Creswell's questions regarding the impact upon the reader, the effect of words, really hit home with me. In chapter 9 of our book, he states that "Language may 'kill' whatever it touches..." Ouch! As a writer, I want to create, to bring to life for my reader. If it is possible that my act will actually do the opposite, kill rather than bring to life, what am I doing here?? I am almost paralytic with the thought that my research will not do justice to its subjects.
This was evident in the difficulty I had writing up my final research project for our diversity class last semester. I chose to study LGBT students at PLNU. I could not write the final paper until the deadline was so close that I could feel it like a hammer above my head. What if I mis-characterized the feelings of the students I interviewed? What if they felt outed by my paper? What if seeing what I had written made them feel badly about themselves, or the school, or life in general? Arrrgghhh!! It was so very hard for me to write that paper because I felt it had to be worthy of the gift of Story that these people had given me. Mishandling that gift would be so hard for me to forgive in myself.
I think that this type of research is especially hard for a Christian, yet truly appropriate. We question our motives to see whether they are Godly. We want to do justice in our work, and to do work that is worthy of our Lord. The same elements that make us ethical researchers may make the process of writing and making meaning from another's story excruciatingly difficult. As I see it, we are both blessed and cursed by the additional concerns that we as Christians bring to qualitative research.
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