Title: Towards the Creation of a New Ethical Code in Qualitative Research.
Abstract: In the field of music education, we are witnessing a change of notions of what is (and is not) legitimate, publishable, and meaningful research. We are reconsidering why we need research and what research is most relevant to the theory and practice in the field2. Researchers are turning their attention to new areas of study: from the learning of music, performance, and composition in naturalistic, formal, and informal settings; through explicit and hidden aspects of the operational, day-to-day music curriculum; to practitioners' constructed realities of music and its various roles in educational settings. These changes represent a paradigm shift in music education research, a shift that involves underlying assumptions about the nature and goals of inquiry (Bresler, 1994; Lincoln & Guba, 1985). The ontological changes bring about a transformation of researchers' awareness of their relationship to the studied phenomena and to the participants. Indeed, as part of the painstaking scrutiny of the process of research in the past two decades, the image of the researcher is undergoing major transformation. The popular image of research, in natural and social sciences, has long been dominated by the figure of the lone scientist, a figure toiling independently to create knowledge for the field. The dissertation process budding researchers undergo is, in its usual depiction, an extreme example of isolation in search of knowledge. This image of the independent scholar, however, glosses over the very social nature of the research process, making invisible the researcher's connections to the participants of the study who have made important contributions to her interpretation (Wasser & Bresler, 1996). The new assumptions, goals, and procedures call for a new set of qualifications on the part of the researcher. Among these qualifications are the abilities to develop and maintain close and trusting relationships with participants (no longer subjugated subjects). The new qualitative paradigm also requires different ethical considerations (cf., Lincoln, 1990; Wax, 1979). Michael Kompf (1993) has pointed out that the guidelines for ethical conduct in inquiry originate from the discipline of psychology and are derived from its traditional definition: the prediction and control of behavior. Accordingly, associated practices and accepted ethical concerns reflect a positivist orientation to the study of human behavior that can be characterized by the dominance of the experimenter or scientist in the conditions and circumstances of the study. The language of the positivist research environment includes such terms as subjects, trials, and controls. Such terms carry the connotation of rigidity and precision that traditionally have been associated with scientific credibility. However, these positivist guide-
Publication Year: 1996
Publication Date: 1996-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
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Cited By Count: 15
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