Field Research Group
Project
Choose a social group to which you do not belong (gender, age, racial, ethnic, religious, campus group, etc.) and which you will be able to observe in PUBLIC PLACES without endangering your own safety. This means that the group’s activities should not be based on illegal or criminal activities and that everyone should have (potential) access to these observations and not only, for example, the members of the social group.
Every other week, starting after September 6, you will observe the group of your choice for AT LEAST one hour per week without manipulating or intruding on the events. If the group is relatively small and consists of steady members (e.g., a religious group), you should approach the group leader and ask for permission to observe the group for a limited time. Observations should be written down in as much detail as possible but make sure that all participants and observed places remain anonymous. All conversations should be quoted verbatim. DO NOT USE INDIRECT SPEECH! ALWAYS USE DIRECT SPEECH!
The fieldnotes of one hour of observation should be AT LEAST 8 full pages long (typed and double-spaced; insert page numbers!), i.e. each page should have AT LEAST 24 lines (Times New Roman, 11 font). In addition, you should write an analysis of your observations at the end of each set of fieldnotes (notes on notes). The analysis should be AT LEAST one full page long, i.e., AT LEAST 24 lines (Times New Roman, 11 font), and contain your ideas, hypotheses, assumptions, impressions, etc.
Groups of 3 students will work together on this project. Each group will first write a STATEMENT OF INTENT. That is, your group needs to decide (1) which social group you want to study, (2) what your overall research topic will be, and (3) where you will observe this group (description of public places). Either compare subgroups of your chosen social group or different settings. For example, if you want to study ethnic groups, half of your group may observe Hispanics and the other half Asians. Or if you want to study homeless people, you might want to observe them on the street in the morning and in the evening, in the soup kitchen, around homeless shelters, etc. A comparison of subgroups and different settings will emphasize the similarities and differences between the subgroups and settings and, therefore, facilitate the analysis of the fieldnotes. The statements (typed and double-spaced) are due on Wednesday, September 5, at noon at the latest (place the statements in my mailbox). I will comment on the statements and might make further suggestions.
Between September 7 and September 12, you will write your first set of FIELDNOTES and ANALYSIS, which will be due on Wednesday, September 12, at noon (again, place the notes and analysis in my mailbox). I will review the fieldnotes and the analysis and return them to you with my comments.
Between September 14 and September 20, you will write your second set of FIELDNOTES and ANALYSIS, which will be due on Thursday, September 20 at 3 p.m. This time you will EXCHANGE a copy of your fieldnotes with a fellow student in your group but KEEP the analysis (and the original fieldnotes).
Between September 20 and September 26, you will write a CRITIQUE of the fieldnotes of your fellow group member. You should write your comments directly on the fieldnotes AND on a separate page (with your and the other student’s name on it; i.e., “X’s Critique of Y’s Fieldnotes” as heading), which systematically lists your points of critique. Write down what was unclear to you, what information appeared to be missing, conversations that were summarized rather than quoted, etc. Write also about the things you liked in the fieldnotes. In addition, you will write an ANALYSIS of the fieldnotes (starting with the heading “X’s Analysis of Y’s Fieldnotes”). Both your CRITIQUE and ANALYSIS of the other student’s fieldnotes should be AT LEAST one full page long each (i.e., AT LEAST 24 lines each, Times New Roman, 11 font). Your critique and analysis are due on Wednesday, September 26, at noon (place the critique, analysis, and the other student’s fieldnotes in my mailbox; keep a copy of the critique and analysis).
You are not required to rewrite the notes for the final paper. But since the quality of the analysis depends on the quality of the fieldnotes, I encourage you to be as explicit as possible in your fieldnotes. The purpose of the comments is to help you to improve the quality of your fieldnotes.
Also between
September 20
and September 26, each group will complete the
Between September 21 and October 4, you will have time to write your third set of FIELD-NOTES and ANALYSIS which will be due on Thursday, Oct. 4, at 3 p.m. You will EXCHANGE a copy of the fieldnotes with the second student in your group but KEEP the analysis (and the original fieldnotes).
Between October 4 and October 11, you will write a CRITIQUE of the fieldnotes of the second student in your group and an ANALYSIS of his or her fieldnotes. On Thursday, October 11, at 3 p.m., you will EXCHANGE the critique and analysis with this student (keep a copy of the critique and analysis).
Between October 12 and October 25, you will conduct, record, and transcribe two 30-minute INTERVIEWS with two members of your chosen social group. In addition, you will write NOTES surrounding each interview and an ANALYSIS of each interview. Your two INTERVIEW NOTES and the ANALYSIS of the two interviews should be AT LEAST one full page long each (i.e., AT LEAST 24 lines each, Times New Roman, 11 font). The following are guidelines for writing INTERVIEW NOTES.
1. Write down the date and time of the interview, length of interview, and location of interview.
2. Describe the environment.
3. Describe the respondent in detail, i.e., age, gender, race, physical appearance, clothes, etc.
4. Make sure that all participants remain anonymous, i.e., use only pseudonyms as names.
5. Give your impression of the participant – (mental alertness, physical demeanor, etc.)
6. Describe events that seem noteworthy during the interview in chronological order (e.g., visits from other persons, interruptions, etc.)
7. Include any information that you think might be noteworthy.
On Thursday, October 25, at 3 p.m., you will EXCHANGE a copy of the first interview with the first student in your group and a copy of the second interview with the second student in your group. KEEP the analyses, the interview notes, and the original interviews.
Between October 25 and November 1, you will write an ANALYSIS for each of the two interviews. Again, your ANALYSIS of the two interviews should be AT LEAST one full page long each (i.e., AT LEAST 24 lines each, Times New Roman, 11 font). On Thursday, November 1, at 3 p.m., you will EXCHANGE the analyses with the other students in your group (keep a copy of the analyses).
Please refer to the summary table below for the time table and due dates.
REMEMBER: Write down your name on EVERYTHING you write! TYPE and DOUBLE-SPACE everything you write!
As a group, decide on a topic and several subtopics for your overall analysis of the fieldnotes and interviews. Do a literature review of your chosen research topic(s), start to re-analyze the data, go back to the literature, re-analyze your data, and so on, until a coherent picture (a theoretical model) emerges. At the end of the data collection phase, exchange the fieldnotes and interviews until all members of the group have read ALL the fieldnotes and interviews. You may either analyze the fieldnotes as a group, in pairs, or individually. However, it is important that the complete group arrives at a coherent model at the end of the research. Remember: evidence that does not fit into the model cannot be discarded. Rather, the model has to be changed until all the data fit into the model.
The final term paper will consist of an academic literature review and the overall analysis of ALL fieldnotes and interviews with regard to your group’s chosen research topic. It should be 20-25 pages long (it can be longer if necessary), excluding references and the appendix. Every member of the group should examine at least five different academic references (academic books or journal articles – not web sites), which should be included in the paper for a total of at least 5 x group size references. The paper is due on Thursday, November 29, at 3 p.m. together with ALL sets of fieldnotes, interview notes, interviews, analyses (of your own and other students’ fieldnotes and interviews), and critiques of fieldnotes as the appendix sorted by the work of each student. The appendix will be graded individually for each student. For each accomplished task (i.e., fieldnotes, interview notes, interviews, analysis of own fieldnotes and interviews, critique of other student’s fieldnotes, and analysis of other student’s fieldnotes and interviews) you will earn points for your final grade for a total of 46% of your final grade (see below).
Instructions for submitting the term paper: Place the term paper in an envelope or folder with the group’s research topic and all the students’ names on it. Place each appendix in a separate envelope or folder with the student’s name on it. Get a large rubber band or a string and submit the term paper together with ALL individual appendices as one package.
I will grade the term paper according to the following criteria:
Form
-
Is the paper
typed and double-spaced?
(Exception: lengthy quotes should be single-spaced and indented on both
sides.)
-
Is there a
title page that includes the
title, your name, and the course title?
-
Is the paper
organized in a logical way
(i.e. introduction, method, results, and conclusion)?
-
Were headings
and subheadings used?
-
Does the
paper have 1-inch margins on the
left, top, and bottom of the page and a 1.5-inch margin on the right
side of
the page?
-
Is the font
size either 11 or 12?
-
Except for
the title page, are all pages
numbered?
-
Does the
paper contain any grammar and
spelling errors?
Content
1.
Introduction
-
Describe your
research topic.
-
Explain why
it is important to
investigate this particular research topic.
-
Include a
brief literature review and
explain how your paper fits into previous theoretical or empirical
research or
goes beyond prior work in that area.
- Give an overview of your paper.
2. Method
-
Procedure:
Describe exactly what you did
to get your “data” (fieldnotes).
-
Setting:
Describe the setting(s) and the
people you observed.
-
Sample:
Describe the interview
respondents.
-
Analysis:
Describe what you did to
analyze the data.
3. Results
-
Describe your
findings in detail. Give
evidence from your fieldnotes/interviews to illustrate your points. Be
explicit! Quote from your fieldnotes/interviews.
-
Were you
surprised by any of your
findings? If yes, why? What did you discover that was different from
you
initial assumptions and preconceptions. Which findings confirmed your
initial
assumptions and preconceptions? It is possible that the analysis of one
set of
fieldnotes/interviews is not applicable to another set of
fieldnotes/interviews. In this case you should try to find the reasons
for the
discrepancies.
4. Conclusion
-
Present a
short summary of your major
findings and insights.
-
How do those
findings relate to past
research? Do they confirm or contradict prior research?
-
Make
suggestions for further research
based on your findings and, if appropriate, recommendations for social
policy
and practice.
5. References
-
List all the
articles and/or books that
are cited in the paper, using APA or ASA format (a minimum of five
academic
references per group member – web sites do not count).
Oral presentations of the research findings will be held on November 29. Students in each group will be assigned a specific time for their oral presentations, according to their research topic. ALL group members must participate in the presentation of their research findings.
If you encounter any problems pertaining to this field research project (choosing a topic, writing the fieldnotes, analyzing the fieldnotes, writing the critique, conducting the interviews, working together as a group, etc.) come and talk to me.
Summary for Group Field Research Project
|
Time Table |
Task |
Due Date |
Required Action |
% of Final Grade |
|
08/30-09/05 |
Write statement of intent.* |
W, 09/05, at noon |
Place in my mailbox. |
1% statement |
|
09/07-09/12 |
Write 1st set of fieldnotes and analysis. |
W, 09/12, at noon |
Place in my mailbox. |
4% fieldnotes 2% analysis |
|
09/14-09/20 |
Write 2nd set of fieldnotes and analysis. |
Th, 09/20, at 3 p.m. |
Exchange fieldnotes with 1st fellow group member; keep analysis and a copy of your fieldnotes. |
4% fieldnotes 2% analysis |
|
09/20-09/26 |
Critique AND analyze fieldnotes of fellow group member. |
W, 09/26, at noon |
Place fieldnotes with your critique and the analysis of the fieldnotes in my mailbox; keep a copy of the critique and analysis. |
2% critique 2% analysis of other student’s fieldnotes |
|
09/20-09/26 |
Complete IRB form and write informed consent form, demographic questions, and the interview guide.* |
W, 09/26, at noon (earlier if possible) |
Place completed IRB form, informed consent form, demographic questions, and the interview guide in my mailbox; keep a copy. |
3% IRB |
|
09/21-10/04 |
Write 3rd set of fieldnotes and analysis. |
Th, 10/04, at 3 p.m. |
Exchange fieldnotes with 2nd fellow group member; keep analysis and a copy of your fieldnotes. |
4% fieldnotes 2% analysis |
|
10/04-10/11 |
Critique AND analyze fieldnotes of fellow group member. |
Th, 10/11, at 3 p.m. |
Exchange critique and analysis of fieldnotes with 2nd fellow group member; keep a copy of the critique and analysis. |
2% critique 2% analysis of other student’s fieldnotes |
|
10/12-10/25 |
Conduct, record, and transcribe two 30-minute interviews; write separate interview notes and analyses for both interviews. |
Th, 10/25, at 3 p.m. |
Exchange 1st interview with 1st fellow group member and 2nd interview with 2nd group member; keep interview notes, analyses, and a copy of interviews. |
8% interviews 4% interview notes 4% analyses |
|
10/25-11/01 |
Analyze interviews of fellow group members. |
Th, 11/01, at 3 p.m. |
Exchange analyses of interviews with fellow group members; keep a copy of the analyses. |
4% analyses of other student’s interviews |
|
11/01-11/29 |
Finish writing of term paper.* |
Th, 11/29, at 3 p.m. |
Submit term paper. |
30% group paper |
|
11/29 |
Group presentations. |
Th, 11/29, at 3 p.m. |
Present research findings. |
10% group presentation |
* One submission per group
Recommended
Writing the term paper : Maimon, Peritz and Yancey; Bernard, pp. 87-92; Emerson, pp. 306-315
Oral presentation : Maimon, Peritz and Yancey: pp. 158-163