Qualitative Field Research

1
Qualitative Field Research

• Interviewing
• Focus Groups
• Ethnography
• Case Studies
• Grounded Theory
• Ethnomethodology

2
Topics for Field Research

• Attitudes and behaviors best understood in a
  natural setting.
• Social processes over time.

3
Elements of Social Life Appropriate to Field
Research

• Practices talking, reading a book
• Episodes divorce, crime, illness
• Encounters people meeting and interacting
• Role occupations, family roles
• Relationships friendships, family

4
Elements of Social Life Appropriate to Field
Research

• Groups cliques, teams, work groups
• Organizations hospitals, schools, Congress
• Settlements neighborhoods, ghettoes
• Social worlds "wall street", "the sports world
• Lifestyles/subcultures urban, homeless (Wolcott)

5
Role of the Researcher

• Complete Observer (Secret Outsider)
• Participant as Observer (Recognized Outsider)
• Observer as Participant (Marginal Participant)
• Complete Participant (Full Participant)

6
Seven Stages of Interviewing

• Thematizing
• Design
• Interviewing
• Transcribing
• Analyzing
• Verifying and checking facts
• Reporting

7
Advantages of Focus Groups

• Socially oriented research method
• Flexible
• High face validity
• Speedy results
• Low in cost
• Increases your N

8
Disadvantages of Focus Groups

• Less control than individual interviews.
• Data can be difficult to analyze.
• Moderators must be skilled.
• Difference between groups can be troublesome.
• Groups are difficult to assemble.
• Discussion must be conducted in a conducive
  environment.

9
Ethnography

• Exploring a cultural group by
• discovering
• understanding
• describing and
• interpreting a way of life from the point of view
  of its participants

10
Ethnography

• Ethnographic studies offer
• thick descriptions of cultural groups
• a methodological approach for exploring cultures,
  symbols, and norms
• an acceptance of multiple realities
• However, they often involve immersion, and all
  the problems thereof ethnographic researchers
  also need to manage their own subjectivities.

11
Guidelines - Taking Research Notes

• Dont trust your memory. Take notes while you
  observe.
• Take sketchy notes in the field and rewrite them
  later (as soon as possible), filling in the
  details.

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Guidelines - Taking Research Notes

• Record everything.
• Things that don't seem important may turn out to
  be significant.
• Realize that most of your field notes will not be
  reflected in your final project.

13
The Desire to Delve Deeper

• Delving deeper can involve exploring the
  interactions, processes, lived experiences, and
  belief systems that can be found within
  individuals, institutions, cultural groups, and
  the everyday

14
Strengths of Field Research

• Permits a great depth of understanding.
• Flexibility - research may be modified at any
  time.
• Inexpensive (relative to)
• Has more validity than surveys or experiments

15
Weaknesses of Field Research

• Qualitative and not appropriate for statistical
  descriptions of populations.
• Small sample size (greatly influenced by
  outliers)
• Has potential problems with reliability since
  field research methods are often personal.

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Working Towards Credibility

• Methods that allow researchers to delve deeper,
  often involve parameters not likely to lend
  themselves to assessment by positivist
  criteria, i.e.)
• non-random samples
• generating mainly qualitative data
• natural settings rather than controlled
• searching for holistic meaning
• managing the inherent biases of the researcher
• inductive analysis
• idiographic interpretation

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Improving Interviews

• Talk little, listen a lot (dont lead the
  witness)
• Record Accurately
• Begin Writing Early
• Let readers see for themselves primary data
• Report Fully, even contradictory stuff
• Be candid (about subjectivity)
• Seek feedback
• Write accurately

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Conducting Ethical Research

• Do as little harm as possible
• You are not in the position to assess level of
  harm.
• An agency/institution not directly connected to
  the research project or findings must assess the
  level of harm and the potential benefits.
• If harm is noticeable, then benefit must be
  greater.