Moral Delimmas

Hi class,

Enthographers learn from observation. They observe people in their own "territory" and use different approaches to go about their studies. One approach is the covert role. The cover role is basically when the researcher goes undercover and and observes. The problem with this is, the researcher could end up building a relationship with the people he or she is researching and it could be harder for them to lie to the people being researched or even publish the information that was found. Another approach they use is the overt role. The overt role is when the researcher makes it clear to the people he or she is researching, that they are being researched. The problem with this is that the person or people being researched may not like the idea that they are being researched so they might act differently than how they would normally act. This could cause the researcher to find false information which would completely defeat the purpose of even doing the research, finding out the truth.

Honestly to resolve the cover issue, I would make sure while doing my research, to keep everything strictly business so feelings and emotions wont be catched. For the overt role, I probably wont be so blunt with it, so the person who is being researched wont feel so weird about it.