[nabs-l] Of Things that Matter

[Beth]

Well spoken, Arielle and Joe.
Beth

On 2/3/11, Mary Fernandez <trillian551 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hello All,
> At the risk of repeating some of what Arielle said, I tend to agree
> with her whole-heartedly. When preparing research, we as researchers
> need to take into consideration what benefits our research will have
> on the targetted population. For example, in 1984,  Rosenblum decided
> to survey mothers of relinquished children. She wanted to know their
> experiences and how that had affected their later life. However, she
> was ethically bound to make her study worth while. In other words,
> what is the reasoning behind having mothers talk about stories that
> might be painful, of things that might have happened when they were
> very young. Rosenblum was highly pursuasive, in accurately predicting
> that their stories and their experiences, might reveal patterns in
> their later lives. Still, to some this seemed like a morbid study, but
> most of the women she sent the survey too did answer, mainly because
> she made this beautiful insentive which in a way commomerated the
> sacrifice they had made.
> I could go on and on about studies that observe and survey targetted
> populations. We do studies on prisoners and minorities. If we are not
> careful in our recruiting however, the research question can seem
> cruel and highly offensive, which I think is the case here. My
> suggestion to everyone is to not get so up in arms because someone is
> trying to research a question about blind individuals that is so
> obvious to us. Many questions in the social sciences seem almost
> intuitive. But we need the scientific data. The researchers are
> ethically bound to answer the question of how this is going to affect
> the targetted population, in this case blind young adults. I think
> that if you want to help our community and the scientific community,
> and if you want to change perceptions about blindness, you should very
> politely contact the researcher and ask relevant questions. Ask him,
> how how he came to do  this study? What benefits his findings might
> have for the blind ccommunity. And even to refer you to some of the
> literature, if any, that exists which helps back up his hypothesis.
> At the same time, i have to warn you that if you are within the age
> range, he might share this only after you take the survey because you
> will be biased by the previous literature etc. Which might  not be the
> best ideal for data collection. In addition, in psychological research
> we are permitted to use deception so that our participants are not
> biased by  knowing the real hypothesis. So this might all be a rousse
> to cover up the real hyhpothesis. Please, please, if you decide to
> take the survey, do not be so biased. Because that will only do more
> harm than good. If you truly feel you cannot do this with an open
> mind, don't go and try to mess up the man's research, let someone else
> do it.
> Sincerely,
>
> On 2/3/11, Jamie Principato <blackbyrdfly at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Joe,
>>
>> While I do not share in your skepticism, I am glad you are not swayed in
>> your stance merely by the fact that the researcher is blind and affiliated
>> with the NFB. I respect that. I also can't believe anyone would have
>> actually sent this person rude messages, especially considering how many
>> of
>> us are students in scientific fields ourselves. I surely hope it was no
>> worse than some of the comments about the researchers that have been
>> tossed
>> around on this list.
>>
>> Anyway, thanks for looking at this rationally, even if we disagree.
>>
>> On Thu, Feb 3, 2011 at 11:30 PM, Joe Orozco <jsorozco at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Humberto,
>>>
>>> The fact he's blind means very little.  I am just as skeptical, and he
>>> knows
>>> this.  I'll speak to him tomorrow and bring back a report.  He did say
>>> he'd
>>> received a lot of rude messages, to which I hope none of my fellow NFB
>>> members are responsible.  In my opinion, we're free to oppose the
>>> research,
>>> but we should and ought to do it with some organized points as opposed to
>>> inappropriate phone calls.
>>>
>>> Best,
>>>
>>> Joe
>>>
>>> "Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their
>>> sleeves,
>>> some turn up their noses, and some don't turn up at all."--Sam Ewing
>>>
>>>
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>
>
> --
> Mary Fernandez
> Emory University 2012
> P.O. Box 123056
> Atlanta Ga.
> 30322
> Phone: 732-857-7004
> "Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the
> most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of
> teachers."
> Charles W. Eliot
>
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