In a lecture I attended on ‘ethical issues’ in social research – our lecturer – told us about a young student – keen on dh lawrence – decided to write a dissertation on ‘the influence of literature on the sexuality on women in mining villages’ – or some such significant project.
His methodology consisted of – er – yes – going door to door – without any notice – or informing his tutor – in a Nottinghamshire mining village – asking miner’s wives about their reading habits and sexual experience. At the fifth house he was met by a miner – who was working nights – and being a little- a lot – innocent – he told the miner exactly what he was doing.
One of the conclusions of my research paper – Hazardous Social Research Techniques – is that there is a 99% chance that a male researcher going door to door – researching the sexual experiences of women – in a working class area – will be in a good position – to research the facilities offered in a National Health Service A & E unit – or he could get lucky – but – not being able to keep his mouth shut – or the smirk off his face – he will – with a certainty of 85% – be able to research intensive care facilities – not being awake during the A&E part.
Research in the suburbs is significantly less hazardous – but can be extremely exhausting – due to the long driveways – I’m told.