Essentials of Field Relationships

by Kaler,Amy

• ISBN13: 9781598743319
• ISBN10: 1598743317
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-06-15
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Field research can consist of trekking across the globe to study peoples in exotic cultural settings. It can also mean strapping on your running shoes and observing behavior at the local market. Regardless of whether the researcher is at home" or away, the development of research relationships is paramount to the success of the research project. In this book, the authors provide guidance to researchers on developing relationships in their field research. Using a myriad of examples from projects in a wide range of settings, Kaler and Beres offer helpful hints about how to navigate the personal side of conducting research-establishing and maintaining relationships, handling ethical dilemmas, and identifying how the personal identity of researchers help shape their projects.

Author Biography

Amy Kaler is an associate professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Alberta. She has lived, worked and conducted research in southern and central Africa since 1990. Her fieldwork-based book Running After Pills: Gender, Politics and Contraception in Colonial Zimbabwe (Heinemann 2004) was nominated for the 2005 Joel Gregory Prize awarded by the Canadian African Studies Association. She is also the author of numerous qualitative and fieldwork-based articles in major journals in sociology, health, development studies and African studies.

Melanie Beres is a lecturer in the Department of Anthropology, Gender and Sociology at the University of Otago. Her research is in the area of sexuality and is concerned with how young adults negotiate their casual and long-term relationships. She has conducted field research in areas “close to home” including a small resort community in the Canadian Rockies.