fieldwork with people sue oreszczyn and dave scott u501 2014
TRANSCRIPT
FIELDWORK WITH PEOPLE
Sue Oreszczyn and Dave Scott
U501 2014
Purpose of the session
• Overview of some key issues in doing fieldwork
• Alert you to the kinds of questions you need to answer about doing fieldwork
• Enable you to discuss some key concerns in doing fieldwork with people
• Help you to construct your own fieldwork plan
Activity 1
5 minutes with a partner
Doing fieldwork with people – what is your biggest fear?
Before you go into the field
Obtain Ethics approval
• The work should be undertaken in accordance with the
Open University’s Code of Good Practice in Research.
• Work involving human subjects requires approval from
The Open University’s Human Research Ethics Committee.
Fill in form – information and forms found at http://www.open.ac.uk/research/ethics/index.shtml
Research questions
• What’s driving your research? What is the problem? What are you trying to explain?
• Why do you need to do fieldwork for your research?
• Are your fieldwork questions clear/precise enough to allow you to investigate your research questions through fieldwork?
Methodology and Methods
What kinds of methods are you going to use?• Surveys
• Structured interviews
• Semi-structured interviews
• Unstructured/open-ended interviews/life histories
• Focus groups
• Observation
• Participant observation
• Activities/tests/exercises/simulations
• Participatory approaches
Putting into practice what you have learned
What methodological approach underpins your fieldwork? The quest for objective facts or the social construction of facts
Activity 2
5 minutes each with a partner
• What questions are you trying to answer by doing fieldwork?
• What is your proposed methodology?
• What methods do you intend using?
What is your ‘field’?
What/who is the population of your study?– How many people?– What are the boundaries (human, social,
organisational, geographical)?– What are the key characteristics of the people you
will be gathering data from?– What kind of relationship do you want/need with
them? How will you establish it?– What other issues will you have to take into
account in designing your fieldwork?
Practical issues
• What time do you have?• What is your budget?• What equipment do you need?• What languages/codes do you need to learn?• How much do you already know about your ‘fiel
d’?• How will you project yourself?• What risks are there?
Preparation and piloting
• Designing modes of inquiry
– Questionnaire design
– Structuring interviews
– Semi-structured interviews
– Open-ended interviews
– Focus groups
– Observation
– Participant observation
– Activities/tests/exercises/simulations
• Will they work?
• Iterations and triangulation(?) in data collection
In the Field
Recording • Note-taking• Diaries• Audio-recording• Filming• Electronic records• Maps• Drawings• Diagrams• Photographs
What could go wrong?
• Missing appointments
• Equipment failure
• Being overawed by the occasion – many causes and many consequences, e.g. failure to articulate self
• Domination
• Losing data (post-interview)
• Other?
Activity 3
You have collected your data, now how will go about analysing it?
Analysing
• Quantitative analysis (constructing variables, creating data outputs etc.)
• Coding and analysing interviews (multiple methods)
• Using software (think about this before you start)• Categories, sub-categories, indicators from your
research questions• Looking at processes, trends, relationships,
patterns, commonalities, differences
Interpretation and explanation
Constructing your story
Relationship between theory and data– Using theory to frame description
and explanation– Using fieldwork data to construct
theory: emergent properties from data
Different stories/conflicting evidence– Best fit explanations
Drawing up a fieldwork plan(needed for your probation report)
Time plan -•Access to participants•Ethical approval •Additional interviews or opportunities not originally planned for•Cancellations•Feedback from supervisors•Interim reports to participants•Writing up as you go
Budget plan• translation/travel/equipment/emergencies•Return trips
Farmers' understandings of GM crops within local communities
Phase 1
What do farmers see as the pros and cons of new technologies generally and what do farmers believe about GM crops?
For farmers who were involved in the Farm Scale Evaluations, what were their experiences of growing GM crops?
Project diagram
Extended telephone interviews with 30 farmers
Thematic analysis
Cognitive maps drawn up for each interview
17 Farm visits, 23 face-to-face interviews
Themes and cognitive maps developed.
Influence maps and interviews analysed
Phase 2
Who or what are the influences on farmers concerning the introduction of new technologies to help farm business?
To what extent do farmers engage in learning from these influences?
Phase 3
What are the models for social learning amongst farmers?
What systems will better support farmers’ decisions around new technologies?
Interactive Workshop with farmers and selected organisations involved in their network, or 'community of influence'
Analysis of the Harman Fans and workshop discussions
Synthesis of the findings from each phase
Research questions Activities Outputs
Report: ‘What farmers say about new technologies and GM crops: a report on the initial telephone interviews.’
Project website
Conference paper
Report: ‘What farmers’ say about influences on their decisions about farming, new technologies and GM crops: a report on the farm visits.’
2 Conference papers
Report: ‘New technologies and scientific developments: exploring better ways to support farmers decisions.’
Executive summary for the project
1 further conference paper and a journal paper(further 3 journal papers being drafted)
End of award report to the ESRC