Comments on: Researcher, Facilitator, Advocate? http://netmap.wordpress.com/2009/05/12/researcher-facilitator-advocate/ Just another WordPress.com weblog Wed, 23 May 2012 22:08:39 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Paolo Brunello http://netmap.wordpress.com/2009/05/12/researcher-facilitator-advocate/#comment-831 Sat, 16 May 2009 15:31:14 +0000 http://netmap.wordpress.com/?p=550#comment-831 Hi Eva,
I think a lot depends on what epistemological stance one embraces. In ethnography neutrality is not an issue, or rather, not in the ol’ neopositivist way.
To me the struggle is more on a concentration and time management level: I’ve found myself incapable of being on the beat both in what I’m doing in my project as a project leader and assuming at the same time the deeply reflective stance needed to carry out good research.
I hope I’ll be able to conciliate the two as alternating phases of the same cycle.

]]> By: Eva Schiffer http://netmap.wordpress.com/2009/05/12/researcher-facilitator-advocate/#comment-819 Thu, 14 May 2009 01:14:06 +0000 http://netmap.wordpress.com/?p=550#comment-819 Dear Betty,
Thanks for sharing your experience. It resonates with my experience and what I hear from a number of colleagues. But it does make me wonder: Is it something that is inherent in research, that becoming engaged in change clouds your judgment and thus interferes with the ability of being a good researcher? Or is it a flaw of the research community (or parts of it) that draws away a certain kind of people, who could add interesting insights and a specific perspective but get frustrated with having to pretend to be neutral outsiders…

]]> By: Betty Wells http://netmap.wordpress.com/2009/05/12/researcher-facilitator-advocate/#comment-815 Wed, 13 May 2009 13:00:52 +0000 http://netmap.wordpress.com/?p=550#comment-815 Eva,
i really enjoy this site and have draw upon it in a class I just completed.

You ask: How do you deal with the tensions between “wanting to find out” and “wanting to change things / wanting to help”?

I have struggled with this throughout my career, one which has combined extension and research — and now teaching.
I think one begins by understanding and appreciating the difference, but in most cases, it comes down to a question of values. For me, most of the time I choose change/help. Some of my colleagues, most of the time, choose wanting to find out. In theory they are often compatible, but in practice I have found that they are often not. I chose to privilege my practice. Research is a great tool and aid for me, but not an end in itself.

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