A question has been forming in my head for the past two quarters: When do researchers forego research projects or even research careers?
 
The meaning of a field, of a space, of a performance is determined as much by what is missing by what is present. What is missing from geography? Who is missing from geography? 

The first question is formed in the context of research ethics, rather than pragmatics. Certainly there are many topics that are practically inaccessible to the researcher. But for those opportunities that are accessible, and particularly those that have great research potential, are there situations where researchers have foregone that research for ethical reasons alone? Researchers are supposed to get their data, just as Marshals are expected to always get their suspect. Ethics often seems like the process of managing ethical situations in order to get one's research, rather than questioning the act of research itself. I imagine there are political risks, career compromises, and personal disappointments. 


For example: there is a neighborhood in Columbus that is in the process of being gentrified. This neighborhood has been the object of intense research over the past several years, to the point where some residents feel fed up with any kind of research, no matter how benevolently or radically framed. At the same time, I know a researcher who is undertaking a large research project their. It would seem to me that one ethical option would be to stop the research project altogether. It won't happen in this situation. But has it happened before? Have researchers ever decided that the act of researching was so ethically compromising that they could not in good conscience continue the project? How did they manage the fallout? What did it cost them personally?

Similarly, who has left the field of academic geography? Not everyone who earns an assistant position becomes tenured. What happens to those people? What do they do with their life elsewhere. Might there be some important stories from them which say as much about who is in academia as who is not in academia?

If you have any thoughts or leads on these questions, please post.

Follow-Up (May 17, 2010)
Perfect timing. The following is the citation of an article that was required reading for a class this week. The author describes not only the outcomes of her research, but also a few research leads that did not turn out. Very nice.

Nagar, R., & Ali, F. (2003). Collaboration Across Borders: Moving Beyond Positionality. Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography, 24(3), 356-372. doi: 10.1111/1467-9493.00164.