Chapter 10

1. Chapter 10 Qualitative Field Research

2. Chapter Outline • Introduction • Topics Appropriate to Field Research • Special Considerations in Qualitative Field Research • Some Qualitative Field Research Paradigms

3. Chapter Outline • Conducting Qualitative Field Research • Strengths and Weaknesses or Qualitative Field Research • Research Ethics in Qualitative Field Research

4. INTRODUCTION • REMEMBER: What people say they would or do---is not always what they would actually do! (E.G., Babbie’s—public helping) • FIELD RESEARCH: Has advantage of probing social life in its natural habitat. (All Research Designs have purpose.)

5. TOPICS FOR FIELD RESEARCH • Field Research: Obtains data either by observation or interview. • FR—Provides more indepth data. • FR—Provides qualitative data. • FR—Attempts to understand (indepth) SOCIAL LIFE! • FR—No Hypotheses • FR—Comprehensive/Processual (Inductive and Deductive Dialectic)

6. FIELD RESEARCH STUDIES SOCIAL PROCESS • Study occurs in natural setting. • See things/learn things you would miss with surveys or experiments. • E.G., Charismatic Study • E.G., Black Like Me • E.G., Pat Moore’s Aging Study

7. 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

8. ELEMENTS OF SOCIAL LIFE APPROPRIATE TO FIELD RESEARCH • Groups: cliques, teams, work groups • Organizations: hospitals, schools • Settlements: neighborhoods, ghettoes • Social worlds: "wall street", "the sports world“ • Lifestyles (subcultures): urban, homeless

9. THOMPSON ON FIELD RESEARCH • Qualitative Research Designs—use systematic observation and interviews. • Focus is on the meanings and interpretations people give their social actions.

10. THOMPSON E.G., SATANISM STUDY • Kathleen Lowney spent 5 years doing ethnographic field research on a satanic adolescent subculture in Southern community • On outskirts of town (Friday night) The Coven (self-appointed name) meet for weekly rituals.

11. SATAN STUDY CONT. • Began interviewing members of the press, local law enforcement officials, & school administrators • She read popular and academic books on Satanism • She developed a list of whom she thought was involved

12. STUDY CONT. . . • She observed from a distance and later began casual conversations, followed up with interviews • Coven had 35 members—all white—all middle or upper middle class—33% female/female was leader • Analysis—members were not mentally ill. • Nor did they engage in serious criminal activity.

13. STUDY CONT. . . • Did participate in underage drinking, minor vandalism, and other violations typical kids do. • Why did they join—membership functions included challenging the status quo (cheerleaders, sports, Christian values) • Provided social clique where members got status, recognition, and social identity.

14. SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS • Roles of Observer (continuum) Participant……………………….Observer Complete…………………………...Partial • Major Concern---reactivity—the problem that subjects may react to the being studied—altering normal behavior. • Major Concern—researcher may affect group process.

15. MORE CONSIDERATIONS • Deception---sometimes you really have to do this. Why?? Only deceive subjects when you really believe that the data will be more reliable and valid. • Researcher can vary participant and observer, as well as time spent with the group.

16. RELATIONS TO SUBJECTS • Robert Bellah---symbolic realism—term indicating social researchers should treat the beliefs they study as worthy of respect. • Yet—you must be objective and avoid going too native! • Remember—where you interview can affect reponses. (E.G., Homeless example)

17. FIELD RESEARCH PARADIGMS—1) Naturalism • Naturalism—1930s, Chicago School of Sociology. We go out there and study what “really is.” • E.G., William F. Whyte—Street Corner Society—did ethnography (detailed/accurate description)—studies street gangs.

18. 2) ETHNOMETHODOLOGY • Study of social life that focuses on discovery of implicitly, unspoken assumptions/agreements. • Uses breeching experiments—to reveal their existence.

19. 3) GROUNDED THEORY • Inductive Approach—study social life to generate a theory from the observations. (3 things must do) • 1) Periodically step back and ask—What is going on here? • 2) Maintain Skepticism • 3) Follow research procedures

20. 4) CASE STUDIES • Focus on one or a few cases of some phenomenon—village, gang, family. • Extended Case Method—used to alter theories. Lay out what expect to find and compare.

21. 5) INSTITUTIONAL ETHNOGRAPHY • Dorothy Smith developed this—personal experiences of individuals are used to reveal power relationships in institutions. • Look at the personal experiences now of any oppressed group—to uncover institutional discrimination and other practices.

22. 6) PARTICIPATORY ACTION RESEARCH • The people being studied are given control over the purpose/procedures of the research. • Researcher serves as a resource—subjects define their problems, their remedies, and take the lead in the research that will help them.

23. PREPARING FOR FIELD WORK • Fill in your knowledge of the subject—with library research. • Discuss the group you plan to research with an informant. • Develop an identity with the people to be studied. • Realize that your initial contact with the group can influence your observations.

24. SEVEN STAGES OF INTERVIEWING Qualitative Interviewing—natural, easy interaction with researcher and subject. (Conversational Flow) • Thematizing—clarifying purpose • Design—laying out process (ethics) • Interviewing—actual interviews • Transcribing—hardest work ever

25. SEVEN STAGES OF INTERVIEWING cont. . . • Analyzing—determining—what is the meaning of this information? • Verifying and checking facts—check reliability and validity of material • Reporting—Tell others what you found

26. ADVANTAGES OF FOCUS GROUPS • Socially oriented research method (12-15 people) (Group Interviewing) • Flexible • High face validity • Speedy results • Low in cost

27. DISADVANTAGES OF FOCUS GROUPS • Less control than individual interviews. • Data can be difficult to analyze. • Moderators must be skilled.

28. DISADVANTAGES OF FOCUS GROUPS cont. . . • Difference between groups can be troublesome. • Groups are difficult to assemble. • Discussion must be conducted in a conducive environment.

29. GUIDELINES - TAKING RESEARCH NOTES • Don’t trust your memory. Take notes while you observe. • Take sketchy notes in the field and rewrite them later, filling in the details. • Get observations/interpretations written down.

30. GUIDELINES - TAKING RESEARCH NOTES cont. • 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.

31. STRENGTHS OF FIELD RESEARCH • Permits a great depth of understanding. • Flexibility - research may be modified at any time. • Inexpensive • Has more validity than surveys or experiments.

32. WEAKNESSES OF FIELD RESEARCH • Qualitative and not appropriate for statistical descriptions of populations. • Has potential problems with reliability since field research methods are often personal.

33. IS IT ETHICAL? • To talk to people when they don't know you will be recording their words? • To get information for your own purposes from people you hate? • To see a severe need for help and not respond to it directly?

34. IS IT ETHICAL? Cont. . . • To be in a situation but not commit yourself wholeheartedly to it? • To be strategic in your relations with others? • To take sides or avoid taking sides in a factionalized situation?

35. IS IT ETHICAL? Cont. . . • To "pay" people with tradeoffs for access to their lives and minds? • To "use" people as allies or informants in order to gain entrée to other people or to elusive understandings?