1.
Confidentiality:
All living informants will be asked to fill out a consent form which would
indicate whether they wanted their knowledge or views to be kept
confidential. For the sake of not
plagiarizing, the ideas my living informants share with me that did not
originate with me, but in fact were their own original ideas, will be
attributed to them unless they should indicate wanting otherwise on their
consent form. Regardless of this,
however, their information will not be published in any raw format, if it is
used it will be presented as a part of my final product and only I and possibly
my mentor will have access to my field notes where I recorded their thoughts
and ideas. Because none of the
information they share will be of a confidential nature, I will not be destroying
the notes I take.
2.
Obtain
informed consent without coercion: I will inform my living informants about my
research, and ask them if they mind speaking with me about their knowledge
concerning the African American expatriates who came to France during the 1920s
and 1930s. I will also ask them about
their understanding of French Jazz, and where it came from. After informing them, and asking for verbal
consent, I will obtain written consent--a form in French giving me permission
to take informal notes on their ideas and knowledge. Furthermore, if my informant seems upset,
distressed, or frustrated by the interview, the information they hold, while
valuable, is not more valuable to me than their comfort in speaking with me
about the subject, and I will thank my informants and end the interview.
3.
Minimize
risk and maximize benefit: There are minimal risks related to the participants
of this study, as I will not require any confidential information of them, ask
them about any sensitive subjects, and am not targeting any particularly
vulnerable populations. Furthermore, I
do not expect any emotion or psychological
distress in this study. As one main
aspect of my research is to become acquainted with Paris and its areas,
however, one potential risk is my safety.
I plan to offset this risk by doing thorough and extensive research of
the parts of Paris I plan to visit to determine whether I should be accompanied
by another, should avoid the district altogether, or go at certain times of
day. There are certainly certain areas
of Paris I plan to avoid altogether, and will always visit districts in Paris with
some direction, intent or purpose to minimize risk to myself, or to others. While there are no direct benefits to
research subjects, either the deceased or the living informants, I do hope that
this study will give credence to a marginalized area of study within the field
of American Studies. Though my study can
make no large or significant difference within my field, I hope it will be a
stepping stone to an understanding I hold of the American Experience, but
particularly the American Experience abroad.
Human Subjects (IRB) approval
*Forthcoming
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