6.5: Research as Conversation

Quote

[research provides a] “feeling of connectedness and understanding…I do feel like I’m actually connecting in some sense with the authors of the papers that I read.” (Graduate student participant as cited in Droog et al. 2024, p. 839)

Research involves more than simply the content you read. Instead, it is a conversation happening across time and space among researchers. So while it's critical to understand what researchers write, it can also be important to consider the cast of characters who conducted the research and wrote about it.

Authority/Expertise

Reflect \(\PageIndex{1}\)

What does it mean for authors to have authority on a topic?

How can you evaluate an author’s expertise?

Traditionally, in academia, we're often taught to use peer-reviewed journals as indicators of authority. This is a great start, as peer-reviewing reduces some of the bias in publishing, since reviewers typically do not know who the author is. However, the author usually is affiliated with a university and has a certain degree in that field. Throughout human history, various groups of people were excluded from academia. Although in different eras, the Middle East, India, China, and other areas were centers of scientific research and innovation, most recently, Europe and then the United States came to dominate the research world. In most of these times, women were often excluded from studying at all, let alone becoming researchers themselves (with of course notable exceptions). In the 19^th and mid-20^th centuries, various ethnic groups were excluded.

Activity: Research as a parlor conversation, 1941 \(\PageIndex{1}\)

The following paragraph was written by Kenneth Burke in 1941, describing research as an unending conversation. Read through it, paying attention to word choices.

"Imagine that you enter a parlor. You come late. When you arrive, others have long preceded you, and they are engaged in a heated discussion, a discussion too heated for them to pause and tell you exactly what it is about. In fact, the discussion had already begun long before any of them got there so that no one present is qualified to retrace for you all the steps that had gone before. You listen for a while until you decide that you have caught the tenor of the argument; then you put in your oar. Someone answers; you answer him; another comes to your defense; another aligns himself against you, to either the embarrassment or gratification of your opponent, depending upon the quality of your ally's assistance. However, the discussion is interminable. The hour grows late, you must depart. And you do depart, with the discussion still vigorously in progress." (Burke, K. 1941)

I love this description because it viscerally demonstrates that research is a conversation among real people, not just words on paper or a screen. And while his word choices and description are specific to his culture & time, they can help us consider several important aspects of research.

Try visualizing the above scene that Burke describes. Research exists within cultural contexts. He's writing in the United States in the early 1940s. What is the research culture he's describing? Is it neutral? Who is included/excluded?

• Consider who researchers were in the United States in the early twentieth century.
• Consider the type of parlor or room those researchers might use. Use all your senses to consider the parlor:
  • What did a parlor look like? What kind of chairs would be there? What kind of decorations adorned the walls? What's the lighting like?
  • Are these people drinking anything? If so, what?
  • Is anyone smoking and if so what are they smoking?

Click Discussion below for my thoughts on this:

Discussion

In Burke's time, most research was done by white men from Europe and the United States. So when I imagine Burke's parlor, I picture sumptuous leather chairs, expensive rugs on wooden floors with men smoking cigars and sipping bourbon.

You might have pictured something completely different - perhaps a more intimate front room in a room, filled with friends chattering over cups of tea in straight-backed chairs, scolding the occasional child running through the room.

This is obviously just a thought exercise and does not perfectly portray the complexities of reality, but it helps to make the conversation of research far more tangible.

Positionality

In Unit 1, we discussed considering our own positionality and we've continued discussing it throughout the workbook.

Now that you're reading others' works, let's discuss how their positionality impacts your topic.

It’s just as important to consider the positionality of the authors of the sources you find. Although the culture of academia has changed in the past 100 years, there are still some voices who are not present within academia. In many academic disciplines, even though there is more diversity among researchers, the northern hemisphere still dominates in research publications.

English currently dominates research, so that even authors who speak other languages must read and write in English. Consider how this shapes who gets published, how they express themselves, and what people choose to study.

Since you’re just starting your research, you might not know who the current researchers are on your topic. If you do, consider who they are, and what their backgrounds are, if you know them. If not, consider how their credentials and backgrounds impact their research question, their methodology, their interaction with study participants, and how they analyze results.

Activity: Current conversations\(\PageIndex{1}\)

Consider the current state of research in your discipline.

• How much has changed in your field since 1941 about who does research?
• Or, more concretely, who are the authors of the resources you found?
  • Do they include positionality statements?
  • If not, can you tell anything about their positionality?
  • How might their backgrounds bias them one way or another in regards to the population & topic they’re studying?

Imagine you walk into a room and the authors of those resources are discussing their works. Where might this room be? Perhaps at a conference?

Go back to the section on positionality & your drawing.

• If you were in a room with the authors of the sources you've found, how would you feel contributing to the conversation?

• What does your voice add to the conversation?

Amplify Minority Voices

Even though research culture has become more inclusive, some groups are still underrepresented. Including additional perspectives strengthens your review and provides a more complete picture. There are a few sites you can check for works by Black American authors and by female authors. Here are a couple examples:

• Cite Black Authors
• Women Also Know Stuff

Race and gender shape how we are perceived by the world and how we, in turn, consider the world. Therefore, perspectives on your topic by researchers from different backgrounds gets us closer to answering questions on any given topic, particularly within the social sciences.

Beyond demographic diversity, as I mentioned earlier in our discussion of what a literature review is, you need to include all perspectives, even if you disagree with a certain study or theory.

Populations Impacted by Your Topic

Reflect \(\PageIndex{1}\)

Consider the future participants in your research, or the participants in the research you've read. What groups of people might be impacted by your topic?

• Do they have access to read the research about them?
• If yes, do they have the skills you do in evaluating the article's methods and conclusions?
• Do they have the time and skills to assess the article within the context of other sources, as you've been doing throughout this workbook?
• Will they benefit from being participants?

Again, consider as you did at the top of the page: Who is an expert on your topic?

Academics, graduate students, or sometimes undergrads & professionals will have access to research about them. But for the most part, anyone outside of academia does not have access to research, as it is rarely freely available.

Few people outside of academia have the skills or time to evaluate the article's conclusions, much less assess sources within context.

I am not suggesting that all research must be action research. Rather, in addition to reading academic sources, I encourage you to pay attention to what these populations say about themselves & their experiences, perhaps through social media. While this will not mean that they are direct collaborators, it does shift your perspective that they can be considered experts on their experiences of your topic. They might not have academic expertise on your topic, but they are experts on their own experiences.

Activity: Disseminate findings \(\PageIndex{1}\)

Look back at your original, deeper motivation for doing this research, back in Unit 2.

There's no right answer and the reasons for doing research are as varied and complex as research itself. Some people research to learn how people can be helped. Even if that isn't a direct goal, research often does help people. An obvious example is medical research, which can find life-saving treatments. Similarly, social science research can improve therapeutic treatments or people's quality of life. Some people might research primarily for the excitement of the puzzle or to gain tenure through publishing. However, their research may still benefit people.

Consider:

1. Who might benefit from your research?
2. Would they benefit more if they learned about the patterns you've noticed in the literature?
3. Would they be interested to learn the findings of your study?

Brainstorm:

You've already done the hard work of finding clues, considering the cast of characters, and working through the puzzle. How can you disseminate your findings, legally, in a way people would be able to understand and parse for themselves?

Once you've brainstormed on your own, click below for a few of my ideas.

Ideas

• Edit a Wikipedia page related to your topic by adding accurate, relevant citations (See Cornell University Library's page on how to edit Wikipedia)
• Create a video or infographic
  • Briefly explain your findings, why they're credible, and how they can help people or how people can use them.
  • Share it on social media or forums where people impacted by this topic might see it

I am not suggesting you expend a large amount of extra time to do any of this. Simply use what you already found and find an easy way to share it, legally, in a useful way for those impacted.

Example: My research is about graduate students. In addition to presenting my findings at conferences and publishing articles, I adapted my lesson plans, based on my research. This did not involve extra work, as I continually update my lesson plans, but now I incorporate findings from my research. For instance, I had always striven to reduce student anxiety and increase their confidence about research in my classes. Due to my research, I explicitly added affective domain learning objectives to my lesson plans.

Next Steps

In the next section, we'll discuss how to know you've cracked the case and are ready to write up your findings.