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Notes
- University of Nevada Press
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216 Appendix 1 explain to him that I was not homeless. I was there to do research on homeless men, and I did not want to take away a nutritious drink from someone there who could truly use it. The way that I was dressed, though, combined with my unlikely story, made him think that I was just being prideful. After I told him my research interest, he said: Yeah, and I’m the president. Come on, man. You think you’re too good to take my juice? If you was really a student at unlv, you wouldn’t be out here sitting with all these homeless guys, you’d be sitting in your warm dorm room. Don’t act like you’re above it, like you’re better than us. Now, don’t say anything, don’t talk, I don’t want no conversation, just take the damn juice. I was surprised by his response and confused at his unwillingness to accept my explanation. As he stood in front of me holding the juice, I took the path of least resistance: I took it from him and began drinking. Despite several men turning down my requests for interviews, several others said they would be happy to talk to me. After meeting a man I might want to interview, I would show him a copy of my Informed Consent Statement. This form had been reviewed and approved by the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Department of Sponsored Programs. The University of Nebraska at Kearney Institutional Review Board also approved a later version. I created this form to gain the written consent of those I wanted to study. As a researcher of human subjects, making sure that one has the consent of the people researched is one of the most important aspects of ethical social science practice. After the men read the form (or I read the form to them), I would discuss any part of it where they wanted further explanation. The beginning of the Informed Consent Statement explained who I was and the focus of my research. It stated my name and that I was a student or employee in the Department of Sociology at the University . One version read: How I Conducted Field Work 217 I have decided, because of personal interest, to research homeless men in Las Vegas to learn more about their practices, activities and values. I will also study how services for homeless persons are provided, observe homeless groups, interview individual homeless men and people who provide services for homeless men. These interviews will take place primarily at or near where services for homeless men are located. The form also stated the dates I would be conducting my research. The form disclosed that the results of the study would be presented in conference papers, articles, and a book-length written report, which would eventually be published and available for public reading . I offered to provide a copy of these writings to any participant who would like one. I also stated that any comments or suggestions about this study before it was completed would be appreciated. Providing a copy of the report to the homeless men I studied sounded good in theory, but it was not easy to accomplish in practice. Generally, homeless men are mobile, and therefore I had difficulty tracking down most of the men after we first met. At times, years would pass between when I first interviewed a man and the completion of my written report. Even when early drafts of reports were finished quickly, it was difficult to ask the men to read long academic reports and give me comments when they were often busy simply surviving. In the end, I gave copies of my dissertation to the staff of a charitable shelter where I conducted a number of interviews and said I would like to hear from anyone who had comments on my research. Because no one responded, I have relied on the verbatim statements of the men and service providers I interviewed, the observations I made, and the emergence of key themes (including how they became homeless, their responses to local shelters, and the role of the police and violence in the men’s lives) to organize my findings. My Informed Consent Statement also stressed that participation in the study was voluntary and told the men that their names would be changed in my final written work to ensure their confidentiality . I also listed my home...