VIDBE-Q Volume 64 Issue 4
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is conceptualized within the emotional tone of the overall poem (Piercy &
Benson, 2005). Piercy and Benson (2005) posits this form of alternate of
data representation "should engage the audience in the process of
reflection and meaning but avoid the epistemological problems of truth
claims" (p. 108).
To interpret this alternative format as a respected research
methodology, Piercy and Benson (2005) provided standards at which I
could evaluate the quality of alternative data representation, in this case the
poem. First, does the poem have a substantive contribution to research?
The poem "Momma Bear and Bootstraps" provides a different dimension to
understanding the impact and importance of informal social support that is
not always reflected in scholarly journal articles read by professionals.
Second, does the poem has aesthetic merit? This poem might not be the
best form of poetry as I am not a trained or educated literary poet, however
I did my best with organizing the words and meaning into stanzas that
flowed well, yet did not focused on rhythm or rhyming which are sometimes
traditional for poems. Third, is the author located in the text? Since the
poem is comprised of this mother's true and real spoken words transcribed,
the poem was shared with the mother whose transcript it was taken from.
She identified and corroborated these words as hers. I consider her the
