Qualitative Field Research: Understanding Attitudes and Behaviors in Natural Settings

1. Study on Method of Mass Communication Research传播研究方法 （13）Dr. Yi Mou 牟怡

2. Qualitative Research

3. Topics Appropriate for Field Research Attitudes and behaviors best understood in their natural setting Social processes over time Inductive vs. Deductive

4. Elements of Social Life Appropriate to Field Research • Practices • Episodes • Encounters • Roles and Social Types • Social and Personal Relationships • Groups and Cliques • Organizations • Settlements and Habitats • Social Worlds • Subcultures and Lifestyles

5. Special Considerations in Qualitative Field Research • Roles of the Observer • Participant, Researcher, Observer • Reactivity – The problem that the subjects of social research may react to the fact of being studied, thus altering their behavior from what it would have been normally. • Relations to Subjects • Objectivity • Alien / Martian • Reflexivity(自省性)

6. Conducting Qualitative Field Research • Preparing for the Field • Be familiar with relevant research • Discuss your plans with others in the area • Identify and meet informants (when appropriate) • First impressions are important • Establish rapport (an open and trusting relationship) • Ethical considerations

7. Qualitative Interview – Contrasted with survey interviewing, the qualitative interview is based on a set of topics to be discussed in depth rather than based on the use of standardized questions. • “Miner” or “Traveler”

8. Example • Stages in Complete Interviewing Process • Thematizing • Designing • Interviewing • Transcribing • Analyzing • Verifying • Reporting

9. Example • Focus Group – A group of subjects interviewed together, prompting a discussion. • Advantages: real-life data, flexible, high degree of face validity, fast, inexpensive • Disadvantages: not representative, little interviewer control, difficult analysis, interviewer/moderator skills, difficult logistically

10. Example Ethnography – An approach to the study of social life that focuses on the discovery of implicit, usually unspoken assumptions and agreement.

11. Recording Observations • Take detailed notes, but balance with observations • Rewrite notes with observations soon after observations with filled in details • Record empirical observations and interpretations • Record everything • Anticipate observations

12. Broaden your imagination Pencils and photos in the hands of research subjects

13. Strengths and Weaknesses of Qualitative Field Research • Strengths of Qualitative Field Research • Effective for studying subtle nuances in attitudes and behaviors and social processes over time • Flexibility • Inexpensive • Weaknesses of Qualitative Field Research • No appropriate statistical analyses

14. Validity • Greater validity than survey and experimental measurements • Reliability • Potential problems with reliability

15. Evaluation Research – Research undertaken for the purpose of determining the impact of some social intervention, such as a program aimed at solving a social problem.

16. Topics Appropriate for Evaluation Research Needs assessment studies – Studies that aim to determine the existence and extent of problems, typically among a segment of the population. Cost/Benefits Studies Monitoring Studies Appropriate topics are those with practical significance.

17. Qualitative Evaluations The most effective evaluation research combines qualitative and quantitative components.