Observing People in Natural Setting Chapter 10

What is Field Research? Field research produces qualitative data. Field researchers directly observe and participate in a natural social setting. There are several kinds of field research: –ethnography –participant-observation research –informal “depth” interviews –focus groups

What is Field Research? Ethnography = A detailed description of insider meanings and cultural knowledge of living cultures in natural settings.

Studying People in the Field Naturalism = The principle that we learn best by observing ordinary events in a natural setting, not in a unnatural, invented, or researcher-created setting 1.Preparing for a Field Study 1.Increasing Self Awareness 2.Conducting Background Investigation 3.Practice observing and writing

Studying People in the Field 2.Starting the Research Project –Getting Organized. –Selecting a Field Site Field Site = Any location or set of locations in which field research takes place. It usually has on-going social interaction and a shared culture. Containment Richness Unfamiliarity Suitability

Studying People in the Field 2.Starting the Research Project –Gaining Access Gatekeeper = Someone with the formal or informal authority to control access to a field site. –Entering the Field Presentation of self Disclosure Social Roles

Studying People in the Field 3.Being in the Field 1.Learning the Ropes. 2.Normalizing Social Research Normalize = How a field researcher helps field site members redefine social research from unknown and potentially threatening to something normal, comfortable and familiar. 3.Building Rapport and Trust. 4.Negotiating continuously 5.Deciding a degree of Involvement

Studying People in the Field 4.Strategies for Success in the Field –Building relationships –Performing small favors –Appearing interested and exercising selective inattention Appearance of interest = A micro strategy to build or maintain relationships in which a researcher acts interested even when he or she is actually bored and uninterested.

Studying People in the Field 4.Strategies for Success in the Field –Being an earnest novice –Avoiding Conflicts –Adopting an Attitude of Strangeness Attitude of Strangeness = A perspective in which the field researcher questions and notices ordinary details by looking at the ordinary through the eyes of a stranger.

Studying People in the Field 5.Observing and Collecting Data –The Researcher is a Data Collection Instrument –What to Observe Physical appearance People and their behavior –People’s actions –The context in which events occur –Exactly what people say –When “Nothing” Happens.

Studying People in the Field 5.Observing and Collecting Data –Sampling observations from all possible times, locations, people, situations, types of events, or contexts of interest. sample three types of field site events: routine, special, and unanticipated.  Routine  Special  Unanticipated

Studying People in the Field 5.Observing and Collecting Data –Becoming a Skillful Note-Taker Types of Notes  Jotted notes = Optional very short notes of a few words written very inconspicuously in the field site that are only to trigger memory later.  Supplements  How to take notes  Maps and diagrams Recordings to Supplement Memory.

Studying People in the Field 6.Interviewing in Field Research –Types of Questions in Field Interviews Descriptive Questions Structural Questions Contrast Questions –Informant = A member in a field site with whom a researcher develops a relationship, and who tells the researcher many details about life in the field state.

Studying People in the Field 7.Leaving the Field –exiting can be disruptive or emotionally painful –depends on specifics of the field setting and relationships developed 8.Writing the Field Research Report –start to think about what will appear in a report while still gathering data –book-length or long descriptive articles

Ethics and the Field Researcher Privacy is the most common ethical issue. Confidentiality must be maintained. Personal risk potential.

Focus Groups Focus Group = A qualitative research technique that involves informal group interviews about a topic. –Advantages –Limitations

–Advantages: fast, easy to do, and inexpensive natural setting helps to increase external validity provides new insights and ideas for questions and answer categories gives a window into how people naturally discuss topics allows participants to query one another and explain their answers to each others encourages open expression among members of marginalized social groups helps people feel empowered by a group setting Focus Groups

–Limitations cannot generalize discussion outcomes to large, diverse population creates group “polarization effect” limited to discussing one or a few topics per session moderator may unknowingly limit full, open, and free expression participants tend to produce fewer ideas than in individual interviews large quantity of results can be difficult to analyze rarely report all details of study design/procedure difficult to reconcile differences between responses given by individual-only interview and those from a focus group Focus Groups