Got my research project "destroyed" by committee

[neils]

20 hours ago, Psygeek said:

Applied: 7/7

Interviews: 1/7 

Waitlisted: 1/7

Admitted: 1/7 (rejected school - no interview)

Rejected: 5/7

Rejected Offers 1

What's "admitted: 1/7 (rejected school - no interview)" ? 

This is a offer rejected by you ? or it is turned from a rejection to be a offer ?

Edited March 31, 2018 by neils

[Adelaide9216]

11 hours ago, neils said:

What's "admitted: 1/7 (rejected school - no interview)" ? 

This is a offer rejected by you ? or it is turned from a rejection to be a offer ?

wrong thread I think

[Adelaide9216]

On 2018-03-30 at 3:17 PM, rising_star said:

Have you considered focusing on why this population is difficult to study, which might include reviewing past research, pointing out flaws in it, and the resistance of the community to outsiders?

Do you have an example of a study/article that's a study design that others could carry out?

 

[Adelaide9216]

I'm meeting with my supervisor tomorrow. I'll keep you guys posted.  Thanks everyone!

[Adelaide9216]

Hello,

so I have met with my supervisor. It went pretty well. We've decided together that I'd keep the same research project but that I would broaden the population that I wanted to study. So my target population are women in general, instead of women of a marginalized community. And instead of doing multiple interviews, I'm going to conduct two to three focus groups with workers who intervene with survivors of sexual assault. We believe I should be able to finish it all within a year. It sounds like a good plan to me! 

 

 

[TakeruK]

Glad to hear that you can find a way to move forward with your project while also ensuring you are doing the right thing!

[Sigaba]

On 3/29/2018 at 9:46 PM, Adelaide9216 said:

 I feel like I should have the right to study whatever I want...

Hi, @Adelaide9216

IMO, you need to figure out an answer to the questions "Why aren't you studying black women?" and "Why do you want to study sexual violence in marginalized communities?" "Why do you want to study rape in communities that aren't your own?" that are intellectually resonant and emotionally candid.  I'm not talking about revealing your inner self. I'm talking about the kind of answer that will convince people that you've thought it out even if they disagree with you.  

You need to demonstrate  that you're real and not what they're telling they think you are.  I am talking about showing that you're willing to pick up what is put down by people whose respect, trust, and confidence you need to get to where you want to go.

You are being given opportunities to earn the right to study something that is sacred and horrible and perhaps unknowable to those who haven't experienced it first hand. By phrasing it as you have, you are sending a message that you don't take the needs of the people you want to study as seriously as your own wants. 

 

 

[Adelaide9216]

Thats totally not true. The fact that I have dropped by initial research project and that I have picked something that's more realistically doable within the next year, is actually out of respect for that community. 

 

PS : I have work experience with sexual assault survivors, and I've been an activist for that cause as well. It's not coming out of the blue.

Edited April 27, 2018 by Adelaide9216

[rising_star]

On 4/27/2018 at 12:15 AM, Sigaba said:

Hi, @Adelaide9216

IMO, you need to figure out an answer to the questions "Why aren't you studying black women?" and "Why do you want to study sexual violence in marginalized communities?" "Why do you want to study rape in communities that aren't your own?" that are intellectually resonant and emotionally candid.  I'm not talking about revealing your inner self. I'm talking about the kind of answer that will convince people that you've thought it out even if they disagree with you.

I'll be honest: I disagree with this. Why? Because it's a question people should not be asking. No one asks white men who study anything other than white men why they chose to study X group (whether that's women, Latinx populations, etc.). So sure, maybe @Adelaide9216should have such an intellectually reason for herself. But to the people asking? My response, if I were Adelaide9216, would be to ask them why they don't study the same population they're part of (making sure, in advance, that they don't). When they respond with surprise that you'd ask the question, then you can point out that it's simply the same question they asked you.

[dr. t]

On 4/30/2018 at 10:43 PM, rising_star said:

I disagree with this. Why? Because it's a question people should not be asking. No one asks white men who study anything other than white men why they chose to study X group (whether that's women, Latinx populations, etc.).

I agree with both of you! It's definitely a question that shouldn't be asked. But it still will be asked. Coming up with a short, tactful (?), and persuasive answer can only help in professional engagements. 

[Sigaba]

On 4/30/2018 at 7:43 PM, rising_star said:

I'll be honest: I disagree with this. Why? Because it's a question people should not be asking. No one asks white men who study anything other than white men why they chose to study X group (whether that's women, Latinx populations, etc.). So sure, maybe @Adelaide9216should have such an intellectually reason for herself. But to the people asking? My response, if I were Adelaide9216, would be to ask them why they don't study the same population they're part of (making sure, in advance, that they don't). When they respond with surprise that you'd ask the question, then you can point out that it's simply the same question they asked you.

In this specific instance, the OP seeks entry into spheres of knowledge centered around immensely personal experiences. For these kinds of experiences, including violence, sexual violence, very serious illness, armed combat, Why do you want to know? is a valid question that deserves an answer for the sake of building trust. 

FWIW, my experiences have been a bit different. In the main,  the answer to the question "why this topic?" is either freely given or quickly discerned. Or I will ask.

I don't know what questions people should or shouldn't be asking in the Ivory Tower. As @telkanuru points out, there are questions that will be asked. If the persons asking have power over you, which is the preferable option? Having an honest answer, answering with a question, or refusing to answer at all? IME, a measured amount of candor can go a long way. YMMV.

[rising_star]

15 hours ago, Sigaba said:

In this specific instance, the OP seeks entry into spheres of knowledge centered around immensely personal experiences. For these kinds of experiences, including violence, sexual violence, very serious illness, armed combat, Why do you want to know? is a valid question that deserves an answer for the sake of building trust. 

I understand perfectly well why those in the community would be asking why Adelaide wants to know. My confusion is around others asking those questions. You're talking about building trust but why does anyone need to build that level of personal trust with a thesis committee member, someone who doesn't identify as a member of the community the OP wants to study. To be clear, the real part I was taking issue with is the idea that someone who is a person of color must only study their community, which is what a committee member said to the OP. As I stated before, no one has ever held white and/or male academics to that standard so it seems ludicrous to me to hold a person of color to it. 

I have zero issue with Adelaide or anyone else taking the time to build trust with the community they want to work with. Indeed, as a trained social scientist, I believe such trust-building is fundamental to any successful project, particularly one which is community-based or collaborative. But, when you say what you said above, it sounds like you do want Adelaide to engage in some personal disclosure, even though you've previously said that isn't required. 

15 hours ago, Sigaba said:

FWIW, my experiences have been a bit different. In the main,  the answer to the question "why this topic?" is either freely given or quickly discerned. Or I will ask.

So, if you're at a conference and someone tells you they work with rape victims, do you then ask them "were you raped?" There are plenty of reasons why people may study something which hasn't intimately affected their lives. There are also reasons why someone may not want to disclose a personal connection to a topic (if there is one) to a near stranger. I can think of a number of examples based on people I know of both of these. For example, I can think of a Latinx colleague whom everyone assumes (based on physical appearance and/or name) must be the one who teaches Ethnic American Lit but who actually focuses on British literature that's 300+ years old. Should that person change their focus to something to which people might assume they are more connected to?

In general, I'd exercise caution in trying to force people to disclose things or (as is the case with the OP) try to force them to only study or focus on communities they are a part of. And I'd also tell everyone that you aren't obligated to fully disclose why you're doing what you're doing to any academic. We all have reasons, many of which we don't talk about in favor of giving a pat or trite response. If someone I don't know asked me "why this topic", they'd never get the full story. 

[Sigaba]

21 hours ago, rising_star said:

To be clear, the real part I was taking issue with is the idea that someone who is a person of color must only study their community, which is what a committee member said to the OP. As I stated before, no one has ever held white and/or male academics to that standard so it seems ludicrous to me to hold a person of color to it. 

IMO, you're misreading previous posts and you're making overly broad generalizations about what all white male academics have and haven't been asked throughout the history of the Ivory Tower. In regards to the latter, military and naval historians, regardless of gender and race, are regularly asked very specific "why" questions by members of armed forces and by veterans. (The thumbnail of the question is "Have you ever shouldered a ruck and stood a watch?")

In regards to the former, the OP specifically says "They did not say 'you should do research on black women because you're a black woman." That is, no one said to @Adelaide9216 she should or must study black women because she is a black woman. So why are you changing what was said?

(And along similar lines, please show me where I said anything about forcing anyone to answer any questions.)

In terms of what I'm recommending @Adelaide9216 to do, I refer you to my post, as written. "I'm not talking about revealing your inner self. I'm talking about the kind of answer that will convince people that you've thought it out even if they disagree with you." 

[Adelaide9216]

UPDATE. I NEED YOUR PERSPECTIVES/INPUT/ADVICE.

So as you know, I have tweaked my initial research project with my supervisor to make it broadly about women rather than a specific group of women (marginalized women) with whom I don't have long standing links/relationships with.

However, as I have posted on the forum, I am presenting at a conference at the end of August. You guys know that when you submit an abstract, you have to do it one year ahead. So I submitted the abstract with my initial research project in mind, and my abstract got accepted.

For background, at a congress in 2017, I did a case study in partnership with an organization that is from the specific group of women that I wanted to work with/work on during my master's degree. We presented a case study at that congress. The person who took part in the case study got her full ticket reimbursed to take part in the congress with my supervisor's funds. At that point, there was zero issues, the organization had fully agreed to take part in this and saw no issue in it. (That's why I was cut off guard by the cold (absence of) response when I approached them again to work on a larger portion of my actual master's thesis which was essentially the exact same project but with more people involved. On top of the fact that I was a past volunteer for them for many months.)

So back to the congress at the end of August this year. When I submitted the abstract for it, I had the 2017 congress + my initial master's research thesis topic in mind, thinking that everything would go as planned. My abstract got accepted. So now I am stuck to stick to what I have told them I would present.

So my supervisor and I both said that a good option would be to present the same thing that I have presented in 2017, but to add more context (the prevalence of sexual violence in my country versus their country, my theoretical approaches, then use the case study of 2017 as an example of the themes I'd like to address during my master's thesis and then make a connection about marginalized populations in the country I am going to at the end of August).

That is good advice, it is really helpful. BUT, I am still incredibly afraid of being mistaken for a spokesperson for that community when I don't have the legitimacy to take on that role. Additionally, this will be my first academic paper ever, plus my first time travelling alone to another country so it adds to my already-there anxiety. I also fear the question period, because I KNOW I will have to do 101 stuff about that community and it will put me in the position of a spokesperson which I absolutely want to avoid because I don't have the legitimacy to do that. But these questions will come up for sure, I can tell from my experience in 2017.

 

What do you guys think? Maybe I am overthinking this.

 

PS : The organization that I partnered with in 2017 doesn't know I am re-using the same data that we presented in 2017 at the Congress in August. 

Edited July 5, 2018 by Adelaide9216

[PokePsych]

Just say what you say here. Actively claim that you're not a spokesperson for this community and mention it. So answer questions with things like 'although I'm by no means a spokesperson of this community, my opinion/perspective on X would be Y. However, again, I'm not a spokesperson (and this question should therefore be direct to Z (the organization you mention or some other source)).'

You could even make a powerpoint slide with that at the end with that message (although it may be a bit bold). I always prepare for expected questions with some extra slides (helpful advice I got from my advisor). 

[Meraki]

I would expect anyone who has done a case study to be fairly knowledgeable about the organization without considering them to be a spokesperson for the organization. It’s part of being a good researcher, in my opinion. But if you’re concerned, you can do as Psygeek recommended and state that you cannot speak on behalf of the organization, but your opinion is...xyz. Practice a few responses to anticipated questions in advance so that it flows smoothly during the presentation.