literary research

In a lecture I attended on 'ethical issues' in social research - our lecturer - told us about a young student - keen on dh lawrence - decided to write a dissertation on 'the influence of literature on the sexuality on women in mining villages' - or some such significant project.

His methodology consisted of - er - yes - going door to door - without any notice - or informing his tutor - in a Nottinghamshire mining village - asking miner's wives about their reading habits and sexual experience. At the fifth house he was met by a miner - who was working nights - and being a little- a lot - innocent - he told the miner exactly what he was doing.

One of the conclusions of my research paper - Hazardous Social Research Techniques - is that there is a 99% chance that a male researcher going door to door - researching the sexual experiences of women - in a working class area - will be in a good position - to research the facilities offered in a National Health Service A & E unit - or he could get lucky - but - not being able to keep his mouth shut - or the smirk off his face - he will - with a certainty of 85% - be able to research intensive care facilities - not being awake during the A&E part.

Research in the suburbs is significantly less hazardous - but can be extremely exhausting - due to the long driveways - I'm told.