Ethics for Writing?
2 Corinthians 5:18 It is God who, through Christ, bridged the gap between us…
Qualitative research is all about listening, gathering words and responses to questions and then pondering and presenting the answers. Hermeneutics enters this field of social research to say that a voice is important to God. He sees. He hears. He has written.
As a researcher I am incredibly nosey. I have had the privilege of learning to listen to questions/answers about why people do what they do. When studying for a masters in Social Policy I was taught there are strict ethical standards to guide me in ways of gathering responses. These standards are to engender respect for humankind.
Below I’ve listed a sample of some of the standards I used for a recent paper on Female Baptist Aid and Development Workers in Disaster Relief:
Ethical Standards for Interviews of Baptist Women Working in Disaster Relief
1. Each interviewee will be sent brief information regarding my background and the purposes of the interview I wish to conduct for my essay regarding pastoral care of relief workers.
2. Each interviewee will have communication from (name withheld for this post) of the Baptist World Alliance verifying that he/she knows me and approves of my interview questions.
3. Each interviewee will be asked to have someone she could speak to after the interview should any questions trigger emotional responses at this time.
4. Each interviewee will have the right to stop the interviews at any point in the interview.
I have enormous respect for the women I interviewed. As I got to know them, they became sisters in Christ to me. I love this research and writing, but perhaps you can also see why I’m giving myself some prep time for transitioning to another genre.
As I develop my very first novel, I am curious about gathering my own thoughts in forming the characters of my imagination. These will not be real people with real lives. What respect will develop? Why?
I’ve been inspired by Allison Symes’s ACW blogpost on June 29. She mentioned interviewing your own characters. I’m going to try that as I map out my first draft.
Yet before I begin my fictional interviews, I have a few more-perhaps nosey questions. For example, do fiction writers ever write out ethical standards as academic researchers are required to do? Or is this where you just know your core values in life and get on with it?
At some point in this transition process I’m going to have a go at writing an “Ethical Standards for Fiction Writing.” Old habits!
What would you put on such a list?
Is it even helpful?
As I mentioned on our ACW Facebook page, part of my transition prep has included a “book holiday.” During lockdown I took my mind to Scotland by reading the Isabel Dalhousie series by Alexander McCall Smith. He wrote about his lead character, saying:
“Isabel Dalhousie knew by her own resolution that a work of art was what mattered to her- the moral statement that helped us to live better, which is what, she believed, the purpose of art was.” [1]
Perhaps my novel will entertain. Art? Not sure yet. Perhaps it will matter to one person. My prayer is that a little hermeneutics will weave itself in somewhere in the storyline to give a voice to someone, even me.
Kathleen is a former NGO. She is passionate about women working in disaster relief while maintaining good emotional health. Her first novel is in the procrastination stage.
Wow, this is so interesting, Kathleen. I used to work in a Psychology Department in London at this reminds me of the strict code followed when carrying out experiments. I'll be fascinated to see how you transition from this to fiction writing.
ReplyDeleteThank you Ruth!! I truly give thanks for your encouragement.
Delete