week 11: 11/26/12field-based research

cont.

all researchers must:•address the “double inference” fallacy

– example: (pre-test/post-test experimental design with treatment)•group A receives training X; group B receives training Y.

•A scores statistically significantly higher on measure of social skills than B

•conclusion: kids receiving training X develop better social skills than children receiving training Y

all researchers must (cont.)

•manage time. time is finite—start with time and then fit tasks to time•pace themselves—life-long journey not a sprint

– stop early enough to prepare for tomorrow

•do the final 5%—finish the job

increasing validity in field-based research (Wolcott, 1990)

• talk little; listen a lot (field work)• record accurately (field work)• begin writing early (field work and writing)• let readers see for themselves (writing)• report fully (writing)• be candid (field work and writing)• seek feedback (analysis)• achieve balance (field work, writing,

analysis)• write accurately (internal validity) (writing)

coding1.construct a data record from fieldwork

recordings and materials2.from often huge data records construct

a manageable set of factors– top-down codes: from the literature

(etic)– bottom-up codes: codes one

constructs from the data record (emic)

Erickson cont.• field-based research based in

anthropology and sociology– human action patterned—anthro, by

culture; sociology, by social laws.• challenge: people seek patterns, and

will see patterns where none exist• the biggest challenge to doing good

research is willingness and ability to fool oneself—remain skeptical about claims

data collection• critical of “romantic” notion; for a

“process as deliberative as possible” (p. 140)

• central issue of method: – bring research questions and data

collection into a consistent, albeit an evolving, relationship.

– asking explicit questions and seeking relevant data deliberately enable and empower research intuition, rather than stifle it. (p. 140)

5 major types of evidentiary inadequacy

• inadequate amounts of evidence• inadequate variety of kinds of

evidence• faulty interpretive status of evidence• inadequate disconfirming evidence• inadequate discrepant case analysis

(pp. 140-141)

ethics and entrance• risk greatest between members of

different interest groups in local setting • reports to general scientific audience

usually do not expose people to risk• consider reporting in local setting in

negotiating access to information about individuals in the setting. (p. 141)

• negotiation of entry a complex process (p. 142)

collaborative relationships with informants

• tendency of informants to assume researcher’s purpose is evaluative

• memorize statement about purposes, procedures, and steps taken to maximize confidentiality and minimize risk

• never comment to other team members about anything observed in the site while on the site (p. 142)

data collection as inquiry• identifying full range of variation in

formal and informal social organization and meaning-perspectives

• collecting recurrent instances of events across wide range of events—establish typicality or atypicality

• looking at events at any system level in context of events occurring at next higher or lower system levels (p. 143)

• determining the full range of variation– begin comprehensively – later move in successive stages to

more restricted observational focus

• informants usually not fully aware of the full range and depth of culturally learned and taken-for-granted assumptions of social relations etc. in everyday life (p. 143)

boundedly rational problem solving• fundamental principle:

– reflection & write-up takes at least as long as observing; must be completed before returning to the field

• bias: decisions– about where and when to observe– about foci of attention while observing– premature typication: conduct

deliberate searches for disconfirming evidence (pp. 143-144)

reporting• empirical assertions• analytic narrative vignettes• quotations from fieldnotes• quotations from interviews• maps, tables, figures etc• interpretive commentary—particular • interpretive commentary—general • theoretical discussion• natural history of inquiry in study (p.

145)

validity• the best case for validity: assertions

that account for patterns found across both frequent and rare events

data record• materials collected in field not data

themselves, but resources for data. • from materials, data must be

constructed through some formal means of analysis (p. 149)

audiences1. general scientific community2. policy makers3. general community of practitioners4. members of local community studied

(p. 153)

known unknown

positively (or neutrally) 1 3regarded

negatively 2 4regarded

– reporting to local audiences a process of teaching the findings

changing one’s mind (Walsh et al.)• do you believe this report? why?• what about generalizability?• what do you learn about teaching from

reading this?

video (micro-ethnography)• strengths

– capacity for completeness of analysis– reduces dependence of primitive

analytic typication– reduces dependence on frequently

occurring events as best data sources• limitations

– in replaying a tape analyst can only interact with it vicariously

– interpretation requires context not on tape

the constraints of video• my account of this lesson is rich

because I spent a lot of time looking at the tape and because I knew a lot about the kids. But you know what? The first time I looked at it, I thought, “This was it? What did they get so excited about?” I mean, the tape seemed not too much. The fullness of the moment lies in the sensuality of the experience of the here-and-now. That feeling is missing when looking at a tape or transcript because your ongoing experience is not of the here-and-now

of the interactional record but of your own context. Making the record come alive is a creative act. It requires engaging the document as though it were the here and now, building up a stream of thought within the record itself. Yes? So: if your students have been disappointed by the thinness of their experience of their records, they shouldn’t expect anything different with this tape. The problem doesn’t lie in the record. (John D’Amato, personal communication, 1993)

good intro to fieldwork-based research (with children)

Graue, M. Elizabeth, & Walsh, Daniel J. (1998). Studying children in context: Theories, methods, and ethics. Thousand Oaks: Sage.

good intro to using video in fieldwork-based research

Walsh, D. J., Bakir, N., Lee, T. B., Chung, Y., & Chung, K. (2006). Using Digital Video in Field-Based Research with Children: A Primer. In A. Hatch, Ed., Early childhood qualitative research (pp. 43-62). New York: Routledge.

resources for research skills• Sage Press (www.sagepub.com)• website has many links• dissertators (offer to be peer

reader)

writing• before you turn the final draft in, look

carefully at the example manuscripts in the APA Manual (do the last 2%)

• writers workshop—become a regular• find a good editor; ask editor to make

list of common problems• read good writing• write simply; keep sentences short

grad life• dealing with university

bureaucracy– know the rules (Grad Programs

Handbook)– know the gatekeepers (departmental

grad programs secretary)– be wary of “Sherman Hall” advising– consult grad student organizations

(see website for links)

getting car ready for winter• check anti-freeze• good scraper and brush• lock de-icer• in trunk (for trips): gloves, hats,

sleeping bag, candles, collapsable shovel, flashlight

• check weather before you travel• if you haven’t driven on ice before, go

to large empty parking lot—practice

places, ways etc. to relieve stress• DCR: organized trips• weekly rituals, e.g., an evening at

Urbana Free Library• escapes: e.g., ARC, CRCE, Krannert Art

Museum, Café Kopi, Armory, Homer Lake, Carle Park, Dallas & Co.

• form a gang, a group, a posse, a rotating potluck

• ice arena• friend with a fire place•

good ways to find the best courses• DI incomplete list• other graduate studentsgood ways for international students

to meet other grad students• ARC, CRCE • clubs• sports• church• go places international students don’t go• get out of Sherman and Orchard Downs

good places cont.• Thai food: Siam Terrace, U; Thai Eatery,

YMCA, C• coffee shops: Café Kopi, C; Café

Paradiso, U• breakfast: Courier Café, U; Le Peep, C• wine selection: Corkscrew, U• vegetarian food: Red Herring, U