Document Type

Article

Publication Title

The Qualitative Report

ISSN

1052-0147

Volume

18

Issue

14

First Page

1

Last Page

16

Publication Date

1-1-2013

Abstract

In this paper the author explores how relationships are defined within the context of constructing a life history. The life history of Benjamin, a homeless young man transitioning to adulthood, is used to illustrate how difficult it is to define the parameters of the research environment. During an “ethically important moment” in the research process, the author had to critically analyze his obligation to his participant based upon the relational titles exchanged. As chaos in Benjamin’s life increased, a choice needed to be made about the researcher’s involvement in his life. Should the researcher provide support or simply document events? Based upon the obligations inherent in how Benjamin defined his relationship with the researcher, the author explains why and how Benjamin’s life was interrupted.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

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