Aware of the invasive aspects of emancipatory research methods, the author constructed a classroom experience to expose her own use of power when conducting such projects. Her student participants had varied responses to a power definition/perception experiment: trapped, captured, and willing. (27 references) (MLH)

An emancipatory researcher morally committed to reciprocity, or sharing results with study participants, felt extremely uncomfortable when disclosing findings about power definitions to one friend and participant. Clearly, this participant felt betrayed, not emancipated, when findings were applied to her own situation. The researcher learned a…