Monday, August 23, 2010
Getting the Questions Right...
A very serious weakness with any research project is that the information that gets gathered is only as good as the questions the researcher thinks to ask. I began this project assuming that Shawville’s longevity and persistence had to do with some combination of its location in the Ottawa Valley (and on the Québec / Ontario border), its economic base in agriculture, mining and logging (with cycles of employment and unemployment), and its socio-linguistic identity (predominantly Irish, Protestant and English-speaking). The questions I have asked, and the people I have spoken to, reflect this set of assumptions. Have I missed the real questions? If I asked you what holds this community together what would you tell me? If you got to have the last word what would you want me (someone with the audacity to write about your community) to know?
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I think an interesting question to ask would be along the lines of, 'how do you see your relationship with the 'outside' world?' ... and then tie that back to the original situation back in Ireland - ethnic memories, if you will. Many settlers in Clarendon originally landed in Lanark, too... does that have any bearing?
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