Publications and Research
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
5-15-2019
Abstract
Failed research can function as the underbelly of all qualitative research projects that come to fruition. These shadow projects offer invaluable insights to future research and researchers alike. In this article, I trace a failed life history of sex offenders project from its conceptualization to its abandonment, after conducting a series of searches on the online National Sex Offender Registry database. Through the use of preliminary field notes and an analysis of media representations, I examine the role of bracketing of the topic, as a by-product of the phenomenological tradition, and other methodological issues such as physical and emotional vulnerability as a lone researcher, preconceptions harbored about “challenging” populations, and how a research setting can contribute to failed research.
Comments
This article was originally published in International Journal of Qualitative Methods Volume 18: 1–10, available at doi:10.1177/1609406919842450.
The article is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial (CC-BY-NC 4.0) License.