Agenda

2. Agenda • The field study approach • Methods of field research • Some examples • Advantages and disadvantages

3. Field study • Not a single method, but an approach • Emphasis on researcher experience of naturally occurring phenomena • Openness of conceptual and theoretical framework (inductive orientation) • Limited use of statistics and statistical testing (AKA “qualitative research”) • Interest in understanding the perspective of research subjects

4. Some methods • Case study • Direct observation • Participant observation • Depth interviewing • Focus groups

5. Case studies • Focus on particular events or groups • Can vary from exploratory/descriptive to explanatory designs • Often sample from diverse data sources • Archival records and artifacts • Interviews • Direct observations • Participant observation • Can involve multiple case replications

6. Direct observation • Generally refers to observation under two conditions • The observer is unobserved • The observer has no part in structuring the situation • Can be highly controlled through time sampling and careful recording • May employ observers of behavior in public spaces

7. Direct observation • May also use surveillance devices • Hidden observers • Video/audio taping • Communications monitoring (e.g., of Web behavior) • Limited due to ethical concerns (e.g., invasion of privacy)

8. Participant observation • The observer’s presence is known to subjects • Levels of participation may vary • Passive observation (“fly on the wall”) • Interviewing subjects • Active participation in subjects’ behavior • The observer’s purpose’s may be known or unknown (covert)

9. Participant observation • Why use covert observation? • Concerns that behavior would be adjusted if knowingly observed • Behavior may be secretive • Covert participation raises numerous ethical issues • Invasion of privacy • Deception

10. Depth interviewing • Much like survey research, but employs longer, less structured interviews • Typically draws upon small samples • Sometimes conducted in smaller groups (e.g., friends & family) • Success depends upon interviewer rapport

11. Focus groups • Groups of people (6 to 12) who respond to questions in a group setting • Aim to generate more spontaneity than structured survey interviews • Widely used in commercial and marketing research • Can vary in the degree of respondent-to-respondent interaction

12. Four examples Festinger, Rieken & Schachter (1956) When Prophesy Fails Humphreys (1970) Tearoom Trade Fenno (1978) Home Style Press (1991) Women Watching Television

13. When Prophesy Fails • Leon Festinger, Henry Riecken, Stanley Schachter (1956) • What is the effect of the disconfirmation of a prediction based on deeply held beliefs? • Disconfirmation produces dissonance • People try to reduce dissonance, but rejection of the disconfirmed belief system may be too difficult • So, social support for the belief system is sought -- leading to an increase in proselytizing.

14. When Prophesy Fails The situation • September headline in the Lake City Herald:Prophesy from Planet. Clarion Call to City: Flee that Flood.It’ll Swamp us All on Dec. 21, Outer Space Tells Suburbanite • Two key figures: • Mrs. Keech, who is in communication with “the Guardians” from the planets Clarion and Cerus • Dr. Armstrong, physician in Collegeville, member of the Steel City Flying Saucer Club and leader of “The Seekers” of Collegeville

15. When Prophesy Fails Entering the field • Authors and several hired observers joined the groups • Issues involved in gaining entrance • Dr. Armstrong would not admit observers to the “advanced” Seekers meetings until they feigned a psychic experience • Observers emerged out of the blue, not through any personal contacts with the group or its leaders • At both sites, the new members were treated as “signs” sent by the Guardians.

16. When Prophesy Fails Participation • Observers were forced to spend nearly all their waking hours with the group • Attempts to steer clear of decision-making did not always succeed • One author/observer forced to lead a meeting • Observers had to “choose sides” in internal group divisions • Observers were pressured to quit their “jobs” • Observer fatigue proved a significant problem

17. When Prophesy Fails Conclusions • “Proselyting surged up” following discon-firmation in Lake City, but not in Collegeville • Five conditions needed for effect: • A Conviction • Commitment to it • Conviction must be amenable to disconfirmation • Disconfirmation must occur • Social support available after disconfirmation

18. Tea Room Trade • Laud Humphreys (1970) • Episcopalian minister who had counseled homosexuals • Sought to describe the functioning of a homosexual community from the perspective of deviance theory • Homosexuals (in 1960s St. Louis) subject to public censure, arrest, prosecution, ridicule • Community was secretive, distrustful of researchers

19. Tea Room Trade Entering the field • Over a period of several years, Humphreys circulated in gay bars in St. Louis • Attempted to become part of the underground homosexual community • Attended private parties, annual “drag ball,” visited a local bathhouse, movie theaters • Identified twelve confidants who were willing to provide extensive interviews

20. Tea Room Trade Participation • Observed over a hundred sexual encounters in 19 different city park restrooms • Recorded detailed information on a codesheet, dictated notes • Witnessed a police “shakedown,” one incident of harassment by youths, and was once arrested • Took down license plate numbers • Gained access to automobile registrations of 100 men (names, addresses, marital statuses) • Observed neighborhoods in which the subjects lived • Included 100 subjects in a sample of a large social health survey conducted in the community, and interviewed 50

21. Tea Room Trade Outcomes • Produced a detailed description of the world of sex among men • Awarded 1970 C. Wright Mills Award by Society for the Study of Social Problems • Strong criticism for invading subjects’ privacy and for gathering such sensitive data • Later destroyed his tapes and all identifying information • University Chancellor concludes that Humphreys committed criminal offenses, and terminates his teaching contract

22. Home Style • Richard Fenno (1978) • How does an elected representative see his or her constituency? • What consequences do these perceptions have for behavior? • Understanding the representative/ constituency relationship requires seeing it through the representative’s eyes

23. Home Style Entering the field • Followed 18 representatives in their districts • Varied in age, party affiliation, seniority, gender, and the nature of their district • Sought permission from subjects, either in person or by letter • Was refused twice • Offered references for “personal integrity” and implicitly agreed not to write a “kiss and tell” exposé • Concerned with “maintaining access for all congressional scholars”

24. Home Style Participation • Made 36 trips over 8 years to various districts, most during election periods • Slowly built up the sample by trying to “pose tests for, or exceptions to, whatever generalizations seemed to be emerging” • Attempted to maintain good rapport • Focused on relationships with trusted friends, family members, aides • Did not use a tape recorder • When opportunities to participate cropped up, these were taken (stuffing letters, helping with a phone poll)

25. Home Style Conclusions • Intertwining of constituency careers (getting reelected) and Washington careers (influence in the House and on public policy) • How to balance? • Use Washington influence as center of home style • Use Washington influence to alter constituency • Solidify a home base and then be constrained by it (enter a “protectionist” stage) • Act at home in a way that allows future room for maneuvering (avoiding early commitment)

26. Women Watching Television • Andrea Press (1991) • Aims to supplement critical studies of TV’s hegemonic function • Most studies focus on close reading of television “texts” • Press chooses reception analysis -- a study of how TV texts are interpreted and used • Particular interest in portrayals of women and the dominant system of patriarchy

27. Women Watching TV Background • Traces the transition of TV culture into a complicated, “postfeminist” period • How do women use cultural images and ideas as they construct their own identities? • Social class will affect the form and quality of identification with TV characters • Older women will be more fascinated by TV, but younger women will develop more intimate relationships to TV characters

28. Women Watching TV Entering the field • Located 20 working women and 21 middle-class women in San Francisco area • Used multiple snowball samples • Two-hour interviews, loosely structured • “Somewhat chatty and informal” • Began with family history, then moved to media history (favorite shows, favorite characters) • Asked about certain specific shows (when, after about half of the interviews, many women were bringing them up)

29. Women Watching TV Conclusions • Women’s reception of TV encompasses both resistance to and accommodation of portrayals • Working-class women more critical of TV realism, thus more distant from its characters • Older women feel “their horizons broadened” by progressive media characters • Among younger women, these same TV characters inspire “criticism, admiration, and nostalgia” • By reinforcing stereotypes about appearance and behavior, TV contributes generally to oppression of women in the family and workplace

30. Advantages • Natural research settings • Possibly less obtrusive observation (varies) • Potential depth of understanding • Flexibility

31. Disadvantages • Problematic reliability • Possible lack of theoretical structure • Possible loss of detachment • Ethical/legal complications

32. For Thursday • Literature Review and Meta-Analysis • Schutt, Ch. 14 (selection) • Light & Pillemer, “Organizing a Reviewing Strategy” • Discussion of research designs