Re: [xmca] Point of view in writing

From: Mike Cole <lchcmike who-is-at gmail.com>
Date: Fri Aug 17 2007 - 13:31:44 PDT

Its a great topic, Sonja--

There is an interesting first person pov film, lady in the lake, which is
not all that sucessful, but an interesting thought experiment.
And lighter than Husserl
:-)
mike

On 8/17/07, Sonja Baumer <sbaumer@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> I apologize for just bumping into this discussion without reading all
> previous posts. together with marc davis i am writing a paper on "point of
> view" in online videos and especially on youtube.
> our paper brings together both literary and film theories of POV in a
> dialogue with phenomenology. i realize that film theory can be extremely
> valuable resources for this discussion, especially since many qualitative
> researchers nowadays collect ethnographic video data.
> any interest for pursuing that line of discussion?
> sonja baumer
>
> On 8/16/07, Paul Dillon <phd_crit_think@yahoo.com > wrote:
> >
> > Kimberly, Mike,
> >
> > Although Husserl seems to have fbeen relegated to the dumpster of
> > collective memory, a lot of his work was concerned with describing the
> > "subjective" (noetic) state of mind correlated with the experience of any
> > "objective" (noematic). I always found him hard to read except for the
> > work on "internal time consciousness" but there are some studies that really
> > illustrate this method, the titles and authors of which seem to have fallen
> > into the dumpster of my own memory. But the phenomenologists in general
> > have a lot to offer on the problem of providing a good description of the
> > situation of the observer vis a vis what s/he observed
> >
> > Paul
> >
> > Mike Cole <lchcmike@gmail.com> wrote:
> > Hi Kim
> > I think all methods have pitfalls. I was trying, unsuccessfully it turns
> > out, to articulate
> > a pitfall I personally encountered.
> >
> > If this is of future interests, why not check out Cultural Psych and see
> > what you do and don't
> > like about that way of wrting about the subjects there addressed and
> > send
> > along something
> > to read of yours. Perhaps we can ground things more effectively that
> > way.
> >
> > mike
> >
> > On 8/16/07, Kimberly wrote:
> > >
> > > Hi Mike,
> > >
> > > I'm a little confused by your response. It almost sounds as if you are
> > > saying a third person approach doesn't have the same "potential
> > pitfalls"
> > > that you mentioned. My understanding is that data collection must be
> > > systematic, thorough, and well-organized no matter what the writing
> > > approach
> > > used. Fieldnotes, personal notes, transcriptions, triangulation
> > through
> > > correspondence, public notices, student work/journals, interviews,
> > etc.
> > > are
> > > the empirical bases for the interpretation of the data. First person
> > > doesn't necessarily mean just a retrospective account or memoir. I
> > think
> > > it
> > > can be just as systematic, rigorous, "objective," and
> > empirically-based as
> > > any third person approach. Writing in first person, however, puts the
> > > inevitable subjectivity of the author up front on the table. I think,
> > > too,
> > > the personal voice (at least in education) may help to bridge the gap
> > > between researcher and practitioner.
> > >
> > > Kim
> > >
> > >
> > > On 8/16/07 11:36 AM, "Mike Cole" wrote:
> > >
> > > > Hi Kimberly (and Paul) (and)
> > > >
> > > > I started this with a new header because the previous notes were
> > > carrying
> > > > very long string of prior notes in them. Something to
> > > > do with problems Bruce wrote about yesterday I think.
> > > >
> > > > If there is disagreement about the disutilities of writing in pseudo
> > > third
> > > > person, as if objective, fashion grovelling on our bellies,
> > handcuffed,
> > > > etc, in order to publish someone will have to defend such forms of
> > > behavior.
> > > >
> > > > My own view is the the method of explication should fit the subject
> > > matter
> > > > being discussed. You can get a feel for how I mix the two genres
> > > > in Cultural Psychology.
> > > >
> > > > In so far as I am using method of long term participant observation,
> > > which
> > > > is one approach I use to some of the topics I work on, I find that a
> >
> > > > potential pitfall of the first person approach arises if one fails
> > to
> > > create
> > > > systematic fieldnotes of one's activities, interpretations, guesses
> > > about
> > > > what going on, etc. from the beginning of the research up to the
> > point
> > > where
> > > > one is writing the account. This hit me most forcefully when
> > > > trying to account for three years of work creating and trying to
> > sustain
> > > > afterschool activities at four sites here near UCSD. At the end of
> > the
> > > > period I wrote up an account of what I thought had occurred. I
> > believed
> > > it.
> > > > Then I listened to audiotapes of discussions I had had with key
> > > > players three years earlier during which we planned what we would be
> >
> > > doing
> > > > and what we thought had to be done to make the work
> > > > successful. I was stunned in listening to the tapes, to learn how
> > much
> > > my
> > > > retrospective account had selectively forgotten lots of events,
> > > > lots of pointers (had I been able to interpret them properly) to
> > > upcomping
> > > > problems and changes.
> > > >
> > > > So, when using first person approaches, its nice to have lots of
> > bits of
> > > > "objectified" materials, including one's own fieldnotes and notes
> > > > to colleagues (email is great in this respect) as a materialized
> > record
> > > of
> > > > what you USED to think, or what you USED to believe was important,
> > etc.
> > > >
> > > > And, in addition, including information that does not arise from
> > sources
> > > you
> > > > helped to create is also useful as a way of triangulating and
> > > > being self critical.
> > > >
> > > > mike
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Received on Fri Aug 17 13:33 PDT 2007

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