What are some of the ethical issues that you are grappling with in your research? What are some of the ways in which you are responding to these questions?
Some ethical issues I am currently grappling with and working to address are related to the IRB protocol I am submitting. IRB boards are very specific and focused on ethical issues. Furthermore, as the research I do will impact my community, I hope to do justice to each person's story that they choose to share with me in interviews and trust me in relaying. Thus, I am working on improving the language of my IRB protocol and consent forms to ensure my research is as ethical as possible. I remember when I had previously done a research project, one of my professors had mentioned that it is important not to be exploitative with one's research. Furthermore, other scholars also point to this in many studies and scholarly works that I am reading as a part of the literature review I am working on. The goal of research projects should be to serve the general good and those around us, and I hope to keep myself to this standard with any research that I do, including this summer's and future endeavors. Despite the challenges that come with such questions and processing, it has been very helpful to have support from my research supervisor and graduate mentor, and I am grateful for them and their guidance.
As you continue your research, have you considered alternative viewpoints in your investigation? If so, how have these alternative viewpoints enriched or changed your project?
As I have continued my research and am approaching the interviewing stage of my project for the summer, I have been looking into different theoretical and conceptual frameworks to talk about migration, diaspora, and narrative-telling. Thus, I have looked outside of my own discipline of history and my experience with doing oral histories to other fields, such as anthropology and sociology. More specifically, I have looked into migration, segmented assimilation, and place-attachment theories. As the Laidlaw program is also inherently interdisciplinary, I have tried to adapt this lens to my own project and go beyond the historical lens to craft a project that can be holistic and truly representative of the Afghan American diaspora.