Connected communities week 5

Whilst flicking through Real World Research by Colin Robson today in search of a rationalle of what techniques I should use to interiew and examine the data and feedback I will receive when I collect in my cultural probe packs in a week. I came across some very interesting and relevant facts about what types of obsevational studies can be used and are best to use to gather data while avoiding some of the more problematic and uncomfortable ethical issues that could be thrown up by the likes of intergrating yourself into a group as a complete participant. This is where you are pretending to be someone your not to fit in and gain the information you want. You are building up trust and relationships with people in the hopes they will share with you the information you require. I feel that while this would be very efficient to gain the data it is not ethical in the slightest, what could be the ramifications of miss-using peoples trust and the psychological damage they might face when the find out that the relationship you had bilt up was under false pretences and fictional? This is not the only problem that arrises from this type of observational study, you might end up lousing your objectivity and 'go native'. Because you are living the life, you need to talk the talk and walk the walk, you might louse your own identity and viewpoint and be assylimilated into the group. Your data then would be tainted and possibly worthless. If you are no longer impartial then clear aims and objectives cannot be achieved without there being an underlying agenda for the work and findings, data could possibly be manipulated to suite the skuewed desired outcome.
This approach seems to be best avoided within our conneted community project... back to the drawing board.