Introduction: the conception and reception of Marginal Comment [author's MS] (original) (raw)
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Commentary on commentaries: A space for dialogue among different perspectives
In this commentary we discuss our reactions towards the six contributions on our article "The psychotherapist's social role under a dialogical perspective: A study of the personal construction of «I as psychotherapist»" (in this issue). These commentaries discuss a multiplicity of problems and potentials, providing us with a meaningful space for dialogue among our multiple and sometimes discrepant perspectives. We have organized our reaction around three issues: (1) the importance of context influence on the process of being a psychotherapist; (2) the use of the motives as a tool to organize the psychotherapists' diversity; and (3) the methodology for studying the dialogical processes.
Introduction: working with paradata, marginalia and fieldnotes
Working with Paradata, Marginalia and Fieldnotes, 2000
While research areas do not just 'appear', the genesis of academic interests and specialities is neither straightforward nor always clear. How we come to be interested in specific areas is often tied up with individual research histories, career trajectories or even chance discoveries and accidental encounters. It may also be the case that while we may think we are working in niche or even obscure fields of enquiry sometimes serendipitous meetings, conversations or exchanges reveal shared interests, common ground and opportunities for future productive collaborations. Indeed, this volume, like many others, has origins in niche areas, chance discoveries and fortuitous encounters. Its roots lie in two separate sets of joint research experiences coming together to form a shared interest for the four editors in what is a burgeoning and emergent field. That interest is in research that treats the by-products of an activity as data and of research interest in itself: paradata, marginalia and fieldnotes. Yet how did we get here? Ros Edwards' interest in by-products was sparked by listening to survey methodologists who were co-members of the ESRC National Centre for Research Methods (NCRM), discussing the 'paradata' created by delivering surveys (for example Turner et al., 2014). Her colleagues' reference to the useful information that could be gained by analysis of keystrokes and other electronic aspects of computer-aided surveys, prompted Ros to realise that the notes scribbled by fieldworkers on the paper copies of Peter Townsend's old poverty survey booklets (from the 1967-68 Poverty in the UK Study) that she had spotted stored in the basement of a data archive could also be considered useful paradata. Chatting about this material with Ann Phoenix, whose Novella narrative analysis project was attached to the NCRM, together they conceived a project that investigated the possibilities for analysing the interviewer notes. This was the start of a fascination
2021
In the margins of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu’s 1704 edition of Pierre Bayle’s Pensées Diverses (1682), the English feminist Mary Astell wrote a long and scathing critique. Bayle’s book, supposedly an attack on superstitious beliefs about comets, was—in her opinion—full of “sly insinuations” and “vile suggestions” targeted against the Christian religion. Astell’s marginalia provides evidence of the indignation that Bayle provoked, but it also provides a unique and sustained line of attack against his scepticism. The literary form of the marginal note provides Astell with an ideal weapon. Bayle’s style of argument, which relied on his reader to follow through on his anti-Catholic insinuations and the atheistic implications of his texts, demands active engagement and immediate disarmament. In her commentary, Astell turns Bayle’s reason against him: she “undoes” his scepticism by using the very reason he himself deploys. As Bayle became more widely known in England, there were fears about what might happen if his books fell into the hands of the unlearned. The strategic purpose of Astell’s marginalia is to disarm Bayle’s arguments for the benefit of any future reader of the book, but also for one reader in particular—her friend Lady Wortley Montagu.
2011
Our paper was motivated by two main concerns. The first was to question the coherence of Galen Strawson’s (1999, 2004, 2007) conception of the episodic self and to defend a broadly narrative approach to identity against his critique of narrativity. Drawing on Elyn Saks’ (2007) autobiographical narrative of schizophrenia, we drew attention to the suffering caused by the breakdown in acute (and chronic) mental illness of a person’s sense of herself as a diachronic agent. We also argued that Saks’s reflections on her experience attest to the importance of capacities for narrative self-understanding for leading a flourishing life.
“No comments?” Can commentary be a means of expression for the social scientist?
2015
Commenting is often what social scientists are asked to do when they intervene in the media. In this article, we propose to analyze such commentary in the context of the relationship between the media and researchers. We will try to understand what the researcher is doing and where he stands when he makes his comments. We will also try to determine which position is given to him by the commentary: that of a commentator, an expert or a scientist? If the principal characteristic of the comment is to highlight what it comments upon, what is the difference between such comment and a sociological description? ------ ‘Comentario’ e muitas vezes o que e pedido aos cientistas sociais quando falam nos meios de comunicacao. Neste artigo, propomo-nos a analisar tal comentario no contexto da relacao entre os media e investigadores. Vamos tentar entender o que o pesquisador esta a fazer e qual o seu posicionamento quando elabora esse comentario. Vamos tambem tentar determinar em que posicao o co...