoy, M. (2004) ‘For public socio-

logy’, presidential address, American

Sociological Association, annual meet- ing, San Francisco, 15 August 2004. Gouldner, A. (1962) ‘Anti-minotaur: the

myth of a value-free sociology’, Social

Writing

Definition

The process of reflection, communication and presentation of research and knowledge through text. Writing is often mistakenly considered to be the process that happens at the end of a research project in which we tell our audi- ence about our findings. Writing should be a method of enquiry, the means by which we come to know about the social world and our relationship to it (Richardson, 2000).

Distinctive Features

The style of a piece of qualitative writing will depend on the topic of social life with which the researcher is concerned, his or her method of research and the purpose of the writing (for example whether the aim is to describe, reflect or persuade). A typical writing style for empirically based qualitative research is one which follows a general pattern of introduction, methods and/or theory, results (organized around main themes and categories) and conclusion/discus- sion (which often includes implications for policy). This format is usually found in the journals of disciplines closest to the scientific model of research. There are many alternatives to this basic form of qualitative writing. Some articles may have little or no data and instead their main purpose is to present theo- retical or methodological debates or review literature. They are often typified by a presentation of an accepted position or view, followed by an alternative.

The ‘literary turn’ is a movement within the social sciences that typifies the more expressionist or evocative forms of writing. Writing in this style is more reflexive and represents the author’s emotions, feelings and relation- ships. This movement has opened up opportunities for researchers to present their work in many different forms including poetry (Richardson, 1994), reflective narratives of personal experiences (Elwyn, 1997), fictional stories (Rowland, 1991) and intentionally ‘messy’ or indeterminate texts that may use multiple authors (Lather, 1997).

Writing

187

*Hammersley, M. (1994) The Politics of

Social Research. London: Sage.

Hammersley, M. and Atkinson, P. (1995)

Ethnography: Principles in Practice (2nd

edn). London: Sage.

Silverman, D. (2001) Interpreting

Qualitative Data: Methods for Analysing Talk, Text and Interaction (2nd edn).

Ethnography has a unique style of writing because, as reflexivity is an essential part of the ethnographic process, ethnographic writing tends to be very personal. Ethnographic writing combines personal narrative with ‘thick description’ – the result of sustained immersion in the culture which reflects the richness of the data. Van Maanen (1988) distinguished three main types of ethnographic writing that are also applicable to research generated from other qualitative methods. These three styles can be summarized as realist tales, con- fessional tales and impressionist tales. Realist tales are characterized by the author’s absence from the text so that observations are presented as facts and the experiences are presented from the viewpoint of the members of the culture being studied (see naturalism). Confessional tales are written in a personal style with the author expressing his or her role and experiences. They are often characterized by honest descriptions of successes and failures in gaining access to and maintaining fieldwork relationships with members of the culture. Finally impressionist tales are characterized by a narrative in which the author represents the events of the culture to the reader thereby inviting the reader to experience what the author him or herself has experienced.

The writing of fieldnotes in a research diary is an important aspect of the research process, particularly for ethnographic research. Research diaries or journals should record the researcher’s observations, methodological notes, theories, hypotheses and hunches, and personal notes such as feelings and anxieties. Writing fieldnotes helps the process of expanding ideas and devel- oping creative writing skills.

There are a number of texts for social scientists (particularly directed at the student market) which help with the often difficult issue of how to actually sit down and produce a piece of academic writing (see for example Becker, 1986; Wolcott, 1990; Woods, 1999). These texts offer practical advice for com- mon problems such as how to get started and overcoming the paralysing fear of others reading your work. In addition to these student survival guides there are texts that deal with the technical aspects of writing such as grammar and style (for example see Dummett, 1992). The importance of knowing one’s audi- ence and writing for that audience is another frequent feature of texts on qual- itative writing (see for example Richardson, 1990). The same research may need to be presented in different formats and styles depending on whether the audience are colleagues in one’s own discipline, academics from other disci- plines, policy makers or the general public.

Examples

Lowton’s (2002) paper in the Journal of Advanced Nursing is an example of an empirically based qualitative study that follows the standard format most

closely aligned with the natural sciences. She presents a thematic analysis of her qualitative data from 31 relatives of individuals with cystic fibrosis. The paper opens with background data on the prevalence and consequences of cystic fibrosis, then states the research aims which are to explore the percep- tions and experiences of carers. Details of the study sample and data collection are then discussed in the methods section, which is then followed by the study findings presented through two main themes: notions of ‘expert care’ and the significance of the relationship with the patient. The conclusion of the paper has policy recommendations as she makes a plea for higher levels of social and nursing support for carers.

Palladino (2002), writing in the journal Social Studies of Science, offers a theoretical discussion paper which traces the historical development of a clinical test for a hereditary form of colon cancer – familial adenomatous poly- posis. In his paper Palladino suggests a revision of the relationship between power and knowledge presented by theorists such as Foucault and Rabinow. The paper is opened by a quote from the Sunday Times about the development of a pre-natal test for colorectal cancer and its implications for ‘designer babies’. The author then reflects on the report, suggesting that patients and their families are increasingly presented as passive objects of professional inter- vention. Palladino then reconstructs the historical development of evidence for a colorectal cancer gene using extracts of physicians’ written accounts, and concludes by suggesting that the relationship between physicians and their patients can be characterized more by negotiation than power.

Evaluation

During the 1970s and 1980s the social sciences were said to have been experi- encing a ‘crisis of representation’. The authority of written texts, and their authors, was being challenged on the basis that they excluded the ‘other’, that is, those people whose lives are the subject of the research. The problem of rep- resentation of others and their experiences was a particular concern for femi- nist scholars who were mindful of the power differentials between researchers and subjects. In addition, written texts were said to be experiencing a ‘crisis of legitimation’, that is, the validity of accounts was being questioned. With the literary turn has come an appreciation that social science writing cannot pre- sent one objective reality and that our knowledge can only be partial. New forms of writing therefore tend to be more relativist than realist, maintaining that there is not one truth but a multiplicity of perspectives. In consequence some have felt the traditional form of research writing to be misplaced and boring (Richardson, 2000). The expressionist writing that has emerged in the ‘literary turn’ has sometimes been criticized for being too self-indulgent in that, Writing

at times, it can say more about the author than the subject matter. The response to this charge is usually that written texts should be self-knowing, engaging and evocative in order to be authentic and believable.

Associated Concepts:

Biographies, Ethnography, Fieldnotes,

Naturalism, Reflexivity, Research Diary.

190

Key Readings

Atkinson, P. (1990) The Ethnographic

Imagination: Textual Constructions of Reality. London: Routledge.

Becker, H.S. (1986) Writing for Social

Scientists: How to Start and Finish your Thesis, Book or Article. Chicago:

University of Chicago Press.

Brown, R.H. (ed.) (1992) Writing the

Social Text. New York: Aldine de

Gruyter.

Dummett, M. (1992) Grammar and Style:

For Examination Candidates and Others.

London: Duckworth.

Elwyn, G. (1997) ‘So many precious stories: a reflective narrative of general practice based care, Christmas 1996’,

British Medical Journal, 315: 1659–1663.

Fairbairn, G.J. and Winch, C. (1996)

Reading, Writing and Reasoning: A Guide for Students. Buckingham: Open

University Press.

Flick, U. (1998) An Introduction to

Qualitative Research. London: Sage.

Geertz, C. (1988) Works as Lives: The

Anthropologist as Author. Cambridge:

Polity.

Jackson, A. (1987) Anthropology at Home. London: Tavistock.

Lather, P. (1997) ‘Drawing the line at angels: working the ruins of feminist ethnography’, International Journal of

Qualitative Studies in Education, 10(3):

285–304.

Lowton, K. (2002) ‘Parents and partners: lay carers' perceptions of their role in the treatment and care of adults with cystic fibrosis’, Journal of Advanced

Nursing, 39(2): 174–181.

Palladino, P. (2002) ‘Between knowledge and practice: on medical profession- als, patients and the making of the genetics of cancer’, Social Studies of

Science, 32(1): 137–165.

Richardson, L. (1990) Writing Strategies:

Reaching Diverse Audiences. London:

Sage.

Richardson, L. (1994) ‘Nine poems: mar- riage and the family’, Journal of

Contemporary Ethnography, 23(1): 3–13.

*Richardson, L. (2000) ‘Writing: a method of inquiry’, in N. Denzin and Y. Lincoln (eds), Handbook of

Qualitative Research. Thousand Oaks,

CA: Sage. pp. 923–948.

Rowland, S. (1991) ‘The power of silence: an enquiry through fictional writing’, British Educational Research

Journal, 17(2): 95–113.

Van Maanen, J. (1988) Tales of the Field:

On Writing Ethnography. Chicago:

University of Chicago Press.

Wolcott, H.F. (1990) Writing up Quali-

tative Research. London: Sage.

Woods, P. (1999) Successful Writing for

Qualitative Researchers. London:

Index

Ackermann, F., 33, 34 Anderson, T., 167, 169 Arber, S., 153

Assisted Places Scheme, 8 Association of Social Anthropologists, 137 Atkinson, J.M., 40, 42 Atkinson, P., 26, 27, 30, 36, 37, 38, 58, 60, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 83, 84, 97, 98, 103, 112, 122, 124, 147, 151, 152, 154, 156, 186, 187, 190 authorial authority 74, 134, 146 devices 146 practices 146 style 84 voice 134 awareness contexts, 96 Babbie, E., 53 Baker, C., 106 Baker, R., 137 Bakx, K., 155 Ball, M., 182 Barrett, G., 149 Bauer, M., 182 Bechhofer, F., 30 Becker, H.S., 24, 25, 26, 70, 74, 123, 124, 160, 161, 176, 177, 179, 185, 186, 188 Benderlow, G., 184 Benjamin, W., 133 Berridge, V., 176 Best, J., 179 Bhaskar, R., 149 Biggs, S., 182 Biklen, S., 102 Bird, K., 38 Blaikie, N., 172 Bloor, M., 14, 15, 29, 86, 89, 91, 102, 107, 111, 118, 122, 125, 136, 138, 160, 171, 172, 172, 177 Boal, F., 30 Boas, F., 70, 163 Bochner, A., 19, 20 Borges, P., 176 Bornat, J., 25, 26 Boufoy-Bastick, B., 19 Braginsky, B., 45, 46 Braginsky, D., 45, 46 British Educational Research

Association, 65, 69 British Psychological

Association, 65, 69

British Society of Criminology, 65, 69 British Sociological Association,

43, 65, 69 Britten, N., 115 Braga, A., 34 Brown, R., 190 Brownstein, H., 151 Bryman, A., 99 Buckingham, R., 44, 46 Bulmer, M., 177, 178 Burawoy, M., 177, 190 Burgess, R., 24, 30, 67, 68, 69, 152 Buston, R., 36 Bytheway, B., 51 Calnan, M., 135 Cameron, L., 168 Campbell, D., 170 Campbell, R., 116 Carey, S., 123 Casey, N., 181