As I was writing my IRB (and I had the privilege to write another one for another class)and I was writing the one for my Field Study, I was thinking a lot about the ethics behind it. I was especially thinking about how we have to be so careful and keep everything so secure and make sure that no one is harmed or abused; what was interesting though was that in the IRB proposal, there was also a section asking for the significance of the study and how this would potentially benefit society.
I often think of this study as something great for my life and about me and how much I will grow and learn, and how I get to tell people how I went to the wonderful country of India, etc. I mean, being a Geography major and having studied different cultures and people, I also am greatly looking forward to the people I will meet and form relationships with. However, until the IRB, I never thought about how I would actually impact society and about the true significance of my project.
I thought about the many others who are doing this with me, and how their projects are just as significant and how they will also contribute to society. I think that this Field Study and all that it entails, has a lot more to do with the wonderful people and the societies that they live in, than myself and my own successes. The relationships I will build with others, those who will share their amazing knowledge with me, those who will teach me things about life that I had never known before, all of those things, that I will eventually be able to give back- those are things that truly matter and that will ultimately be the underlining purpose of the study. Obviously, what I learn and what I share will be a little different because I will interpret it through my point of view, and also how careful I am with the information that I will gain, will play a significant role in the overall success of my field study.
I am glad that the IRB, though very hard to get through, helped me see a little bit of what's really important.
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