ISSR: CHAPTER 10 – QUALITATIVE FIELD RESEARCH
SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS IN QUALITATIVE FIELD RESEARCH
The various roles of the observer
Complete participant = a genuine participant in what they are studying or someone who pretends to
be a genuine participant.
→ the other participants wouldn’t know you’re a researcher.
→ ethical issues bla bla bla.
→ no threat of reactivity = the problem that the subjects of social research may react to the
fact of being studied, thus altering their behavior from what it would have been normally.
→ however, you may affect what you’re studying with your actions.
Qualitative field research paradigms
Naturalism = an approach to field research based on the assumption that an objective social reality
exists and can be observed and reported accurately.
→ ethnography = a report on social life that focuses on detailed and accurate description
rather than explanation.
Ethnomethodology = an approach to the study of social life that focuses on the discovery of implicit
– usually unspoken – assumptions and agreements.
→ often involves the intentional breaking of agreements as a way of revealing their existence.
Grounded theory = an inductive approach to the study of social life that attempts to generate a theory
from the constant comparing of unfolding observations.
Case study = the in-depth examination of a single instance of some social phenomenon, such as a
village, a family or a juvenile gang.
→ extended case method = a technique developed by Michael Burawoy in which case study
observations are used to discover flaws in, and then improve, existing social theories.
Institutional ethnography = a research technique in which the personal experiences of individuals
are used to reveal power relationships and other characteristics of the institutions within which they
operate.
Participatory action research (PAR) = an approach to social research in which the people being
studied are given control over the purpose and procedures of the research.
→ intended as a counter to the implicit view that researchers are superior to those they study.
Emancipatory research = research conducted for the purpose of benefiting disadvantaged groups.
CONDUCTING QUALITATIVE FIELD RESEARCH
1. Preparing the field.
→ rapport = an open and trusting relationship; especially important in qualitative research
between researchers and the people they’re observing.
2. Qualitative interview = contrasted with survey interviewing, the qualitative interview is
based on a set of topics to be discussed in depth rather than the use of standardized questions.
3. Focus group = a group of subjects interviewed together, prompting a discussion. The
technique is frequently used by market researchers, who ask a group of consumers to evaluate
a product or discuss a type of commodity.
4. Recording observations.
SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS IN QUALITATIVE FIELD RESEARCH
The various roles of the observer
Complete participant = a genuine participant in what they are studying or someone who pretends to
be a genuine participant.
→ the other participants wouldn’t know you’re a researcher.
→ ethical issues bla bla bla.
→ no threat of reactivity = the problem that the subjects of social research may react to the
fact of being studied, thus altering their behavior from what it would have been normally.
→ however, you may affect what you’re studying with your actions.
Qualitative field research paradigms
Naturalism = an approach to field research based on the assumption that an objective social reality
exists and can be observed and reported accurately.
→ ethnography = a report on social life that focuses on detailed and accurate description
rather than explanation.
Ethnomethodology = an approach to the study of social life that focuses on the discovery of implicit
– usually unspoken – assumptions and agreements.
→ often involves the intentional breaking of agreements as a way of revealing their existence.
Grounded theory = an inductive approach to the study of social life that attempts to generate a theory
from the constant comparing of unfolding observations.
Case study = the in-depth examination of a single instance of some social phenomenon, such as a
village, a family or a juvenile gang.
→ extended case method = a technique developed by Michael Burawoy in which case study
observations are used to discover flaws in, and then improve, existing social theories.
Institutional ethnography = a research technique in which the personal experiences of individuals
are used to reveal power relationships and other characteristics of the institutions within which they
operate.
Participatory action research (PAR) = an approach to social research in which the people being
studied are given control over the purpose and procedures of the research.
→ intended as a counter to the implicit view that researchers are superior to those they study.
Emancipatory research = research conducted for the purpose of benefiting disadvantaged groups.
CONDUCTING QUALITATIVE FIELD RESEARCH
1. Preparing the field.
→ rapport = an open and trusting relationship; especially important in qualitative research
between researchers and the people they’re observing.
2. Qualitative interview = contrasted with survey interviewing, the qualitative interview is
based on a set of topics to be discussed in depth rather than the use of standardized questions.
3. Focus group = a group of subjects interviewed together, prompting a discussion. The
technique is frequently used by market researchers, who ask a group of consumers to evaluate
a product or discuss a type of commodity.
4. Recording observations.
