Enculturation into Secrecy among Junior High School Girls - Case Study Example

Critique of article titled: “Enculturation into secrecy among junior high school girls” by Don E. Merten Overview of the study This research was undertaken to examine both how junior high school girls are enculturated into secrecy and how what they are learning is shaped by important American cultural themes. This was based on the fact that secrecy is both important and problematic aspect of social life (Wyman, Brown, LoMurray, Schmeelk-Cone, Petrova, Yu, Walsh & Wang, 2010). The authors were inspired to undertake the study because little information exists on how individuals learn to use secretes. It is noted that learning about secretes in America is a lifelong process which is seldom taught (Olsse, 2004). Even the American children acquire their knowledge of secrecy in a diffuse manner (Eric, & Helene, 2010). Another American culture that inspired the authors to carry out this study because secretes are pervasive and need to be hand led in a socially acceptable manner (Pillow, 2009). It is noted that children in America use secrets essentially for things that are devalued and which may disrupt relationships (Eric, & Helene, 2010). However, adolescent girls often devote their energy in mastering the use of secrete as a mechanism for enhancing relationships instead of being used for negative purposes (Syvertsen, Flanagan & Stout, 2009). The approach used to collect data in this study was mainly interviews (Eric, & Helene, 2010). First, the students and their parents were required to sign an informed consent forms before being interviewed. The interviews sought to find out what was happening in the lives of these students and the meanings they accorded to events and relationships (Wyman et al. 2010). In addition to interviews, observational field notes were recorded by two female ethnographers. In spite this; interviews formed the basis of the authors report. The reason for basing the report on the interviews was mainly that interviews were much informative since they were open ended and conversational in style. Several interviews were undertaken and this allowed the interviewing process to unfold in a relaxed manner (Dawn, 2010). The results of the study indicated that girls treated secrets as social objects and depersonalized secretes when using them as social currency. The results also indicate that the concept of privacy was not well developed among the interviewed girls and this contributed to instrumental use of secrets (Aggarwal, Sharma, and Chhabra, 1998). Secrets were also used as vehicles for developing subjective reasons and an exchange perspective among these girls. This shaped friendships and enhanced social position. Since the study also wanted to establish the complex set of tacit meanings of the use of secrets, eclectic interpretivist approach was used to analyze the data that was collected. The study concluded that enculturation into secrecy involved much more than teach whom to tell which secrets under what circumstance. The study found out that girls were learning fundamental, but largely tacit, aspects of mainstream American culture as they learned to use and interpret the meaning of secrets. The contribution of the study to the area of interest is that as girls engage in creation and production of shared meaning of secrecy they appropriate and incorporate the principles of subjective reason and exchange, which results in reproduction of important aspects of mainstream culture. These are aspects, which were overlooked by previous studies. Study critique Literature review Literature review usually provides objective account to research studies on previous works on the topic under research (Wyman et al. 2010). It helps the researcher to indentify gaps in literature and studies to be able to provide information that can fill these gaps. Various gaps were indentified during literature review by the authors. The literature review was extensive and relevant to the research topic. The authors tried to use up to date references to build his literature review. He also used literature to point out gaps that existed on the topic and how his research was going to fill these gaps. Research problems/questions The statement that is used to identify issues to be studied in a research is referred to as the research question. For one to be able to formulate a research question, which is strong, he or she should be familiar with the field of research. In addition, he or she should be familiar with vital research questions in his or her area of study (Aggarwal, Sharma, and Chhabra, 1998). The researcher should also be able to identify fields, which require more research to be able to formulate a research question. The research question should be aimed at bringing more understanding to the field of study or filling a knowledge gap. The researchers also need to know what has already been done in the field of study and what needs to be improved to be able to formulate a research question. The relevance of the study also is vital in the formulation of the research question (Wyman et al. 2010). Finally, the significance of the knowledge gained in the proposed study should be considered able to formulate a research question. In this study, the research question was how individuals learn to use secrets. This research question is appropriate for the study since the author points out those previous studies have not explored this question (Aggarwal, Sharma, and Chhabra, 1998). The question addresses important issue since it to know that girls engage in creation and production of shared meaning of secrecy they appropriate and incorporate the principles of subjective reason and exchange, which results in reproduction of important aspects of mainstream culture. Research design The research employed a qualitative research design. A qualitative research design involves answering research questions related to experiences of human beings. The data obtained is mainly in terms of text or words. These texts and words usually elucidate what is experienced by the people. The experiences form the basis of the study. The qualitative research design covers various concepts including grounded theory, phenomenology, ethnography and case studies. In this study ethnographic concept were covered (Aggarwal, Sharma, and Chhabra, 1998). This study used interviews to collect data. Additionally observations were also used to collect data. The study uses these interviews and observations to make conclusion on how girls use secrets and how this is related to mainstream culture. Since a secret is a social process, the method is in line with ethnographic concepts covered in the study. Thus using this concept the study tries to answer how individuals learn to use secrets. Recruitment of participants Study participants in qualitative research are recruited depending on their experience or exposure to the phenomenon under investigation (Wyman et al. 2010). Prior to recruitment, participants were required to sign an informed consent form together with their parents. One hundred and sixty students were interviewed, 83 of them being female and 77 male. The study took a period of two years. Since the transition from elementary to junior high school is considered developmentally significant, the study participants were appropriate since this is the time most of people learn how to use secrets positively rather than negatively most found in younger children (Aggarwal, Sharma, and Chhabra, 1998). Interviews obtained from girls were the one used to develop this article and thus was appropriate since the study title was “Enculturation into secrecy among junior high school girls” Data collection Interviews were used to collect data in this study and formed the basis of the report even though observations were also used. Interviews are advantageous since they provide much information concerning the study subject. The reason for basing the report on the interviews was mainly that interviews were much informative since they were open ended and conversational in style. Several interviews were undertaken and this allowed the interviewing process to unfold in a relaxed manner. Data analysis Eclectic interpretivist approach was used to analyze the data that was collected (Aggarwal, Sharma, and Chhabra, 1998). This is because the study wanted to establish the complex set of tacit meanings of the use of secrets. This was appropriate since it enabled the author to establish that girls engage in creation and production of shared meaning of secrecy they appropriate and incorporate the principles of subjective reason and exchange, which results in reproduction of important aspects of mainstream culture. Ethical issues arising from the study Participants’ well being is very essential when carrying out a study involving human subjects. The research should not cause any harm or if any, it should be minimized as much as possible. In qualitative research, three research ethics need to be observed, namely persons participating in the research need to be respected, minimization of risk to the participants and being just. Respecting participants ensures that participation is voluntary and autonomous. It also ensures that research subjects are handled with dignity. Thus, this ensures that persons are misused in studies as study objects to realize the study objectives. This study observed this principle by allowing participants sign informed consent. However, it is not clear whether participants voluntarily participated in the study and whether they could voluntarily leave the study. This raises some ethical issues. Minimization of risk to the participants is vital for the credibility of the research (Shoshana & Faye, 2007). The risk minimization needs to be both social and psychological risk minimization. It is upon the investigators to ensure that this takes place and if possible, the benefits of the participants should out way the risks of participating. In this research, no risks were involved. Being just ensures that risks and benefits resulting from the study are fairly distributed. This implies that any knowledge resulting from the research need to benefit the participants of the study. In this study, it is not clear how participants benefited from the study. Conclusion The authors made an informative conclusion that reflected their findings. However, the generalization of the finding to be a representative of the rest of population is not in order. This is because only a single was involved in the study. This may not be a reflection of what happens in other schools in America. Limitation of the study Study participants ought to be those who will help in the formulation of final report (Shoshana & Faye, 2007). However, in this study the author recruited boys to participate in the study even though they are not used in compilation of the final report. This is wastage of resources that could have been used to address other issues in the study. In addition, as a form of observing ethical issues in research, the identities of participants ought to be concealed in such away that they cannot be traced (Aggarwal, Sharma, and Chhabra, 1998). According to Wyman et al. (2010), the study violates this by including actual names of participants in the final report. Data collection ought to use various methods in order to come with informative results. Even though the authors used interviews and observations, they did rely on interviews alone in the compilation of the article (Dawn, 2010). We are not informed why they neglected the information obtained via observation since this could have yielded information that could not be shared between participants and interviewers. Generalization of information while making conclusion ought to emerge from studies covering a wide range of participants in different environments. This study used a single school to make their conclusion something that may not be a reflection of whole population in America. Reference Aggarwal, O., Sharma, A., and Chhabra, P. (1998). Study in sexuality of medical college students in India. Journal of Adolescent Health, 26(3), 226-229 Dawn, M. (2010). Issues supervising family violence cases: Advocacy, ethical documentation, and supervisees' reactions. The entity from which ERIC acquires the content, including journal, organization, and conference names, or by means of online submission from the author.Canadian Journal of Counselling and Psychotherapy, 44(3), 283-295 Eric, O., & Helene, M. (2010). Goodness of fit: A relational approach to field instruction. Journal of Teaching in Social Work, 30(1), 101-114 Olsse, M. (2004). Culture and learning: Access and opportunity in the classroom. London: IAP. Pillow, W. (2009). Meet yourself again for the first time: Hidden forces shape our lives. London: iUniverse. Shoshana, R., & Faye, M. (2007). Beyond avoidance and secrecy: Using students' practice to teach ethics. The entity from which ERIC acquires the content, including journal, organization, and conference names, or by means of online submission from the author.Journal of Teaching in Social Work, 27(1-2), 251-269 Syvertsen, A., Flanagan, C., & Stout, M. (2009). Code of silence: Students' perceptions of school climate and willingness to intervene in a peer's dangerous plan. Journal of Educational Psychology, 101(1), 219-232. Wyman, P., Brown, C., LoMurray, M., Schmeelk-Cone, K., Petrova, M., Yu, Q., Walsh, E., & Wang, W. (2010). The role and value of school-based healthcare: An outcome evaluation of the sources of strength suicide prevention program delivered by adolescent peer leaders in high schools. American Journal of Public Health, 100(9), 1653-1661 Read More