Experiencing Fieldwork : An Inside View of Qualitative Research

by William Shaffir

• ISBN13: 9780803936454
• ISBN10: 0803936451
• eBook ISBN(s): 9781452252674
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1990-12-01
• Publisher: Sage Publications, Inc
• More Book Details

Summary

How do you gain entry into a research setting? What tricks are there to learning the rules of the community without alienating the people you came to study? How are good relations maintained with informants? What happens after you leave the field? In Experiencing Fieldwork top ethnographers address these and other questions, bring fieldwork alive for the reader and provide invaluable advice for those entering the field.

Table of Contents

Introduction

PART ONE: GETTING IN - John Van Maanen

Playing Back the Tape

Early Days in the Field - Robert G Burgess

Sponsors, Gatekeepers, Members and Friends

Access in Educational Settings - Joan Neff Gurney

Female Researchers in Male-Dominated Settings

Implications for Short-Term Versus Long-Term Research - James T Richardson

Experiencing Research on New Religions and Cults

Practical and Ethical Considerations - William Shaffir

Managing a Convincing Self-Presentation

Some Personal Reflections on Entering the Field

PART TWO: LEARNING THE ROPES - David M Fetterman

A Walk Through the Wilderness

Learning to Find Your Way - Richard G Mitchell Jr

Secrecy and Disclosure in Fieldwork - Christine Griffin

The Researcher Talks Back

Dealing With Power Relations in Studies of Young People's Entry to the Job Market - Robert Prus

Encountering the Marketplace

Achieving Intimate Familiarity with Vendor Activity - Jaber F Gubrium

Recognizing and Analyzing Local Cultures

PART THREE: MAINTAINING RELATIONS - Peter McLaren

Field Relations and the Discourse of the Other

Collaboration in Our Own Ruin - A Donald Evans

Maintaining Relationships in a School for the Deaf - Patricia A Adler and Peter Adler

Stability and Flexibility

Maintaining Relations Within Organized and Unorganized Groups - Sherryl Kleinman

Fieldworkers' Feelings

What We Feel, Who We Are, How We Analyze - Ramona M Asher and Gary Alan Fine

Fragile Ties

Shaping Research Relationships with Women Married to Alcoholics

PART FOUR: LEAVING AND KEEPING IN TOUCH - Daniel Wolff

High Risk Methodology

Reflections on Leaving an Outlaw Society - Charles P Gallmeier

Leaving, Revisiting, and Staying in Touch

Neglected Issues in Field Research - Ilene M Kaplan

Gone Fishing, Be Back Later

Ending and Resuming Research Among Fishermen - Steven J Taylor

Leaving the Field

Research, Relationships, and Responsibilities - Robert A Stebbins

Do We Ever Leave the Field? Notes on Secondary Fieldwork Involvements