Title

Trustworthiness and Rigor in Ethnodramatic Performance

Location

Sales Institute Suite 3000

Format Type

Panel

Format Type

Panel

Start Date

January 2016

End Date

January 2016

Abstract

A major issue that confronts ethnodrama as a means of research dissemination (Saldaña, 2011; Beck, Belliveau, Lea, Wage, & 2011) is theorizing the audience’s response to the data. What happens on stage is not what happens in real life, but theatre may communicate more richly than other forms of report.

The symposium looks back to core theory in ethnographic methods (Clifford & Marcus, 1986) to look forward to new methods of conveying qualitative research. We discuss two questions

  • How might one appraise the trustworthiness and rigor of ethnodrama in relationship to the events the performance evokes?
  • How might one understand the meanings shaped by ethnodrama in relationship to common academic communication practices, such as Powerpoint lectures and journal articles?

During the first half of the session, we perform an excerpt from a revised version of a peer reviewed ethnodrama that evokes a teacher’s effort to teach a difficult and complex subject: the middle passage. The original script was constructed from verbatim transcriptions of the teacher’s interviews using inquiry theatre methods (Vanover, inpress). The original playtext interspliced the teacher’s verbatim stories with excerpts from a novel on the middle passage she taught during the unit. The current script replaces the novel with historical texts; the revised ethnodrama will be performed by a nonprofit theatre company in 2016.

The proposed TQRC session will act as an open, peer review process. Panelists and audience members will discuss how the ethnodrama evokes the teacher’s stories of teaching events she imperfectly understood and communicated.

Comments

Have discussed presenter and performance issues with Adam.

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COinS
 
Jan 15th, 6:30 PM Jan 15th, 8:30 PM

Trustworthiness and Rigor in Ethnodramatic Performance

Sales Institute Suite 3000

A major issue that confronts ethnodrama as a means of research dissemination (Saldaña, 2011; Beck, Belliveau, Lea, Wage, & 2011) is theorizing the audience’s response to the data. What happens on stage is not what happens in real life, but theatre may communicate more richly than other forms of report.

The symposium looks back to core theory in ethnographic methods (Clifford & Marcus, 1986) to look forward to new methods of conveying qualitative research. We discuss two questions

  • How might one appraise the trustworthiness and rigor of ethnodrama in relationship to the events the performance evokes?
  • How might one understand the meanings shaped by ethnodrama in relationship to common academic communication practices, such as Powerpoint lectures and journal articles?

During the first half of the session, we perform an excerpt from a revised version of a peer reviewed ethnodrama that evokes a teacher’s effort to teach a difficult and complex subject: the middle passage. The original script was constructed from verbatim transcriptions of the teacher’s interviews using inquiry theatre methods (Vanover, inpress). The original playtext interspliced the teacher’s verbatim stories with excerpts from a novel on the middle passage she taught during the unit. The current script replaces the novel with historical texts; the revised ethnodrama will be performed by a nonprofit theatre company in 2016.

The proposed TQRC session will act as an open, peer review process. Panelists and audience members will discuss how the ethnodrama evokes the teacher’s stories of teaching events she imperfectly understood and communicated.