Metropoems: Poetic Method and Ethnographic Experience

Discussions of the use and significance of poetry as a research tool have raised the question of poetic technique and craftsmanship in ethnographic poetic outputs. In this article, the authors look explicitly at a contemporary poetic form, the “metropoem” originated by French Oulipian poet Jacques Jouet,1 arguing that it presents a potentially valuable new tool for qualitative research for four reasons. First, the “metropoetic” form enables the taking of a position that neither turns inward toward the ethnographer’s self nor outward toward an empathic relation with the ethnographic other, but is focused in the moment, in place, and in motion—which resists the temptations of nostalgia and Romanticism that have attracted criticism of “research poetry.” Second, it imposes a discipline that is derived from a specific activity, which embodies the rhythms, time, and space of that activity, distinguishing metropoems from poetry that recollects or represents. Third, it demands attention to technique, to poetry as a craft, which underscores calls made by recent critical work in this area. Finally, despite being practically, empirically, and metaphorically enformed by the mobility of contemporary urban social experience, it offers a method that can usefully be adapted to encapsulate other forms of social life. </jats:p

Constructing the Research Problem

International audience« What am I looking for ? » The research problem is the general question the researcher is trying to answer – the objective of a study. Inasmuch as it expresses and crystallises the study’s knowledge target, the subject of the inquiry is necessarily a key element in the whole research process. It provides guidelines by which researchers can question the aspects of reality they have decided to study, or can develop an understanding of the reality. This chapter provides the researcher with some techniques to assist in elaborating the research problem. It begins by defining what is meant by a research problem, and shows how this signification can differ according to the investigator’s epistemological assumptions. It then proposes different methods by which a research problem may be constructed, and presents a number of possible approaches to take. Finally, using examples, it illustrates the recursive nature of, and some of the difficulties involved in, the process of constructing the research problem

Construction de l'objet de la recherche

International audienceL’objet d’une recherche consiste en la question générale que la recherche s’efforce de satisfaire, l’objectif que l’on cherche à atteindre. C’est en quelque sorte la réponse à la question : « Qu’est-ce que je cherche ? » L’objet est un élément clé du processus de recherche : il traduit et cristallise le projet de connaissance du chercheur, son objectif. Et c’est au travers de l’objet que le chercheur interroge les aspects de la réalité qu’il souhaite découvrir, qu’il tente de développer une compréhension de cette réalité ou qu’il construit une réalité.L’objectif de ce chapitre est de fournir quelques pistes pouvant aider le chercheur à élaborer l’objet de sa recherche. Dans cette perspective, nous définissons dans un premier temps ce que nous entendons par objet de recherche et montrons qu’il peut revêtir différentes significations en fonction des postulats épistémologiques du chercheur. Nous abordons dans un second temps les différentes voies par lesquelles élaborer un objet de recherche et présentons différents points de départ possibles. Nous rapportons enfin quelques parcours de jeunes chercheurs afin d’illustrer les difficultés et le caractère récursif du processus de construction de l’objet de recherche