CH 10 Flashcards
field research is usually what?
qualitative: it generates data in language/narrative form rather than quantitive form
qualitative field research closely parallels what?
our own daily observations/ participation in social life
qualitative field research requires what?
skills and techniques that make observations of social life systematic and deliberate
qualitative field research is useful in collecting what?
data and generating theory
what is a chief advantage of qualitative field work?
it provides rich descriptions of social life, made in the natural settings in which life is lived.
super useful when examining how social processes play over time
what are some social phenomenons that can be studied qualitatively
- practices
- episodes
- encounters
- roles
- social and personal relationships
- groups and cliques
- organizations
- settlements/habitats
- subcultures/ lifestyles
what are the 2 ways that a field researchers role varies with regard to level of participation
- complete participant role: the people being observed do not know the researchers identity and purpose
(behaves in a manner consistent with the group) -afraid behaviors might change if they know he is a researcher - complete observer tole: the researcher studies the social situation without becoming part of it (his role as researcher known to the public)
- field researcher are caught in a dilemma between taking on the beliefs of the people being studied and objectivity
field research paradigms are varied and include…
- naturalism:
- ethnography:
- ethnomethodology:
- grounded theory
- case study approach
- institutional ethnography
field research paradigms are varied and include…
1. naturalism
- naturalism: positivist view real social reality out there ready to be observed
field research paradigms are varied and include…
2. ethnography
- ethnography: naturalism that focuses on cultural descriptions
field research paradigms are varied and include…
3. ethnomethodology
- ethnomethodology: phenomenological approach assumes reality is a social construct and job of researcher to understand how we make sense of our world
field research paradigms are varied and include…
4. grounded theory
- combines positivism and naturalism in an attempt to develop theory
field research paradigms are varied and include…
5. case study
- focuses on a single case from either an ideographic or nomothetic perspective
field research paradigms are varied and include…
6. institutional ethnography
- look at social lives of the oppressed
what are the seven steps of qualitative interviewing?
- thematizing
- designing
- interviewing
- transcribing
- analyzing
- verifying
- reporting
field notes should include what 2 things?
- empirical observations
2. interpretations
what are some examples of ethical questions that field researchers face?
- should permission of people being studied be obtained?
- what role should be adopted? (complete participant role or complete observer role)
what is the chief advantage of field research?
its high validity.
-also it is naturalistic- carried out in a natural setting and flexible in how it allows the researcher to move form observation to analysis and inexpensive
what is a chef disadvantage of field research?
low reliability. (a different field researcher might come to different conclusions. it cannot be used to describe the social life of large populations
