5 – Field Work

Why Should I Care?

Some of the best social science comes from field work, but many people are not convinced because it is often exploratory, or descriptive, work. 

Definitions

Field work:
Research that involves studying social phenomena as they occur in the real world, naturally, without intervention.

Anthropology: 
A social science discipline that studies the physical evolution and variety of humans, as well as the nature and variety of human cultures.

Usefulness

To record and analyze human activity as it happens in its natural setting. To fully understand someone else’s point of view by 'living' from their vantage point and sharing their daily routine.

Objects of Measurement

Type of Object	Yes	No	Maybe	Example
Personal Characteristic	X			Height
Socio-Demographic Characteristic	X			Age, language, religion
Opinion			X
Motivations	X
Ideology			X
Biases / Prejudice	X			No one here has ever played with Black dolls
Preferences	X
Personal History / Background	XX			I failed grade 6. It was hard to go through
Family Dynamics	X
Cultural History	X
Perception / Self-Perception	X
Aptitude /Ability	X
Behaviour	X			Hawthorne Effect
Level of Knowledge	X

Sampling

Populations are defined by culture, civilization, society.

Sampling is usually a small group of people, however they may represent a large percentage of the population, however there are no benchmarks for percentages. Sampling is non-random, convenient and/or purposive.

Types of Field Work

Participant

In participant field work, the researcher is in direct contact with the humans being observed and recorded. The sampled population knows it's part of a research project. The scientist will use interviews, mostly, to learn from the people they are studying. When conducting field work, researchers often leave their homes for months at a time, and need to live in the communities. Researchers, especially anthropologists, will eat their meals with the community members, work with them to learn their work and knowledge. Friendships are often formed, as researchers come back to the community every few years to update their studies and keep up on their relationships.

Non-Participant

In non-participant field work, the researcher is not in direct contact with the humans being observed. Recordings are done without a physical presence of the scientist. There are obviously ethical issues with this form of research. A common term for this methodology is Naturalistic Observation. This means to study people in their normal setting. Many researchers would consider it ethical to conduct such observation without consent IF it occurs in a public space, which people do not expect to be private. It would not be ethical to observe people in a private setting without their consent.

It is possible to conduct non-participant while obtaining the approval of the community or social group being studied. In many cases in the past, consent was not obtained.

Most universities would have to approve a research project where people were being recorded without their approval, or their prior informed consent. Many indigenous communities and nations now have specific protocol for university scientists who wish to conduct research in their communities. Consent, but also interest over the research results and their usefulness for the community are important factors of approval. In Quebec, university researchers are encouraged to use the research protocol produced by the Assembly of First Nations of Quebec and Labrador (https://achh.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Protocol_FN-Research-Protocol-in-Labrador-and-Quebec.pdf).

Video

Instruments

Interview:
typical use of personal interviews, usually informal when dealing, for example, with Indigenous Peoples.

Recordings:
lots of note-taking, audio and video recordings of surroundings, landscape, objects, architecture, etc.

NOTA - Artifacts: The field of archaeology is a big help for anthropologists trying to figure out past civilizations. It is not “Field Work”, but Unobtrusive Measurement.

Scientific Power

Exploratory:
very much so when dealing with “first contact” societies.

Descriptive:
very much so, as the method implies lots of description, understanding, figuring out of customs, ways and technologies.

Explanatory:
not in a scientific sense of establishing cause. In such an inductive approach, you can go as far as say it can be explanatory, but you cannot be 100 percent certain of predictions.

Steps

1. Identify topic, population, sample and “loose” hypothesis
2. Operational definitions: set specific definitions of each variable, in a way you can quickly identify their occurrence, and count their frequency
3. Choose location
4. Get to know the location and population sample
5. Figure out exactly where to go and when, to see what you are looking for
6. Get to know your camera, recorder, notepad, laptop, etc. Do a trial run.
7. Do the field study: collect and record data.
8. Analyze and Report.

Advantages

1. Holism get the big picture
2. Depth detail, description
3. Complexity analysis, adding variables and relationships           
4. Meaning how people understand their own lives

Disadvantages

1. Settling-in takes time and trust
2. Ethnocentrism cultural bias
3. Talk may not equate actions walking the walk, talking the talk
4. Hawthorne Effect non-participant, participant

Reporting

Social Linkages Maps

Spatial Maps

Descriptive Text

Synthesis Tables

Some journals to consult for examples of Field Work.

Revue d'études autochtones, Société Recherches amérindiennes au Québec. https://recherches-autochtones.org/site/

Anthropologica, Canadian Anthropology Society

L'Homme. Revue française d'anthropologie, Éditions de l’École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales.

American Anthropologist, American Anthropological Association

Preferred Disciplines

Anthropology, Sociology, and Geography are the best choices for students who wish to learn to conduct Field Work. These university disciplines are specialized in this method and have a long history of discussing the advantages and disadvantages of this method.

Other Non-scientific Disciplines

Applications in Journalism, Documentary Films, Sustainable Development Consulting, Mining & Forestry, Military & Diplomacy, Translation services. It is always good to use field observation to confirm ideas, or promising concepts. Walk the land, see the people. Even if most of the research is done otherwise, adding some field work will add depth and will help you avoid obvious pitfalls.

Not commonly used by for

Historians, Economists, and Political Scientists. These disciplines have their favourite methods, so if they were to do field work, they would probably team up with a colleague from anthropology, or sociology. It's always a good thing to work in teams!

References

Jhangiani, R. S., Chiang, I-C A., Cuttler, C., and Leighton, D. C. (2023). Research Methods in Psychology. KPU Pressbooks. https://kpu.pressbooks.pub/psychmethods4e/chapter/observational-research/