CHAPTER 10,
QUALITATIVE FIELD
RESEARCH
Fall 2012
Chapter Outline
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Topics Appropriate to Field Research
Special Consideration in Qualitative Field
Research
Some Qualitative Field Research Paradigms
Conducting Qualitative Field Research
Strengths and Weaknesses of Qualitative
Field Research
Ethics and Qualitative Field Research
Quick Quiz
Qualitative Field Research
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Topics Appropriate for Field
Research
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Topics that defy simply quantification
Attitudes and behaviors best understood
in their natural setting
Social processes over time
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Elements of Social Life Appropriate to Field
Research
Practices
 Episodes
 Encounters
 Roles and Social Types
 Social and Personal Relationships
 Groups and Cliques
 Organizations
 Settlements and Habitats
 Social Worlds
 Subcultures and Lifestyles

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Special Considerations in
Qualitative Field Research
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Roles of the Observer
 Participant,
Researcher, Observer
 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.
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Relations to Subjects
 Objectivity
 Alien
/ Martian
 Reflexivity – the sense of things acting on
themselves
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Some Qualitative Field
Research Paradigms
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Naturalism
Ethnomethodology
Grounded Theory
Case Studies
Institutional Ethnography
Participatory Action Research
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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.
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Ethnomethodology – An approach to
the study of social life that focuses on
the discovery of implicit, usually
unspoken assumptions and agreement.
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Grounded Theory – an inductive approach
to the study of social life that attempts to
generate a theory from the constant
comparing of unfolding observations.
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Guidelines:
Think comparatively – compare numerous incidents
to avoid biases
 Obtain multiple viewpoints – of those under study
 Periodically step back – to evaluate clearly
 Maintain an attitude of skepticism
 Follow the research procedures – “making
comparisons, asking questions, and sampling”

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Case Studies – The in-depth
examination of a single instance of some
social phenomenon.
Extended Case Method – A technique
in which case study observations are
used to discover flaws in and to improve
existing social theories.
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Institutional Ethnography – A
research technique in which the personal
experiences of individuals are used to
reveal power relationships and other
characteristics of the institution within
which they operate.
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Participatory Action Research – 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 view that
researchers are superior to those they study
 Emancipatory Research – Research
conducted for the purpose of benefiting
disadvantaged groups.
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Conducting Qualitative Field
Research
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Preparing for the Field
 Be
familiar with relevant research
 Discuss your plans with others in the area
 Identify and meet informants (when
appropriate)
 First
impressions are important
 Establish rapport (an open and trusting
relationship)
 Ethical
considerations
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Qualitative Interview – Contrasted
with survey interviewing, the qualitative
interview is based on a set of topics to
be discussed in depth rather than based
on the use of standardized questions.
 “Miner”
who digs for the truth or “Traveler”
who wanders around asking questions
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Stages in Complete Interviewing Process
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Thematizing – clarifying the subjects to be studied
or explored
Designing – laying out the process through which
you’ll accomplish your purpose
Interviewing – doing the actual interviews
Transcribing – written text of interviews
Analyzing – determining the meaning
Verifying – checking the reliability and validity of
the materials
Reporting – telling others what you’ve learned
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Focus Group – A group of subjects
interviewed together, prompting a
discussion.
 Advantages:
real-life data, flexible, high
degree of face validity, fast, inexpensive
 Disadvantages: not representative, little
interviewer control, difficult analysis,
interviewer/moderator skills, difficult
logistically
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Recording Observations
 Take
detailed notes, but balance with
observations
 Rewrite notes with observations soon after
observations with filled in details
 Record empirical observations and
interpretations
 Record everything
 Anticipate observations
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Strengths and Weaknesses of
Qualitative Field Research
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Strengths of Qualitative Field Research
 Effective
for studying subtle nuances in
attitudes and behaviors and social
processes over time
 Flexibility
 Inexpensive
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Weaknesses of Qualitative Field
Research
 No
appropriate statistical analyses
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Validity
 Greater
validity than survey and
experimental measurements
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Reliability
 Potential
problems with reliability
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Quick Quiz
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1. When you use field research, you’re
confronted with:
A. decisions about the role you’ll play as an
observer
B. your relationship with the people you
are observing
C. both of the above choices
D. neither of the above choices
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Answer: C.
When you use field research, you’re
confronted with decisions about the role
you’ll play as an observer and your
relationship with the people you are
observing.
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2. _____ is an old tradition in qualitative
research based on the assumption that an
objective social reality exists and can be
observed and reported accurately.
A. Naturalism
B. Ethnography
C. Ethnomethodology
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Answer: A.
Naturalism is an old tradition in qualitative
research based on the assumption that an
objective social reality exists and can be
observed and reported accurately.
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3. _____ describes when the subject of
social research may react to the fact of
being studied, thus altering their behavior
from what it would have been normally.
A. Reactivity
B. Sensitivity
C. Hyperactivity
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ANSWER: A.
Reactivity describes when the subject of
social research may react to the fact of
being studied, thus altering their behavior
from what it would have been normally.
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4. In a _____, typically 12-15 people are
brought together to engage in a guided
discussion on some topic.
A. classroom
B. focus group
C. micro study
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ANSWER: B.
In a focus group, typically 12-15 people
are brought together to engage in a
guided discussion on some topic.
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5. In comparison to surveys and
experiments, field research has:
A. high validity and high reliability.
B. high validity and low reliability.
C. low validity and high reliability.
D. low validity and low reliability.
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ANSWER: B.
In comparison to surveys and
experiments, field research has high
validity and low reliability.
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