Method I 98
4.2.2 Collection and processing of data
The main issues in the phase of data collection within a naturalistic
paradigm are the authenticity and representativeness of data. These are
functions of a good number of variables connected with the role of the
observer in the study, like unobtrusiveness, the problem of selective
inattention and the so-called 'overload' (Spradley,1980).
If the main advantage of the naturalistic method consists in using
spontaneous and not artificially elicited and produced talk as data, how
can the researcher ensure the spontaneity of talk? A great deal of
Ingenuity has been used to avoid the 'observer paradox' in observational
research. In the collection of the data used in the present study, the
usual precautions were taken (Hughes et al., 1979) like Iettlng the chil-
dren familiarize themselves with the equipment and the members of the
research team, not using the recordings of the first day the children
wore the clothes with the microphone, making children wear clothes with
dummy microphones etc.
In our particular case, the presence of the research team obviously
influenced the life of a rural village where novelties are rare, and 'town
people', some not even Africans, are seldom seen to share the joys and
inconveniences of a frugal, mostly outdoor life. So, there was great
curiosity in everybody's eyes and particularly in the children's. Some
recorded conversations are about or refer to the investigators and the
equipment; the fact that children talked freely about it, and the sharp
comments on the investigators, however, show that the equipment did not
inhibit the children much.
Adults were more aware, and this is reflected in some conversations where
adults clearly made the children talk. These parts were not transcribed
or included in the analysis. This was an arbitrary decision, based on the
investigators' categories of what 'display talk' means. In fact, these
talk events may be useful in order to investigate the parents'
conceptions of what constitutes 'proper talk', or their interpretations of
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