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OBSERVATION STUDIES/FIELD RESEARCH:Logic of Field Research

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Research Methods ­STA630
VU
Lesson 38
OBSERVATION STUDIES/FIELD RESEARCH
Observation studies are primarily part of qualitative research. Though qualitative and quantitative
researches differ yet they compliment each other. Qualitative research produces soft data: impressions,
words, sentences, photos, symbols. Usually it follows an interpretive approach, the goal of which is to
develop an understanding of social life and discover how people construct meanings in natural settings.
The research process follows a non-linear approach (spiral).
Quantitative research produces hard data: numbers. It follows a positivist approach to research in
which the researcher speaks the language of variables and hypotheses. There is a much emphasis on
precise measurement of variables and the testing of hypotheses. The researcher tries to establish
causality. In most of the case there is a linear approach i.e. it follows sequential steps in doing research.
Participant/Non-Participant Observation
Observation studies can be participant or non-participant. In participant observation the researcher
directly observes and participates in small scale social settings in the present time. Such a study is also
referred to as field research, ethnography, or anthropological study. Here the researchers:
·  Study people in their natural settings, or in situ.
·  Study people by directly interacting with them.
·  Gain an understanding of the social world and make theoretical statements about members'
perspective.
The people could be a group who interact with each other on regular basis in a field setting: a street
corner, a tea shop, a club, a nomad group, a village, etc.
Non-participant studies are such where the research tries to observe the behavior of people without
interacting with them. It could be observing the behavior of shoppers in a departmental store through a
mirror or on a closed circuit TV. Some body might be counting the number of vehicles crossing a
particular traffic light.
Field researchers study people in a location or setting. It has been used to study entire communities.
Field research has a distinct set of methodologies. Field researchers directly observe and interact with
community members in natural settings to get inside their perspectives. They embrace an activist or
social constructionist perspective on social life. They do not see people as a neutral medium through
which social forces operate, nor do they see social meanings as something "out there" to observe.
Instead they believe that people create and define the social world through their interactions. Human
experiences are filtered through a subjective sense of reality, which affects how people see and act on
events. Thus they replace the positivist emphasis on "objective facts" with a focus on the everyday,
face-to-face social processes of negotiation, discussion, and bargaining to construct social meaning.
Ethnography and Ethno-methodology
Two modern extensions of field research, ethnography and ethno-methodology, build on the social
constructionist perspective.
Ethnography comes from cultural anthropology. Ethno means people or a folk distinct by their culture
and graphy refers to describing something.  Thus ethnography means describing a culture and
understanding another way of life from the native point of view. It is just an understanding the culture of
people from their own perspective.
Ethno-methodology implies how people create reality and how they interpret it. Ethno-methodologists
examine ordinary social interaction in great detail to identify the rules for constructing social reality and
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Research Methods ­STA630
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common sense, how these rules are applied, and how new rules are created. They try to figure out how
certain meanings are attached to a reality.
Logic of Field Research
It is difficult to pin down a specific definition of field research because it is more of an orientation
toward research than a fixed set of techniques to apply. A field researcher uses various methods to
obtain information.  A field researcher is a `methodological pragmatist,' a resourceful, talented
individual who has ingenuity and an ability to think on his or feet while in the field.
Field research is based on naturalism, which involves observing ordinary events in natural settings, not
in contrived, invented, or researcher created settings.
A field researcher examines social meanings and grasps multiple perspectives in natural setting. He or
she gets inside the meanings system of members and goes back to an outside or research viewpoint.
Fieldwork means involvement and detachment, loyalty and betrayal, both openness and secrecy, and
most likely, love and hate. The researcher switches perspectives and sees the setting from multiple pints
of view simultaneously. Researchers maintains membership in the culture in which they were reared
(research culture) while establishing membership in the groups which they are studying.
The researcher's direct involvement in the field often has an emotional impact. Field research can be
fun and exciting, but it can also disrupt one's personal life, physical security, or mental well being.
More than other types of research, it reshapes friendship, family life, self identity, or personal values.
What Do the Field Researchers Do?
A field researcher does the following:
1. Observes ordinary events and everyday activities as they happen in natural settings, in addition
to unusual occurrences.
2. Becomes directly involved with people being studied and personally experiences the process of
daily life in the field setting.
3. Acquires an insider's point of view while maintaining the analytic perspective or distance of an
outsider.
4. Uses a variety of techniques and social skills in a flexible manner as the situation demands.
5. Produces data in the form of extensive, written notes, as well as diagrams, maps, pictures to
provide very detailed descriptions.
6. Sees events holistically (as a whole, not in pieces) and individually in their  social context.
7. Understands and develops empathy for members in a field setting, and does not just record
`cold' objective facts.
8. Notices both explicit (recognized, conscious, spoken) and tacit (less recognized, implicit,
unspoken) aspects of culture.
9. Observes ongoing social processes without upsetting, or imposing an outside point of view.
10. Copes with high levels of personal stress, uncertainty, ethical dilemmas, and ambiguity.
Steps in Field Research
Naturalism and direct involvement mean that field research is more flexible or less structured than
quantitative research. This makes it essential for a researcher to be well organized and prepared for the
field. It also means that the steps of project are not entirely predetermined but serve as an approximate
guide or road map. Here is just the listing of these steps:
1. Prepare yourself, read the literature and defocus.
2. Select a site and gain access.
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3.
Enter the field and establish social relations with members.
4.
Adopt a social role, learn the ropes, and get along with members.
5.
Watch, listen, and collect quality data. .
6.
Begin to analyze data, generate and evaluate working hypothesis.
7.
Focus on specific aspects of the setting and use theoretical sampling.
8.
Conduct field interviews with member informants.
9.
Disengage and physically leave the setting.
10.
Complete the analysis and write the report.
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Table of Contents:
  1. INTRODUCTION, DEFINITION & VALUE OF RESEARCH
  2. SCIENTIFIC METHOD OF RESEARCH & ITS SPECIAL FEATURES
  3. CLASSIFICATION OF RESEARCH:Goals of Exploratory Research
  4. THEORY AND RESEARCH:Concepts, Propositions, Role of Theory
  5. CONCEPTS:Concepts are an Abstraction of Reality, Sources of Concepts
  6. VARIABLES AND TYPES OF VARIABLES:Moderating Variables
  7. HYPOTHESIS TESTING & CHARACTERISTICS:Correlational hypotheses
  8. REVIEW OF LITERATURE:Where to find the Research Literature
  9. CONDUCTING A SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW:Write the Review
  10. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK:Make an inventory of variables
  11. PROBLEM DEFINITION AND RESEARCH PROPOSAL:Problem Definition
  12. THE RESEARCH PROCESS:Broad Problem Area, Theoretical Framework
  13. ETHICAL ISSUES IN RESEARCH:Ethical Treatment of Participants
  14. ETHICAL ISSUES IN RESEARCH (Cont):Debriefing, Rights to Privacy
  15. MEASUREMENT OF CONCEPTS:Conceptualization
  16. MEASUREMENT OF CONCEPTS (CONTINUED):Operationalization
  17. MEASUREMENT OF CONCEPTS (CONTINUED):Scales and Indexes
  18. CRITERIA FOR GOOD MEASUREMENT:Convergent Validity
  19. RESEARCH DESIGN:Purpose of the Study, Steps in Conducting a Survey
  20. SURVEY RESEARCH:CHOOSING A COMMUNICATION MEDIA
  21. INTERCEPT INTERVIEWS IN MALLS AND OTHER HIGH-TRAFFIC AREAS
  22. SELF ADMINISTERED QUESTIONNAIRES (CONTINUED):Interesting Questions
  23. TOOLS FOR DATA COLLECTION:Guidelines for Questionnaire Design
  24. PILOT TESTING OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE:Discovering errors in the instrument
  25. INTERVIEWING:The Role of the Interviewer, Terminating the Interview
  26. SAMPLE AND SAMPLING TERMINOLOGY:Saves Cost, Labor, and Time
  27. PROBABILITY AND NON-PROBABILITY SAMPLING:Convenience Sampling
  28. TYPES OF PROBABILITY SAMPLING:Systematic Random Sample
  29. DATA ANALYSIS:Information, Editing, Editing for Consistency
  30. DATA TRANSFROMATION:Indexes and Scales, Scoring and Score Index
  31. DATA PRESENTATION:Bivariate Tables, Constructing Percentage Tables
  32. THE PARTS OF THE TABLE:Reading a percentage Table
  33. EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH:The Language of Experiments
  34. EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH (Cont.):True Experimental Designs
  35. EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH (Cont.):Validity in Experiments
  36. NON-REACTIVE RESEARCH:Recording and Documentation
  37. USE OF SECONDARY DATA:Advantages, Disadvantages, Secondary Survey Data
  38. OBSERVATION STUDIES/FIELD RESEARCH:Logic of Field Research
  39. OBSERVATION STUDIES (Contd.):Ethical Dilemmas of Field research
  40. HISTORICAL COMPARATIVE RESEARCH:Similarities to Field Research
  41. HISTORICAL-COMPARATIVE RESEARCH (Contd.):Locating Evidence
  42. FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSION:The Purpose of FGD, Formal Focus Groups
  43. FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSION (Contd.):Uses of Focus Group Discussions
  44. REPORT WRITING:Conclusions and recommendations, Appended Parts
  45. REFERENCING:Book by a single author, Edited book, Doctoral Dissertation