Doing It in Public: Dilemmas of Images, Voice, and Constructing Publics in Public Sociology on Sex Work

Abstract

This study describes the use of traditional public sociology as a method of recruitment for organic public sociology research with sex workers. Drawing on their grounded research experience, the authors discuss the issues of representation and framing of the research that arise when engaging in public research with multiple stakeholder publics. Specifically, professional publics may act as gatekeepers to subaltern groups and publicly engaged research risks reproducing existing power inequities and marginalization. However, traditional public sociology can be a tool to engage with subaltern groups and to construct a public where one did not exist; here we examine the complexities, the possibilities, and pitfalls of constructing publics.

What’s the Harm? The Coverage of Ethics and Harm Avoidance in Research Methods Textbooks

“…Overall, harm examples tend to center on research carried out many decades ago, with textbook authors largely failing to feature methods that sociologists typically use to collect data. The lack of coverage of contemporary examples is surprising given the ethical dilemmas that researchers have described (e.g., Hannem and Tigchelaar 2016; Holland et al 2014; Meisel 2008; Murray 2003).…”

“…The application of ethics principles is rarely a one-size-fits-all approach. Particular research approaches, such as participatory action research, ethnography, and public sociology, can contain specific challenges not shared by other approaches (Hannem and Tigchelaar 2016; Khanlou and Peter 2005; Munoz and Fox 2011; Murphy and Dingwall 2007). For example, as participatory action research involves “the blurring of the researcher and researched roles,” and researchers and participants function as “co-researchers,” understandings about interpretation and ownership of the data become more complex (Khanlou and Peter 2005:2339).…”

Making a Difference With Participatory Democracy: An Alternative Vision of Taking Qualitative Research to the Public Realm

“…Importantly, Middle Ground has been at the center of creating a large community of persons who have been personally affected by our prison trends (increasing from 3,000 to 43,000 prisoners since my arrival). Many members of this community can be mobilized with one click, which means Middle Ground created a community where one did not exist before (also see, Hannem & Tigchelaar, 2016). There have been some successes over the years, amid numerous failures, but the failures have not dampened my resolve for doing the right thing.…”