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