I am re-reading all of the transcripts of the 8 interviews I conducted for my research project, and am so overwhelmed with the stories that were shared. They are so personal, so strong, and seemingly so full of every element of human experience. In some ways, I feel I am peering into a slice of the lives of a group fascinating people who shared their stories with me for the sake of my research.
I hope I do their works justice in my findings. Perhaps the best justice would be giving somebody else an insight or idea that leads to some other action in service of research, self-knowledge, and advancing the benefits of a networked community?
I know that many people who said they were interested in participating said that they did npt mind retain anonymity. How would you/they feel about making the audio of the interviews, and the transcripts public? Would that be a step too far?
Anne Marie, thank you for visiting and for asking this question (one which I had not previously considered).
Indeed, a number of people I interviewed for this project told me that they did not wish to remain anonymous, though we did not have a conversation about publishing the audio interviews, nor the transcripts. Lesson for the future to ask about this. I can only guess that they do not mind being linked with the findings, though I will not presume that they would (or would not) want everything from our exchange to be public. As that will significantly go beyond the ethical approval I received (and which I discussed with each participant), I think this may be a question to raise with everybody on another day (especially after I finish this paper itself!).
Thank you again for raising an issue that helps me to further push the boundaries of research.
Jeffrey