Coming in from the margin: research practices, representation and the ordinary

• Published in: Qualitative report Vol. 15; no. 5; pp. 1191 - 1208
• Main Author: Greiner, Karen P
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Fort Lauderdale Nova Southeastern University, Inc 01.09.2010; The Qualitative Report; Nova Southeastern University
• Subjects: Acquired immune deficiency syndrome; AIDS; Analysis; Appalachia; Biographies; Cancer; Cancer survivors; Context Effect; Disadvantaged; Divorce; Essays; Experience; Family Violence; Females; Geographic Location; HIV; Holistic Approach; Human immunodeficiency virus; Humor; Interviews; Life course theory; Life History; Marginality; Mountain whites (Southern States); Power Structure; Qualitative Research; R&D; Research & development; Sampling; Social aspects; Social Bias; Stereotypes; Women; United States
• ISSN: 1052-0147; 2160-3715

This essay explores issues of marginality and representation in research, which emerged during life history interviews with Tammi, an "ordinary" woman living in Appalachia. I examine how my research practices, namely my thirst for drama and marginality, nearly silenced the preferred stories of the woman who shared her life with me. I contrast Tammi's unique yet quotidian accounts with streams of literature reflecting a tendency to neglect the commonplace by representing residents of Appalachia through tragic or heroic extremes. This essay pairs Tammi's stories with a reflection on what may have become of them had I followed my first impulse to sacrifice the ordinary at the altar of the marginal. Key Words: Representation, Marginality, Life History, and Appalachia