Download Chapter 10 Qualitative Field Research

Qualitative Field Research
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Interviewing
Focus Groups
Ethnography
Case Studies
Grounded Theory
Ethnomethodology
Topics for Field Research
• Attitudes and behaviors best understood in
a natural setting.
• Social processes over time.
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
Elements of Social Life Appropriate to
Field Research
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Groups: cliques, teams, work groups
Organizations: hospitals, schools
Settlements: neighborhoods, ghettoes
Social worlds: "wall street", "the sports
world“
• Lifestyles/subcultures: urban, homeless
(Wolcott)
• Classic Example: Fenno’s Home
Role of the Researcher
• Complete Observer (Secret Outsider)
• Participant as Observer (Recognized
Outsider)
• Observer as Participant (Marginal
Participant)
• Complete Participant (Full Participant)
Seven Stages of Interviewing
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Thematizing
Design
Interviewing
Transcribing
Analyzing
Verifying and checking facts
Reporting
Advantages of Focus Groups
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Socially oriented research method
Flexible
High face validity
Speedy results
Low in cost
Disadvantages of Focus Groups
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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.
Ethnography
• Exploring a cultural group by:
– discovering
– understanding
– describing and
– interpreting a way of life from the point of view
of its participants
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.
Guidelines - Taking Research
Notes
• Don’t 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.
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.
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
Strengths of Field Research
• Permits a great depth of understanding.
• Flexibility - research may be modified at
any time.
• Inexpensive (maybe)
• Has more validity than surveys or
experiments (Wolcott?)
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.
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
Credibility Strategies
In studies that ‘delve deeper’, strategies for
achieving credibility include:
– working towards thoroughness
• i.e. saturation, crystallization, prolonged engagement,
persistent observation, broad representation and peer review
– seeking confirmation
• i.e. triangulation, fact checking, and full explication of method
Wolcott
Methodology
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What methodology does Wolcott use?
Life history approach
Ethnography
Is this appropriate?
Is this the best way to study education
and/or homeless teenagers?
Reliability and Validity
• What is reliability?
• What is validity?
• What are the issues of reliability and
validity in this study?
Validity
• The accuracy of a prediction or inference
• Soundness of all interpretations
• The degree to which scientific
observations actually measure or record
what they purport to measure.
Increasing Validity
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Talk little, listen a lot (don’t lead the witness)
Record Accurately
Begin Writing Early
Let reader’s “see” for themselves – primary data
Report Fully, even contradictory stuff
Be candid (about subjectivity)
Seek feedback
Write accurately
Ethics and Research
• What are the ethical issues in this study?
Is It Ethical?
• 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?
• To get personally involved with subjects