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What is Field Research: Definition, Methods, Examples and Advantages

What is Field Research?

Field research is defined as a qualitative method of data collection that aims to observe, interact and understand people while they are in a natural environment. For example, nature conservationists observe behavior of animals in their natural surroundings and the way they react to certain scenarios. In the same way, social scientists conducting field research may conduct interviews or observe people from a distance to understand how they behave in a social environment and how they react to situations around them.

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Field research encompasses a diverse range of social research methods including direct observation, limited participation, analysis of documents and other information, informal interviews, surveys etc. Although field research is generally characterized as qualitative research, it often involves multiple aspects of quantitative research in it.

Field research typically begins in a specific setting although the end objective of the study is to observe and analyze the specific behavior of a subject in that setting. The cause and effect of a certain behavior, though, is tough to analyze due to presence of multiple variables in a natural environment. Most of the data collection is based not entirely on cause and effect but mostly on correlation. While field research looks for correlation, the small sample size makes it difficult to establish a causal relationship between two or more variables.

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Methods of Field Research

Field research is typically conducted in 5 distinctive methods. They are:

Direct Observation

In this method, the data is collected via an observational method or subjects in a natural environment. In this method, the behavior or outcome of situation is not interfered in any way by the researcher. The advantage of direct observation is that it offers contextual data on people management , situations, interactions and the surroundings. This method of field research is widely used in a public setting or environment but not in a private environment as it raises an ethical dilemma.

Participant Observation

In this method of field research, the researcher is deeply involved in the research process, not just purely as an observer, but also as a participant. This method too is conducted in a natural environment but the only difference is the researcher gets involved in the discussions and can mould the direction of the discussions. In this method, researchers live in a comfortable environment with the participants of the research design , to make them comfortable and open up to in-depth discussions.

Ethnography

Ethnography is an expanded observation of social research and social perspective and the cultural values of an entire social setting. In ethnography, entire communities are observed objectively. For example, if a researcher would like to understand how an Amazon tribe lives their life and operates, he/she may chose to observe them or live amongst them and silently observe their day-to-day behavior.

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Qualitative Interviews

Qualitative interviews are close-ended questions that are asked directly to the research subjects. The qualitative interviews could be either informal and conversational, semi-structured, standardized and open-ended or a mix of all the above three. This provides a wealth of data to the researcher that they can sort through. This also helps collect relational data. This method of field research can use a mix of one-on-one interviews, focus groups and text analysis .

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A case study research is an in-depth analysis of a person, situation or event. This method may look difficult to operate, however, it is one of the simplest ways of conducting research as it involves a deep dive and thorough understanding the data collection methods and inferring the data.

Steps in Conducting Field Research

Due to the nature of field research, the magnitude of timelines and costs involved, field research can be very tough to plan, implement and measure. Some basic steps in the management of field research are:

Build the Right Team: To be able to conduct field research, having the right team is important. The role of the researcher and any ancillary team members is very important and defining the tasks they have to carry out with defined relevant milestones is important. It is important that the upper management too is vested in the field research for its success.
Recruiting People for the Study: The success of the field research depends on the people that the study is being conducted on. Using sampling methods , it is important to derive the people that will be a part of the study.
Data Collection Methodology: As spoken in length about above, data collection methods for field research are varied. They could be a mix of surveys, interviews, case studies and observation. All these methods have to be chalked out and the milestones for each method too have to be chalked out at the outset. For example, in the case of a survey, the survey design is important that it is created and tested even before the research begins.
Site Visit: A site visit is important to the success of the field research and it is always conducted outside of traditional locations and in the actual natural environment of the respondent/s. Hence, planning a site visit alongwith the methods of data collection is important.
Data Analysis: Analysis of the data that is collected is important to validate the premise of the field research and decide the outcome of the field research.
Communicating Results: Once the data is analyzed, it is important to communicate the results to the stakeholders of the research so that it could be actioned upon.

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Field Research Notes

Keeping an ethnographic record is very important in conducting field research. Field notes make up one of the most important aspects of the ethnographic record. The process of field notes begins as the researcher is involved in the observational research process that is to be written down later.

Types of Field Research Notes

The four different kinds of field notes are:

Job Notes: This method of taking notes is while the researcher is in the study. This could be in close proximity and in open sight with the subject in study. The notes here are short, concise and in condensed form that can be built on by the researcher later. Most researchers do not prefer this method though due to the fear of feeling that the respondent may not take them seriously.
Field Notes Proper: These notes are to be expanded on immediately after the completion of events. The notes have to be detailed and the words have to be as close to possible as the subject being studied.
Methodological Notes: These notes contain methods on the research methods used by the researcher, any new proposed research methods and the way to monitor their progress. Methodological notes can be kept with field notes or filed separately but they find their way to the end report of a study.
Journals and Diaries: This method of field notes is an insight into the life of the researcher. This tracks all aspects of the researchers life and helps eliminate the Halo effect or any research bias that may have cropped up during the field research.

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Reasons to Conduct Field Research

Field research has been commonly used in the 20th century in the social sciences. But in general, it takes a lot of time to conduct and complete, is expensive and in a lot of cases invasive. So why then is this commonly used and is preferred by researchers to validate data? We look at 4 major reasons:

Overcoming lack of data: Field research resolves the major issue of gaps in data. Very often, there is limited to no data about a topic in study, especially in a specific environment analysis . The research problem might be known or suspected but there is no way to validate this without primary research and data. Conducting field research helps not only plug-in gaps in data but collect supporting material and hence is a preferred research method of researchers.
Understanding context of the study: In many cases, the data collected is adequate but field research is still conducted. This helps gain insight into the existing data. For example, if the data states that horses from a stable farm generally win races because the horses are pedigreed and the stable owner hires the best jockeys. But conducting field research can throw light into other factors that influence the success like quality of fodder and care provided and conducive weather conditions.
Increasing the quality of data: Since this research method uses more than one tool to collect data, the data is of higher quality. Inferences can be made from the data collected and can be statistically analyzed via the triangulation of data.
Collecting ancillary data: Field research puts the researchers in a position of localized thinking which opens them new lines of thinking. This can help collect data that the study didn’t account to collect.

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Examples of Field Research

Some examples of field research are:

Decipher social metrics in a slum Purely by using observational methods and in-depth interviews, researchers can be part of a community to understand the social metrics and social hierarchy of a slum. This study can also understand the financial independence and day-to-day operational nuances of a slum. The analysis of this data can provide an insight into how different a slum is from structured societies.
U nderstand the impact of sports on a child’s development This method of field research takes multiple years to conduct and the sample size can be very large. The data analysis of this research provides insights into how the kids of different geographical locations and backgrounds respond to sports and the impact of sports on their all round development.
Study animal migration patterns Field research is used extensively to study flora and fauna. A major use case is scientists monitoring and studying animal migration patterns with the change of seasons. Field research helps collect data across years and that helps draw conclusions about how to safely expedite the safe passage of animals.

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Advantages of Field Research

The advantages of field research are:

It is conducted in a real-world and natural environment where there is no tampering of variables and the environment is not doctored.
Due to the study being conducted in a comfortable environment, data can be collected even about ancillary topics.
The researcher gains a deep understanding into the research subjects due to the proximity to them and hence the research is extensive, thorough and accurate.

Disadvantages of Field Research

The disadvantages of field research are:

The studies are expensive and time-consuming and can take years to complete.
It is very difficult for the researcher to distance themselves from a bias in the research study.
The notes have to be exactly what the researcher says but the nomenclature is very tough to follow.
It is an interpretive method and this is subjective and entirely dependent on the ability of the researcher.
In this method, it is impossible to control external variables and this constantly alters the nature of the research.

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Article Contents

Introduction, what is fieldwork, purpose of fieldwork, physical safety, mental wellbeing and affect, ethical considerations, remote fieldwork, concluding thoughts, acknowledgments, funder information.

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Field Research: A Graduate Student's Guide

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Ezgi Irgil, Anne-Kathrin Kreft, Myunghee Lee, Charmaine N Willis, Kelebogile Zvobgo, Field Research: A Graduate Student's Guide, International Studies Review , Volume 23, Issue 4, December 2021, Pages 1495–1517, https://doi.org/10.1093/isr/viab023

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What is field research? Is it just for qualitative scholars? Must it be done in a foreign country? How much time in the field is “enough”? A lack of disciplinary consensus on what constitutes “field research” or “fieldwork” has left graduate students in political science underinformed and thus underequipped to leverage site-intensive research to address issues of interest and urgency across the subfields. Uneven training in Ph.D. programs has also left early-career researchers underprepared for the logistics of fieldwork, from developing networks and effective sampling strategies to building respondents’ trust, and related issues of funding, physical safety, mental health, research ethics, and crisis response. Based on the experience of five junior scholars, this paper offers answers to questions that graduate students puzzle over, often without the benefit of others’ “lessons learned.” This practical guide engages theory and praxis, in support of an epistemologically and methodologically pluralistic discipline.

¿Qué es la investigación de campo? ¿Es solo para académicos cualitativos? ¿Debe realizarse en un país extranjero? ¿Cuánto tiempo en el terreno es “suficiente”? La falta de consenso disciplinario con respecto a qué constituye la “investigación de campo” o el “trabajo de campo” ha causado que los estudiantes de posgrado en ciencias políticas estén poco informados y, por lo tanto, capacitados de manera insuficiente para aprovechar la investigación exhaustiva en el sitio con el objetivo de abordar los asuntos urgentes y de interés en los subcampos. La capacitación desigual en los programas de doctorado también ha provocado que los investigadores en las primeras etapas de su carrera estén poco preparados para la logística del trabajo de campo, desde desarrollar redes y estrategias de muestreo efectivas hasta generar la confianza de las personas que facilitan la información, y las cuestiones relacionadas con la financiación, la seguridad física, la salud mental, la ética de la investigación y la respuesta a las situaciones de crisis. Con base en la experiencia de cinco académicos novatos, este artículo ofrece respuestas a las preguntas que desconciertan a los estudiantes de posgrado, a menudo, sin el beneficio de las “lecciones aprendidas” de otras personas. Esta guía práctica incluye teoría y praxis, en apoyo de una disciplina pluralista desde el punto de vista epistemológico y metodológico.

En quoi consiste la recherche de terain ? Est-elle uniquement réservée aux chercheurs qualitatifs ? Doit-elle être effectuée dans un pays étranger ? Combien de temps faut-il passer sur le terrain pour que ce soit « suffisant » ? Le manque de consensus disciplinaire sur ce qui constitue une « recherche de terrain » ou un « travail de terrain » a laissé les étudiants diplômés en sciences politiques sous-informés et donc sous-équipés pour tirer parti des recherches de terrain intensives afin d'aborder les questions d'intérêt et d'urgence dans les sous-domaines. L'inégalité de formation des programmes de doctorat a mené à une préparation insuffisante des chercheurs en début de carrière à la logistique du travail de terrain, qu'il s'agisse du développement de réseaux et de stratégies d’échantillonnage efficaces, de l'acquisition de la confiance des personnes interrogées ou des questions de financement, de sécurité physique, de santé mentale, d’éthique de recherche et de réponse aux crises qui y sont associées. Cet article s'appuie sur l'expérience de cinq jeunes chercheurs pour proposer des réponses aux questions que les étudiants diplômés se posent, souvent sans bénéficier des « enseignements tirés » par les autres. Ce guide pratique engage théorie et pratique en soutien à une discipline épistémologiquement et méthodologiquement pluraliste.

Days before embarking on her first field research trip, a Ph.D. student worries about whether she will be able to collect the qualitative data that she needs for her dissertation. Despite sending dozens of emails, she has received only a handful of responses to her interview requests. She wonders if she will be able to gain more traction in-country. Meanwhile, in the midst of drafting her thesis proposal, an M.A. student speculates about the feasibility of his project, given a modest budget. Thousands of miles away from home, a postdoc is concerned about their safety, as protests erupt outside their window and state security forces descend into the streets.

These anecdotes provide a small glimpse into the concerns of early-career researchers undertaking significant projects with a field research component. Many of these fieldwork-related concerns arise from an unfortunate shortage in curricular offerings for qualitative and mixed-method research in political science graduate programs ( Emmons and Moravcsik 2020 ), 1 as well as the scarcity of instructional materials for qualitative and mixed-method research, relative to those available for quantitative research ( Elman, Kapiszewski, and Kirilova 2015 ; Kapiszewski, MacLean, and Read 2015 ; Mosley 2013 ). A recent survey among the leading United States Political Science programs in Comparative Politics and International Relations found that among graduate students who have carried out international fieldwork, 62 percent had not received any formal fieldwork training and only 20 percent felt very or mostly prepared for their fieldwork ( Schwartz and Cronin-Furman 2020 , 7–8). This shortfall in training and instruction means that many young researchers are underprepared for the logistics of fieldwork, from developing networks and effective sampling strategies to building respondents’ trust. In addition, there is a notable lack of preparation around issues of funding, physical safety, mental health, research ethics, and crisis response. This is troubling, as field research is highly valued and, in some parts of the field, it is all but expected, for instance in comparative politics.

Beyond subfield-specific expectations, research that leverages multiple types of data and methods, including fieldwork, is one of the ways that scholars throughout the discipline can more fully answer questions of interest and urgency. Indeed, multimethod work, a critical means by which scholars can parse and evaluate causal pathways, is on the rise ( Weller and Barnes 2016 ). The growing appearance of multimethod research in leading journals and university presses makes adequate training and preparation all the more significant ( Seawright 2016 ; Nexon 2019 ).

We are five political scientists interested in providing graduate students and other early-career researchers helpful resources for field research that we lacked when we first began our work. Each of us has recently completed or will soon complete a Ph.D. at a United States or Swedish university, though we come from many different national backgrounds. We have conducted field research in our home countries and abroad. From Colombia and Guatemala to the United States, from Europe to Turkey, and throughout East and Southeast Asia, we have spanned the globe to investigate civil society activism and transitional justice in post-violence societies, conflict-related sexual violence, social movements, authoritarianism and contentious politics, and the everyday politics and interactions between refugees and host-country citizens.

While some of us have studied in departments that offer strong training in field research methods, most of us have had to self-teach, learning through trial and error. Some of us have also been fortunate to participate in short courses and workshops hosted by universities such as the Consortium for Qualitative Research Methods and interdisciplinary institutions such as the Peace Research Institute Oslo. Recognizing that these opportunities are not available to or feasible for all, and hoping to ease the concerns of our more junior colleagues, we decided to compile our experiences and recommendations for first-time field researchers.

Our experiences in the field differ in several key respects, from the time we spent in the field to the locations we visited, and how we conducted our research. The diversity of our experiences, we hope, will help us reach and assist the broadest possible swath of graduate students interested in field research. Some of us have spent as little as ten days in a given country or as much as several months, in some instances visiting a given field site location just once and in other instances returning several times. At times, we have been able to plan weeks and months in advance. Other times, we have quickly arranged focus groups and impromptu interviews. Other times still, we have completed interviews virtually, when research participants were in remote locations or when we ourselves were unable to travel, of note during the coronavirus pandemic. We have worked in countries where we are fluent or have professional proficiency in the language, and in countries where we have relied on interpreters. We have worked in settings with precarious security as well as in locations that feel as comfortable as home. Our guide is not intended to be prescriptive or exhaustive. What we offer is a set of experience-based suggestions to be implemented as deemed relevant and appropriate by the researcher and their advisor(s).

In terms of the types of research and data sources and collection, we have conducted archival research, interviews, focus groups, and ethnographies with diplomats, bureaucrats, military personnel, ex-combatants, civil society advocates, survivors of political violence, refugees, and ordinary citizens. We have grappled with ethical dilemmas, chief among them how to get useful data for our research projects in ways that exceed the minimal standards of human subjects’ research evaluation panels. Relatedly, we have contemplated how to use our platforms to give back to the individuals and communities who have so generously lent us their time and knowledge, and shared with us their personal and sometimes harrowing stories.

Our target audience is first and foremost graduate students and early-career researchers who are interested in possibly conducting fieldwork but who either (1) do not know the full potential or value of fieldwork, (2) know the potential and value of fieldwork but think that it is excessively cost-prohibitive or otherwise infeasible, or (3) who have the interest, the will, and the means but not necessarily the know-how. We also hope that this resource will be of value to graduate programs, as they endeavor to better support students interested in or already conducting field research. Further, we target instructional faculty and graduate advisors (and other institutional gatekeepers like journal and book reviewers), to show that fieldwork does not have to be year-long, to give just one example. Instead, the length of time spent in the field is a function of the aims and scope of a given project. We also seek to formalize and normalize the idea of remote field research, whether conducted because of security concerns in conflict zones, for instance, or because of health and safety concerns, like the Covid-19 pandemic. Accordingly, researchers in the field for shorter stints or who conduct fieldwork remotely should not be penalized.

We note that several excellent resources on fieldwork such as the bibliography compiled by Advancing Conflict Research (2020) catalogue an impressive list of articles addressing questions such as ethics, safety, mental health, reflexivity, and methods. Further resources can be found about the positionality of the researcher in the field while engaging vulnerable communities, such as in the research field of migration ( Jacobsen and Landau 2003 ; Carling, Bivand Erdal, and Ezzati 2014 ; Nowicka and Cieslik 2014 ; Zapata-Barrero and Yalaz 2019 ). However, little has been written beyond conflict-affected contexts, fragile settings, and vulnerable communities. Moreover, as we consulted different texts and resources, we found no comprehensive guide to fieldwork explicitly written with graduate students in mind. It is this gap that we aim to fill.

In this paper, we address five general categories of questions that graduate students puzzle over, often without the benefit of others’ “lessons learned.” First, What is field research? Is it just for qualitative scholars? Must it be conducted in a foreign country? How much time in the field is “enough”? Second, What is the purpose of fieldwork? When does it make sense to travel to a field site to collect data? How can fieldwork data be used? Third, What are the nuts and bolts? How does one get ready and how can one optimize limited time and financial resources? Fourth, How does one conduct fieldwork safely? What should a researcher do to keep themselves, research assistants, and research subjects safe? What measures should they take to protect their mental health? Fifth, How does one conduct ethical, beneficent field research?

Finally, the Covid-19 pandemic has impressed upon the discipline the volatility of research projects centered around in-person fieldwork. Lockdowns and closed borders left researchers sequestered at home and unable to travel, forced others to cut short any trips already begun, and unexpectedly confined others still to their fieldwork sites. Other factors that may necessitate a (spontaneous) readjustment of planned field research include natural disasters, a deteriorating security situation in the field site, researcher illness, and unexpected changes in personal circumstances. We, therefore, conclude with a section on the promise and potential pitfalls of remote (or virtual) fieldwork. Throughout this guide, we engage theory and praxis to support an epistemologically and methodologically pluralistic discipline.

The concept of “fieldwork” is not well defined in political science. While several symposia discuss the “nuts and bolts” of conducting research in the field within the pages of political science journals, few ever define it ( Ortbals and Rincker 2009 ; Hsueh, Jensenius, and Newsome 2014 ). Defining the concept of fieldwork is important because assumptions about what it is and what it is not underpin any suggestions for conducting it. A lack of disciplinary consensus about what constitutes “fieldwork,” we believe, explains the lack of a unified definition. Below, we discuss three areas of current disagreement about what “fieldwork” is, including the purpose of fieldwork, where it occurs, and how long it should be. We follow this by offering our definition of fieldwork.

First, we find that many in the discipline view fieldwork as squarely in the domain of qualitative research, whether interpretivist or positivist. However, field research can also serve quantitative projects—for example, by providing crucial context, supporting triangulation, or illustrating causal mechanisms. For instance, Kreft (2019) elaborated her theory of women's civil society mobilization in response to conflict-related sexual violence based on interviews she carried out in Colombia. She then examined cross-national patterns through statistical analysis. Conversely, Willis's research on the United States military in East Asia began with quantitative data collection and analysis of protest events before turning to fieldwork to understand why protests occurred in some instances but not others. Researchers can also find quantifiable data in the field that is otherwise unavailable to them at home ( Read 2006 ; Chambers-Ju 2014 ; Jensenius 2014 ). Accordingly, fieldwork is not in the domain of any particular epistemology or methodology as its purpose is to acquire data for further information.

Second, comparative politics and international relations scholars often opine that fieldwork requires leaving the country in which one's institution is based. Instead, we propose that what matters most is the nature of the research project, not the locale. For instance, some of us in the international relations subfield have interviewed representatives of intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) and international nongovernmental organizations (INGOs), whose headquarters are generally located in Global North countries. For someone pursuing a Ph.D. in the United States and writing on transnational advocacy networks, interviews with INGO representatives in New York certainly count as fieldwork ( Zvobgo 2020 ). Similarly, a graduate student who returns to her home country to interview refugees and native citizens is conducting a field study as much as a researcher for whom the context is wholly foreign. Such interviews can provide necessary insights and information that would not have been gained otherwise—one of the key reasons researchers conduct fieldwork in the first place. In other instances, conducting any in-person research is simply not possible, due to financial constraints, safety concerns, or other reasons. For example, the Covid-19 pandemic has forced many researchers to shift their face-to-face research plans to remote data collection, either over the phone or virtually ( Howlett 2021 , 2). For some research projects, gathering data through remote methods may yield the same if not similar information than in-person research ( Howlett 2021 , 3–4). As Howlett (2021 , 11) notes, digital platforms may offer researchers the ability to “embed ourselves in other contexts from a distance” and glimpse into our subjects’ lives in ways similar to in-person research. By adopting a broader definition of fieldwork, researchers can be more flexible in getting access to data sources and interacting with research subjects.

Third, there is a tendency, especially among comparativists, to only count fieldwork that spans the better part of a year; even “surgical strike” field research entails one to three months, according to some scholars ( Ortbals and Rincker 2009 ; Weiss, Hicken, and Kuhonta 2017 ). The emphasis on spending as much time as possible in the field is likely due to ethnographic research traditions, reflected in classics such as James Scott's Weapons of the Weak , which entail year-long stints of research. However, we suggest that the appropriate amount of time in the field should be assessed on a project-by-project basis. Some studies require the researcher to be in the field for long periods; others do not. For example, Willis's research on the discourse around the United States’ military presence in overseas host communities has required months in the field. By contrast, Kreft only needed ten days in New York to carry out interviews with diplomats and United Nations staff, in a context with which she already had some familiarity from a prior internship. Likewise, Zvobgo spent a couple of weeks in her field research sites, conducting interviews with directors and managers of prominent human rights nongovernmental organizations. This population is not so large as to require a whole month or even a few months. This has also been the case for Irgil, as she had spent one month in the field site conducting interviews with ordinary citizens. The goal of the project was to acquire information on citizens’ perceptions of refugees. As we discuss in the next section, when deciding how long to spend in the field, scholars must consider the information their project requires and consider the practicalities of fieldwork, notably cost.

Thus, we highlight three essential points in fieldwork and offer a definition accordingly: fieldwork involves acquiring information, using any set of appropriate data collection techniques, for qualitative, quantitative, or experimental analysis through embedded research whose location and duration is dependent on the project. We argue that adopting such a definition of “fieldwork” is necessary to include the multitude of forms fieldwork can take, including remote methods, whose value and challenges the Covid-19 pandemic has impressed upon the discipline.

When does a researcher need to conduct fieldwork? Fieldwork can be effective for (1) data collection, (2) theory building, and (3) theory testing. First, when a researcher is interested in a research topic, yet they could not find an available and/or reliable data source for the topic, fieldwork could provide the researcher with plenty of options. Some research agendas can require researchers to visit archives to review historical documents. For example, Greitens (2016) visited national archives in the Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, and the United States to find historical documents about the development of coercive institutions in past authoritarian governments for her book, Dictators and Their Secret Police . Also, newly declassified archival documents can open new possibilities for researchers to examine restricted topics. To illustrate, thanks to the newly released archival records of the Chinese Communist Party's communications, and exchange of visits with the European communist world, Sarotte (2012) was able to study the Party's decision to crack down on Tiananmen protesters, which had previously been deemed as an unstudiable topic due to the limited data.

Other research agendas can require researchers to conduct (semistructured) in-depth interviews to understand human behavior or a situation more closely, for example, by revealing the meanings of concepts for people and showing how people perceive the world. For example, O'Brien and Li (2005) conducted in-depth interviews with activists, elites, and villagers to understand how these actors interact with each other and what are the outcomes of the interaction in contentious movements in rural China. Through research, they revealed that protests have deeply influenced all these actors’ minds, a fact not directly observable without in-depth interviews.

Finally, data collection through fieldwork should not be confined to qualitative data ( Jensenius 2014 ). While some quantitative datasets can be easily compiled or accessed through use of the internet or contact with data-collection agencies, other datasets can only be built or obtained through relationships with “gatekeepers” such as government officials, and thus require researchers to visit the field ( Jensenius 2014 ). Researchers can even collect their own quantitative datasets by launching surveys or quantifying data contained in archives. In a nutshell, fieldwork will allow researchers to use different techniques to collect and access original/primary data sources, whether these are qualitative, quantitative, or experimental in nature, and regardless of the intended method of analysis. 2

But fieldwork is not just for data collection as such. Researchers can accomplish two other fundamental elements of the research process: theory building and theory testing. When a researcher finds a case where existing theories about a phenomenon do not provide plausible explanations, they can build a theory through fieldwork ( Geddes 2003 ). Lee's experience provides a good example. When studying the rise of a protest movement in South Korea for her dissertation, Lee applied commonly discussed social movement theories, grievances, political opportunity, resource mobilization, and repression, to explain the movement's eruption and found that these theories do not offer a convincing explanation for the protest movement. She then moved on to fieldwork and conducted interviews with the movement participants to understand their motivations. Finally, through those interviews, she offered an alternative theory that the protest participants’ collective identity shaped during the authoritarian past played a unifying factor and eventually led them to participate in the movement. Her example shows that theorization can take place through careful review and rigorous inference during fieldwork.

Moreover, researchers can test their theory through fieldwork. Quantitative observational data has limitations in revealing causal mechanisms ( Esarey 2017 ). Therefore, many political scientists turn their attention to conducting field experiments or lab-in-the-field experiments to reveal causality ( Druckman et al. 2006 ; Beath, Christia, and Enikolopov 2013 ; Finseraas and Kotsadam 2017 ), or to leveraging in-depth insights or historical records gained through qualitative or archival research in process-tracing ( Collier 2011 ; Ricks and Liu 2018 ). Surveys and survey experiments may also be useful tools to substantiate a theoretical story or test a theory ( Marston 2020 ). Of course, for most Ph.D. students, especially those not affiliated with more extensive research projects, some of these options will be financially prohibitive.

A central concern for graduate students, especially those working with a small budget and limited time, is optimizing time in the field and integrating remote work. We offer three pieces of advice: have a plan, build in flexibility, and be strategic, focusing on collecting data that are unavailable at home. We also discuss working with local translators or research assistants. Before we turn to these more practical issues arising during fieldwork, we address a no less important issue: funding.

The challenge of securing funds is often overlooked in discussions of what constitutes field research. Months- or year-long in-person research can be cost-prohibitive, something academic gatekeepers must consider when evaluating “what counts” and “what is enough.” Unlike their predecessors, many graduate students today have a significant amount of debt and little savings. 3 Additionally, if researchers are not able to procure funding, they have to pay out of pocket and possibly take on more debt. Not only is in-person fieldwork costly, but researchers may also have to forego working while they are in the field, making long stretches in the field infeasible for some.

For researchers whose fieldwork involves travelling to another location, procuring funding via grants, fellowships, or other sources is a necessity, regardless of how long one plans to be in the field. A good mantra for applying for research funding is “apply early and often” ( Kelsky 2015 , 110). Funding applications take a considerable amount of time to prepare, from writing research statements to requesting letters of recommendation. Even adapting one's materials for different applications takes time. Not only is the application process itself time-consuming, but the time between applying for and receiving funds, if successful, can be quite long, from several months to a year. For example, after defending her prospectus in May 2019, Willis began applying to funding sources for her dissertation, all of which had deadlines between June and September. She received notifications between November and January; however, funds from her successful applications were not available until March and April, almost a year later. 4 Accordingly, we recommend applying for funding as early as possible; this not only increases one's chances of hitting the ground running in the field, but the application process can also help clarify the goals and parameters of one's research.

Graduate students should also apply often for funding opportunities. There are different types of funding for fieldwork: some are larger, more competitive grants such as the National Science Foundation Political Science Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant in the United States, others, including sources through one's own institution, are smaller. Some countries, like Sweden, boast a plethora of smaller funding agencies that disburse grants of 20,000–30,0000 Swedish Kronor (approx. 2,500–3,500 U.S. dollars) to Ph.D. students in the social sciences. Listings of potential funding sources are often found on various websites including those belonging to universities, professional organizations (such as the American Political Science Association or the European Consortium for Political Research), and governmental institutions dealing with foreign affairs. Once you have identified fellowships and grants for which you and your project are a good match, we highly recommend soliciting information and advice from colleagues who have successfully applied for them. This can include asking them to share their applications with you, and if possible, to have them, another colleague or set of colleagues read through your project description and research plan (especially for bigger awards) to ensure that you have made the best possible case for why you should be selected. While both large and small pots of funding are worth applying for, many researchers end up funding their fieldwork through several small grants or fellowships. One small award may not be sufficient to fund the entirety of one's fieldwork, but several may. For example, Willis's fieldwork in Japan and South Korea was supported through fellowships within each country. Similarly, Irgil was able to conduct her fieldwork abroad through two different and relatively smaller grants by applying to them each year.

Of course, situations vary in different countries with respect to what kinds of grants from what kinds of funders are available. An essential part of preparing for fieldwork is researching the funding landscape well in advance, even as early as the start of the Ph.D. We encourage first-time field researchers to be aware that universities and departments may themselves not be aware of the full range of possible funds available, so it is always a good idea to do your own research and watch research-related social media channels. The amount of funding needed thereby depends on the nature of one's project and how long one intends to be in the field. As we elaborate in the next section, scholars should think carefully about their project goals, the data required to meet those goals, and the requisite time to attain them. For some projects, even a couple of weeks in the field is sufficient to get the needed information.

Preparing to Enter “the field”

It is important to prepare for the field as much as possible. What kind of preparations do researchers need? For someone conducting interviews with NGO representatives, this might involve identifying the largest possible pool of potential respondents, securing their contact information, sending them study invitation letters, finding a mutually agreeable time to meet, and pulling together short biographies for each interviewee in order to use your time together most effectively. If you plan to travel to conduct interviews, you should reach out to potential respondents roughly four to six weeks prior to your arrival. For individuals who do not respond, you can follow up one to two weeks before you arrive and, if needed, once more when you are there. This is still no guarantee for success, of course. For Kreft, contacting potential interviewees in Colombia initially proved more challenging than anticipated, as many of the people she targeted did not respond to her emails. It turned out that many Colombians have a preference for communicating via phone or, in particular, WhatsApp. Some of those who responded to her emails sent in advance of her field trip asked her to simply be in touch once she was in the country, to set up appointments on short notice. This made planning and arranging her interview schedule more complicated. Therefore, a general piece of advice is to research your target population's preferred communication channels and mediums in the field site if email requests yield no or few responses.

In general, we note for the reader that contacting potential research participants should come after one has designed an interview questionnaire (plus an informed consent protocol) and sought and received, where applicable, approval from institutional review boards (IRBs) or other ethical review procedures in place (both at one's home institution/in the country of the home institution as well as in the country where one plans to conduct research if travelling abroad). The most obvious advantage of having the interview questionnaire in place and having secured all necessary institutional approvals before you start contacting potential interviewees is that you have a clearer idea of the universe of individuals you would like to interview, and for what purpose. Therefore, it is better to start sooner rather than later and be mindful of “high seasons,” when institutional and ethical review boards are receiving, processing, and making decisions on numerous proposals. It may take a few months for them to issue approvals.

On the subject of ethics and review panels, we encourage you to consider talking openly and honestly with your supervisors and/or funders about the situations where a written consent form may not be suitable and might need to be replaced with “verbal consent.” For instance, doing fieldwork in politically unstable contexts, highly scrutinized environments, or vulnerable communities, like refugees, might create obstacles for the interviewees as well as the researcher. The literature discusses the dilemma in offering the interviewees anonymity and requesting signed written consent in addition to the emphasis on total confidentiality ( Jacobsen and Landau 2003 ; Mackenzie, McDowell, and Pittaway 2007 ; Saunders, Kitzinger, and Kitzinger 2015 ). Therefore, in those situations, the researcher might need to take the initiative on how to act while doing the interviews as rigorously as possible. In her fieldwork, Irgil faced this situation as the political context of Turkey did not guarantee that there would not be any adverse consequences for interviewees on both sides of her story: citizens of Turkey and Syrian refugees. Consequently, she took hand-written notes and asked interviewees for their verbal consent in a safe interview atmosphere. This is something respondents greatly appreciated ( Irgil 2020 ).

Ethical considerations, of course, also affect the research design itself, with ramifications for fieldwork. When Kreft began developing her Ph.D. proposal to study women's political and civil society mobilization in response to conflict-related sexual violence, she initially aimed to recruit interviewees from the universe of victims of this violence, to examine variation among those who did and those who did not mobilize politically. As a result of deeper engagement with the literature on researching conflict-related sexual violence, conversations with senior colleagues who had interviewed victims, and critical self-reflection of her status as a researcher (with no background in psychology or social work), she decided to change focus and shift toward representatives of civil society organizations and victims’ associations. This constituted a major reconfiguration of her research design, from one geared toward identifying the factors that drive mobilization of victims toward using insights from interviews to understand better how those mobilize perceive and “make sense” of conflict-related sexual violence. Needless to say, this required alterations to research strategies and interview guides, including reassessing her planned fieldwork. Kreft's primary consideration was not to cause harm to her research participants, particularly in the form of re-traumatization. She opted to speak only with those women who on account of their work are used to speaking about conflict-related sexual violence. In no instance did she inquire about interviewees’ personal experiences with sexual violence, although several brought this up on their own during the interviews.

Finally, if you are conducting research in another country where you have less-than-professional fluency in the language, pre-fieldwork planning should include hiring a translator or research assistant, for example, through an online hiring platform like Upwork, or a local university. Your national embassy or consulate is another option; many diplomatic offices have lists of individuals who they have previously contracted. More generally, establishing contact with a local university can be beneficial, either in the form of a visiting researcher arrangement, which grants access to research groups and facilities like libraries or informally contacting individual researchers. The latter may have valuable insights into the local context, contacts to potential research participants, and they may even be able to recommend translators or research assistants. Kreft, for example, hired local research assistants recommended by researchers at a Bogotá-based university and remunerated them equivalent to the salary they would have received as graduate research assistants at the university, while also covering necessary travel expenses. Irgil, on the other hand, established contacts with native citizens and Syrian gatekeepers, who are shop owners in the area where she conducted her research because she had the opportunity to visit the fieldwork site multiple times.

Depending on the research agenda, researchers may visit national archives, local government offices, etc. Before visiting, researchers should contact these facilities and make sure the materials that they need are accessible. For example, Lee visited the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library Archives to find the United States’ strategic evaluations on South Korea's dictator in the 1980s. Before her visit, she contacted librarians in the archives, telling them her visit plans and her research purpose. Librarians made suggestions on which categories she should start to review based on her research goal, and thus she was able to make a list of categories of the materials she needed, saving her a lot of her time.

Accessibility of and access to certain facilities/libraries can differ depending on locations/countries and types of facilities. Facilities in authoritarian countries might not be easily accessible to foreign researchers. Within democratic countries, some facilities are more restrictive than others. Situations like the pandemic or national holidays can also restrict accessibility. Therefore, researchers are well advised to do preliminary research on whether a certain facility opens during the time they visit and is accessible to researchers regardless of their citizenship status. Moreover, researchers must contact the staff of facilities to know whether identity verification is needed and if so, what kind of documents (photo I.D. or passport) should be exhibited.

Adapting to the Reality of the Field

Researchers need to be flexible because you may meet people you did not make appointments with, come across opportunities you did not expect, or stumble upon new ideas about collecting data in the field. These happenings will enrich your field experience and will ultimately be beneficial for your research. Similarly, researchers should not be discouraged by interviews that do not go according to plan; they present an opportunity to pursue relevant people who can provide an alternative path to your work. Note that planning ahead does not preclude fortuitous encounters or epiphanies. Rather, it provides a structure for them to happen.

If your fieldwork entails travelling abroad, you will also be able to recruit more interviewees once you arrive at your research site. In fact, you may have greater success in-country; not everyone is willing to respond to a cold email from an unknown researcher in a foreign country. In Irgil's fieldwork, she contacted store owners that are known in the area and who know the community. This eased her process of introduction into the community and recruiting interviewees. For Zvobgo, she had fewer than a dozen interviews scheduled when she travelled to Guatemala to study civil society activism and transitional justice since the internal armed conflict. But she was able to recruit additional participants in-country. Interviewees with whom she built a rapport connected her to other NGOs, government offices, and the United Nations country office, sometimes even making the call and scheduling interviews for her. Through snowball sampling, she was able to triple the number of participants. Likewise, snowball sampling was central to Kreft's recruitment of interview partners. Several of her interviewees connected her to highly relevant individuals she would never have been able to identify and contact based on web searches alone.

While in the field, you may nonetheless encounter obstacles that necessitate adjustments to your original plans. Once Kreft had arrived in Colombia, for example, it transpired quickly that carrying out in-person interviews in more remote/rural areas was near impossible given her means, as these were not easily accessible by bus/coach, further complicated by a complex security situation. Instead, she adjusted her research design and shifted her focus to the big cities, where most of the major civil society organizations are based. She complemented the in-person interviews carried out there with a smaller number of phone interviews with civil society activists in rural areas, and she was also able to meet a few activists operating in rural or otherwise inaccessible areas as they were visiting the major cities. The resulting focus on urban settings changed the kinds of generalizations she was able to make based on her fieldwork data and produced a somewhat different study than initially anticipated.

This also has been the case for Irgil, despite her prior arrangements with the Syrian gatekeepers, which required adjustments as in the case of Kreft. Irgil acquired research clearance one year before, during the interviews with native citizens, conducting the interviews with Syrian refugees. She also had her questionnaire ready based on the previously collected data and the media search she had conducted for over a year before travelling to the field site. As she was able to visit the field site multiple times, two months before conducting interviews with Syrian refugees, she developed a schedule with the Syrian gatekeepers and informants. Yet, once she was in the field, influenced by Turkey's recent political events and the policy of increasing control over Syrian refugees, half of the previously agreed informants changed their minds or did not want to participate in interviews. As Irgil was following the policies and the news related to Syrian refugees in Turkey closely, this did not come as that big of a surprise but challenged the previously developed strategy to recruit interviewees. Thus, she changed the strategy of finding interviewees in the field site, such as asking people, almost one by one, whether they would like to participate in the interview. Eventually, she could not find willing Syrian women refugees as she had planned, which resulted in a male-dominant sample. As researchers encounter such situations, it is essential to remind oneself that not everything can go according to plan, that “different” does not equate to “worse,” but that it is important to consider what changes to fieldwork data collection and sampling imply for the study's overall findings and the contribution it makes to the literature.

We should note that conducting interviews is very taxing—especially when opportunities multiply, as in Zvobgo's case. Depending on the project, each interview can take an hour, if not two or more. Hence, you should make a reasonable schedule: we recommend no more than two interviews per day. You do not want to have to cut off an interview because you need to rush to another one, whether the interviews are in-person or remote. And you do not want to be too exhausted to have a robust engagement with your respondent who is generously lending you their time. Limiting the number of interviews per day is also important to ensure that you can write comprehensive and meaningful fieldnotes, which becomes even more essential where it is not possible to audio-record your interviews. Also, be sure to remember to eat, stay hydrated, and try to get enough sleep.

Finally, whether to provide gifts or payments to the subject also requires adapting to the reality of the field. You must think about payments beforehand when you apply for IRB approval (or whatever other ethical review processes may be in place) since these applications usually contain questions about payments. Obviously, the first step is to carefully evaluate whether the gifts and payments provided can harm the subject or are likely to unduly affect the responses they will give in response to your questions. If that is not the case, you have to make payment decisions based on your budget, field situation, and difficulties in recruitment. Usually, payment of respondents is more common in survey research, whereas it is less common in interviews and focus groups.

Nevertheless, payment practices vary depending on the field and the target group. In some cases, it may become a custom to provide small gifts or payments when interviewing a certain group. In other cases, interviewees might be offended if they are provided with money. Therefore, knowing past practices and field situations is important. For example, Lee provided small coffee gift cards to one group while she did not to the other based on previous practices of other researchers. That is, for a particular group, it has become a custom for interviewers to pay interviewees. Sometimes, you may want to reimburse your subject's interview costs such as travel expenses and provide beverages and snacks during the conduct of research, as Kreft did when conducting focus groups in Colombia. To express your gratitude to your respondents, you can prepare small gifts such as your university memorabilia (e.g., notebooks and pens). Since past practices about payments can affect your interactions and interviews with a target group, you want to seek advice from your colleagues and other researchers who had experiences interacting with the target group. If you cannot find researchers who have this knowledge, you can search for published works on the target population to find if the authors share their interview experiences. You may also consider contacting the authors for advice before your interviews.

Researching Strategically

Distinguishing between things that can only be done in person at a particular site and things that can be accomplished later at home is vital. Prioritize the former over the latter. Lee's fieldwork experience serves as a good example. She studied a conservative protest movement called the Taegeukgi Rally in South Korea. She planned to conduct interviews with the rally participants to examine their motivations for participating. But she only had one month in South Korea. So, she focused on things that could only be done in the field: she went to the rally sites, she observed how protests proceeded, which tactics and chants were used, and she met participants and had some casual conversations with them. Then, she used the contacts she made while attending the rallies to create a social network to solicit interviews from ordinary protesters, her target population. She was able to recruit twenty-five interviewees through good rapport with the people she met. The actual interviews proceeded via phone after she returned to the United States. In a nutshell, we advise you not to be obsessed with finishing interviews in the field. Sometimes, it is more beneficial to use your time in the field to build relationships and networks.

Working With Assistants and Translators

A final consideration on logistics is working with research assistants or translators; it affects how you can carry out interviews, focus groups, etc. To what extent constant back-and-forth translation is necessary or advisable depends on the researcher's skills in the interview language and considerations about time and efficiency. For example, Kreft soon realized that she was generally able to follow along quite well during her interviews in Colombia. In order to avoid precious time being lost to translation, she had her research assistant follow the interview guide Kreft had developed, and interjected follow-up questions in Spanish or English (then to be translated) as they arose.

Irgil's and Zvobgo's interviews went a little differently. Irgil's Syrian refugee interviewees in Turkey were native Arabic speakers, and Zvobgo's interviewees in Guatemala were native Spanish speakers. Both Irgil and Zvobgo worked with research assistants. In Irgil's case, her assistant was a Syrian man, who was outside of the area. Meanwhile, Zvobgo's assistant was an undergraduate from her home institution with a Spanish language background. Irgil and Zvobgo began preparing their assistants a couple of months before entering the field, over Skype for Irgil and in-person for Zvobgo. They offered their assistants readings and other resources to provide them with the necessary background to work well. Both Irgil and Zvobgo's research assistants joined them in the interviews and actually did most of the speaking, introducing the principal investigator, explaining the research, and then asking the questions. In Zvobgo's case, interviewee responses were relayed via a professional interpreter whom she had also hired. After every interview, Irgil and Zvobgo and their respective assistants discussed the answers of the interviewees, potential improvements in phrasing, and elaborated on their hand-written interview notes. As a backup, Zvobgo, with the consent of her respondents, had accompanying audio recordings.

Researchers may carry out fieldwork in a country that is considerably less safe than what they are used to, a setting affected by conflict violence or high crime rates, for instance. Feelings of insecurity can be compounded by linguistic barriers, cultural particularities, and being far away from friends and family. Insecurity is also often gendered, differentially affecting women and raising the specter of unwanted sexual advances, street harassment, or even sexual assault ( Gifford and Hall-Clifford 2008 ; Mügge 2013 ). In a recent survey of Political Science graduate students in the United States, about half of those who had done fieldwork internationally reported having encountered safety issues in the field, (54 percent female, 47 percent male), and only 21 percent agreed that their Ph.D. programs had prepared them to carry out their fieldwork safely ( Schwartz and Cronin-Furman 2020 , 8–9).

Preventative measures scholars may adopt in an unsafe context may involve, at their most fundamental, adjustments to everyday routines and habits, restricting one's movements temporally and spatially. Reliance on gatekeepers may also necessitate adopting new strategies, such as a less vehement and cold rejection of unwanted sexual advances than one ordinarily would exhibit, as Mügge (2013) illustratively discusses. At the same time, a competitive academic job market, imperatives to collect novel and useful data, and harmful discourses surrounding dangerous fieldwork also, problematically, shape incentives for junior researchers to relax their own standards of what constitutes acceptable risk ( Gallien 2021 ).

Others have carefully collected a range of safety precautions that field researchers in fragile or conflict-affected settings may take before and during fieldwork ( Hilhorst et al. 2016 ). Therefore, we are more concise in our discussion of recommendations, focusing on the specific situations of graduate students. Apart from ensuring that supervisors and university administrators have the researcher's contact information in the field (and possibly also that of a local contact person), researchers can register with their country's embassy or foreign office and any crisis monitoring and prevention systems it has in place. That way, they will be informed of any possible unfolding emergencies and the authorities have a record of them being in the country.

It may also be advisable to set up more individualized safety protocols with one or two trusted individuals, such as friends, supervisors, or colleagues at home or in the fieldwork setting itself. The latter option makes sense in particular if one has an official affiliation with a local institution for the duration of the fieldwork, which is often advisable. Still, we would also recommend establishing relationships with local researchers in the absence of a formal affiliation. To keep others informed of her whereabouts, Kreft, for instance, made arrangements with her supervisors to be in touch via email at regular intervals to report on progress and wellbeing. This kept her supervisors in the loop, while an interruption in communication would have alerted them early if something were wrong. In addition, she announced planned trips to other parts of the country and granted her supervisors and a colleague at her home institution emergency reading access to her digital calendar. To most of her interviews, she was moreover accompanied by her local research assistant/translator. If the nature of the research, ethical considerations, and the safety situation allow, it might also be possible to bring a local friend along to interviews as an “assistant,” purely for safety reasons. This option needs to be carefully considered already in the planning stage and should, particularly in settings of fragility or if carrying out research on politically exposed individuals, be noted in any ethical and institutional review processes where these are required. Adequate compensation for such an assistant should be ensured. It may also be advisable to put in place an emergency plan, that is, choose emergency contacts back home and “in the field,” know whom to contact if something happens, and know how to get to the nearest hospital or clinic.

We would be remiss if we did not mention that, when in an unfamiliar context, one's safety radar may be misguided, so it is essential to listen to people who know the context. For example, locals can give advice on which means of transport are safe and which are not, a question that is of the utmost importance when traveling to appointments. For example, Kreft was warned that in Colombia regular taxis are often unsafe, especially if waved down in the streets, and that to get to her interviews safely, she should rely on a ride-share service. In one instance, a Colombian friend suggested that when there was no alternative to a regular taxi, Kreft should book through the app and share the order details, including the taxi registration number or license plate, with a friend. Likewise, sharing one's cell phone location with a trusted friend while traveling or when one feels unsafe may be a viable option. Finally, it is prudent to heed the safety recommendations and travel advisories provided by state authorities and embassies to determine when and where it is safe to travel. Especially if researchers have a responsibility not only for themselves but also for research assistants and research participants, safety must be a top priority.

This does not mean that a researcher should be careless in a context they know either. Of course, conducting fieldwork in a context that is known to the researcher offers many advantages. However, one should be prepared to encounter unwanted events too. For instance, Irgil has conducted fieldwork in her country of origin in a city she knows very well. Therefore, access to the site, moving around the site, and blending in has not been a problem; she also has the advantage of speaking the native language. Yet, she took notes of the streets she walked in, as she often returned from the field site after dark and thought she might get confused after a tiring day. She also established a closer relationship with two or three store owners in different parts of the field site if she needed something urgent, like running out of battery. Above all, one should always be aware of one's surroundings and use common sense. If something feels unsafe, chances are it is.

Fieldwork may negatively affect the researcher's mental health and mental wellbeing regardless of where one's “field” is, whether related to concerns about crime and insecurity, linguistic barriers, social isolation, or the practicalities of identifying, contacting and interviewing research participants. Coping with these different sources of stress can be both mentally and physically exhausting. Then there are the things you may hear, see and learn during the research itself, such as gruesome accounts of violence and suffering conveyed in interviews or archival documents one peruses. Kreft and Zvobgo have spoken with women victims of conflict-related sexual violence, who sometimes displayed strong emotions of pain and anger during the interviews. Likewise, Irgil and Willis have spoken with members of other vulnerable populations such as refugees and former sex workers ( Willis 2020 ).

Prior accounts ( Wood 2006 ; Loyle and Simoni 2017 ; Skjelsbæk 2018 ; Hummel and El Kurd 2020 ; Williamson et al. 2020 ; Schulz and Kreft 2021 ) show that it is natural for sensitive research and fieldwork challenges to affect or even (vicariously) traumatize the researcher. By removing researchers from their regular routines and support networks, fieldwork may also exacerbate existing mental health conditions ( Hummel and El Kurd 2020 ). Nonetheless, mental wellbeing is rarely incorporated into fieldwork courses and guidelines, where these exist at all. But even if you know to anticipate some sort of reaction, you rarely know what that reaction will be until you experience it. When researching sensitive or difficult topics, for example, reactions can include sadness, frustration, anger, fear, helplessness, and flashbacks to personal experiences of violence ( Williamson et al. 2020 ). For example, Kreft responded with episodic feelings of depression and both mental and physical exhaustion. But curiously, these reactions emerged most strongly after she had returned from fieldwork and in particular as she spent extended periods analyzing her interview data, reliving some of the more emotional scenes during the interviews and being confronted with accounts of (sexual) violence against women in a concentrated fashion. This is a crucial reminder that fieldwork does not end when one returns home; the after-effects may linger. Likewise, Zvobgo was physically and mentally drained upon her return from the field. Both Kreft and Zvobgo were unable to concentrate for long periods of time and experienced lower-than-normal levels of productivity for weeks afterward, patterns that formal and informal conversations with other scholars confirm to be common ( Schulz and Kreft 2021 ). Furthermore, the boundaries between “field” and “home” are blurred when conducting remote fieldwork ( Howlett 2021 , 11).

Nor are these adverse reactions limited to cases where the researcher has carried out the interviews themselves. Accounts of violence, pain, and suffering transported in reports, secondary literature, or other sources can evoke similar emotional stress, as Kreft experienced when engaging in a concentrated fashion with additional accounts of conflict-related sexual violence in Colombia and with the feminist literature on sexual and gender-based violence in the comfort of her Swedish office. This could also be applicable to Irgil's fieldwork as she interviewed refugees whose traumas have come out during the interviews or recall specific events triggered by the questions. Likewise, Lee has reviewed primary and secondary materials on North Korean defectors in the national archives and these materials contain violent, intense, emotional narratives.

Fortunately, there are several strategies to cope with and manage such adverse consequences. In a candid and insightful piece, other researchers have discussed the usefulness of distractions, sharing with colleagues, counseling, exercise, and, probably less advisable in the long term, comfort eating and drinking ( Williamson et al. 2020 ; see also Loyle and Simoni 2017 ; Hummel and El Kurd 2020 ). Our experiences largely tally with their observations. In this section, we explore some of these in more detail.

First, in the face of adverse consequences on your mental wellbeing, whether in the field or after your return, it is essential to be patient and generous with yourself. Negative effects on the researcher's mental wellbeing can hit in unexpected ways and at unexpected times. Even if you think that certain reactions are disproportionate or unwarranted at that specific moment, they may simply have been building up over a long time. They are legitimate. Second, the importance of taking breaks and finding distractions, whether that is exercise, socializing with friends, reading a good book, or watching a new series, cannot be overstated. It is easy to fall into a mode of thinking that you constantly have to be productive while you are “in the field,” to maximize your time. But as with all other areas in life, balance is key and rest is necessary. Taking your mind off your research and the research questions you puzzle over is also a good way to more fully soak up and appreciate the context in which you find yourself, in the case of in-person fieldwork, and about which you ultimately write.

Third, we cannot stress enough the importance of investing in social relations. Before going on fieldwork, researchers may want to consult others who have done it before them. Try to find (junior) scholars who have done fieldwork on similar kinds of topics or in the same country or countries you are planning to visit. Utilizing colleagues’ contacts and forging connections using social media are valuable strategies to expand your networks (in fact, this very paper is the result of a social media conversation and several of the authors have never met in person). Having been in the same situation before, most field researchers are, in our experience, generous with their time and advice. Before embarking on her first trip to Colombia, Kreft contacted other researchers in her immediate and extended network and received useful advice on questions such as how to move around Bogotá, whom to speak to, and how to find a research assistant. After completing her fieldwork, she has passed on her experiences to others who contacted her before their first fieldwork trip. Informal networks are, in the absence of more formalized fieldwork preparation, your best friend.

In the field, seeking the company of locals and of other researchers who are also doing fieldwork alleviates anxiety and makes fieldwork more enjoyable. Exchanging experiences, advice and potential interviewee contacts with peers can be extremely beneficial and make the many challenges inherent in fieldwork (on difficult topics) seem more manageable. While researchers conducting remote fieldwork may be physically isolated from other researchers, even connecting with others doing remote fieldwork may be comforting. And even when there are no precise solutions to be found, it is heartening or even cathartic to meet others who are in the same boat and with whom you can talk through your experiences. When Kreft shared some of her fieldwork-related struggles with another researcher she had just met in Bogotá and realized that they were encountering very similar challenges, it was like a weight was lifted off her shoulders. Similarly, peer support can help with readjustment after the fieldwork trip, even if it serves only to reassure you that a post-fieldwork dip in productivity and mental wellbeing is entirely natural. Bear in mind that certain challenges are part of the fieldwork experience and that they do not result from inadequacy on the part of the researcher.

Finally, we would like to stress a point made by Inger Skjelsbæk (2018 , 509) and which has not received sufficient attention: as a discipline, we need to take the question of researcher mental wellbeing more seriously—not only in graduate education, fieldwork preparation, and at conferences, but also in reflecting on how it affects the research process itself: “When strong emotions arise, through reading about, coding, or talking to people who have been impacted by [conflict-related sexual violence] (as victims or perpetrators), it may create a feeling of being unprofessional, nonscientific, and too subjective.”

We contend that this is a challenge not only for research on sensitive issues but also for fieldwork more generally. To what extent is it possible, and desirable, to uphold the image of the objective researcher during fieldwork, when we are at our foundation human beings? And going even further, how do the (anticipated) effects of our research on our wellbeing, and the safety precautions we take ( Gifford and Hall-Clifford 2008 ), affect the kinds of questions we ask, the kinds of places we visit and with whom we speak? How do they affect the methods we use and how we interpret our findings? An honest discussion of affective responses to our research in methods sections seems utopian, as emotionality in the research process continues to be silenced and relegated to the personal, often in gendered ways, which in turn is considered unconnected to the objective and scientific research process ( Jamar and Chappuis 2016 ). But as Gifford and Hall-Clifford (2008 , 26) aptly put it: “Graduate education should acknowledge the reality that fieldwork is scholarly but also intimately personal,” and we contend that the two shape each other. Therefore, we encourage political science as a discipline to reflect on researcher wellbeing and affective responses to fieldwork more carefully, and we see the need for methods courses that embrace a more holistic notion of the subjectivity of the researcher.

Interacting with people in the field is one of the most challenging yet rewarding parts of the work that we do, especially in comparison to impersonal, often tedious wrangling and analysis of quantitative data. Field researchers often make personal connections with their interviewees. Consequently, maintaining boundaries can be a bit tricky. Here, we recommend being honest with everyone with whom you interact without overstating the abilities of a researcher. This appears as a challenge in the field, particularly when you empathize with people and when they share profound parts of their lives with you for your research in addition to being “human subjects” ( Fujii 2012 ). For instance, when Irgil interviewed native citizens about the changes in their neighborhood following the arrival of Syrian refugees, many interviewees questioned what she would offer them in return for their participation. Irgil responded that her primary contribution would be her published work. She also noted, however, that academic papers can take a year, sometimes longer, to go through the peer-reviewed process and, once published, many studies have a limited audience. The Syrian refugees posed similar questions. Irgil responded not only with honesty but also, given this population's vulnerable status, she provided them contact information for NGOs with which they could connect if they needed help or answers to specific questions.

For her part, Zvobgo was very upfront with her interviewees about her role as a researcher: she recognized that she is not someone who is on the frontlines of the fight for human rights and transitional justice like they are. All she could/can do is use her platform to amplify their stories, bringing attention to their vital work through her future peer-reviewed publications. She also committed to sending them copies of the work, as electronic journal articles are often inaccessible due to paywalls and university press books are very expensive, especially for nonprofits. Interviewees were very receptive; some were even moved by the degree of self-awareness and the commitment to do right by them. In some cases, this prompted them to share even more, because they knew that the researcher was really there to listen and learn. This is something that junior scholars, and all scholars really, should always remember. We enter the field to be taught. Likewise, Kreft circulated among her interviewees Spanish-language versions of an academic article and a policy brief based on the fieldwork she had carried out in Colombia.

As researchers from the Global North, we recognize a possible power differential between us and our research subjects, and certainly an imbalance in power between the countries where we have been trained and some of the countries where we have done and continue to do field research, particularly in politically dynamic contexts ( Knott 2019 ). This is why we are so concerned with being open and transparent with everyone with whom we come into contact in the field and why we are committed to giving back to those who so generously lend us their time and knowledge. Knott (2019 , 148) summarizes this as “Reflexive openness is a form of transparency that is methodologically and ethically superior to providing access to data in its raw form, at least for qualitative data.”

We also recognize that academics, including in the social sciences and especially those hailing from countries in the Global North, have a long and troubled history of exploiting their power over others for the sake of their research—including failing to be upfront about their research goals, misrepresenting the on-the-ground realities of their field research sites (including remote fieldwork), and publishing essentializing, paternalistic, and damaging views and analyses of the people there. No one should build their career on the backs of others, least of all in a field concerned with the possession and exercise of power. Thus, it is highly crucial to acknowledge the power hierarchies between the researcher and the interviewees, and to reflect on them both in the field and beyond the field upon return.

A major challenge to conducting fieldwork is when researchers’ carefully planned designs do not go as planned due to unforeseen events outside of our control, such as pandemics, natural disasters, deteriorating security situations in the field, or even the researcher falling ill. As the Covid-19 pandemic has made painfully clear, researchers may face situations where in-person research is simply not possible. In some cases, researchers may be barred entry to their fieldwork site; in others, the ethical implications of entering the field greatly outweigh the importance of fieldwork. Such barriers to conducting in-person research require us to reconsider conventional notions of what constitutes fieldwork. Researchers may need to shift their data collection methods, for example, conducting interviews remotely instead of in person. Even while researchers are in the field, they may still need to carry out part of their interviews or surveys virtually or by phone. For example, Kreft (2020) carried out a small number of interviews remotely while she was based in Bogotá, because some of the women's civil society activists with whom she intended to speak were based in parts of the country that were difficult and/or dangerous to access.

Remote field research, which we define as the collection of data over the internet or over the phone where in-person fieldwork is not possible due to security, health or other risks, comes with its own sets of challenges. For one, there may be certain populations that researchers cannot reach remotely due to a lack of internet connectivity or technology such as cellphones and computers. In such instances, there will be a sampling bias toward individuals and groups that do have these resources, a point worth noting when scholars interpret their research findings. In the case of virtual research, the risk of online surveillance, hacking, or wiretapping may also produce reluctance on the part of interviewees to discuss sensitive issues that may compromise their safety. Researchers need to carefully consider how the use of digital technology may increase the risk to research participants and what changes to the research design and any interview guides this necessitates. In general, it is imperative that researchers reflect on how they can ethically use digital technology in their fieldwork ( Van Baalen 2018 ). Remote interviews may also be challenging to arrange for researchers who have not made connections in person with people in their community of interest.

Some of the serendipitous happenings we discussed earlier may also be less likely and snowball sampling more difficult. For example, in phone or virtual interviews, it is harder to build good rapport and trust with interviewees as compared to face-to-face interviews. Accordingly, researchers should be more careful in communicating with interviewees and creating a comfortable interview environment. Especially when dealing with sensitive topics, researchers may have to make several phone calls and sometimes have to open themselves to establishing trust with interviewees. Also, researchers must be careful in protecting interviewees in phone or virtual interviews when they deal with sensitive topics of countries interviewees reside in.

The inability to physically visit one's community of interest may also encourage scholars to critically reflect on how much time in the field is essential to completing their research and to consider creative, alternative means for accessing information to complete their projects. While data collection techniques such as face-to-face interviews and archival work in the field may be ideal in normal times, there exist other data sources that can provide comparably useful information. For example, in her research on the role of framing in the United States base politics, Willis found that social media accounts and websites yielded information useful to her project. Many archives across the world have also been digitized. Researchers may also consider crowdsourcing data from the field among their networks, as fellow academics tend to collect much more data in the field than they ever use in their published works. They may also elect to hire someone, perhaps a graduate student, in a city or a country where they cannot travel and have the individual access, scan, and send archival materials. This final suggestion may prove generally useful to researchers with limited time and financial resources.

Remote qualitative data collection techniques, while they will likely never be “the gold-standard,” also pose several advantages. These techniques may help researchers avoid some of the issues mentioned previously. Remote interviews, for example, are less time-consuming in terms of travel to the interview site ( Archibald et al. 2019 ). The implication is that researchers may have less fatigue from conducting interviews and/or may be able to conduct more interviews. For example, while Willis had little energy to do anything else after an in-person interview (or two) in a given day, she had much more energy after completing remote interviews. Second, remote fieldwork also helps researchers avoid potentially dangerous situations in the field mentioned previously. Lastly, remote fieldwork generally presents fewer financial barriers than in-person research ( Archibald et al. 2019 ). In that sense, considering remote qualitative data collection, a type of “fieldwork” may make fieldwork more accessible to a greater number of scholars.

Many of the substantive, methodological and practical challenges that arise during fieldwork can be anticipated. Proper preparation can help you hit the ground running once you enter your fieldwork destination, whether in-person or virtually. Nonetheless, there is no such thing as being perfectly prepared for the field. Some things will simply be beyond your control, and especially as a newcomer to field research, and you should be prepared for things to not go as planned. New questions will arise, interview participants may cancel appointments, and you might not get the answers you expected. Be ready to make adjustments to research plans, interview guides, or questionnaires. And, be mindful of your affective reactions to the overall fieldwork situation and be gentle with yourself.

We recommend approaching fieldwork as a learning experience as much as, or perhaps even more than, a data collection effort. This also applies to your research topic. While it is prudent always to exercise a healthy amount of skepticism about what people tell you and why, the participants in your research will likely have unique perspectives and knowledge that will challenge yours. Be an attentive listener and remember that they are experts of their own experiences.

We encourage more institutions to offer courses that cover field research preparation and planning, practical advice on safety and wellbeing, and discussion of ethics. Specifically, we align with Schwartz and Cronin-Furman's (2020 , 3) contention “that treating fieldwork preparation as the methodology will improve individual scholars’ experiences and research.” In this article, we outline a set of issue areas in which we think formal preparation is necessary, but we note that our discussion is by no means exhaustive. Formal fieldwork preparation should also extend beyond what we have covered in this article, such as issues of data security and preparing for nonqualitative fieldwork methods. We also note that field research is one area that has yet to be comprehensively addressed in conversations on diversity and equity in the political science discipline and the broader academic profession. In a recent article, Brielle Harbin (2021) begins to fill this gap by sharing her experiences conducting in-person election surveys as a Black woman in a conservative and predominantly white region of the United States and the challenges that she encountered. Beyond race and gender, citizenship, immigration status, one's Ph.D. institution and distance to the field also affect who is able to do what type of field research, where, and for how long. Future research should explore these and related questions in greater detail because limits on who is able to conduct field research constrict the sociological imagination of our field.

While Emmons and Moravcsik (2020) focus on leading Political Science Ph.D. programs in the United States, these trends likely obtain, both in lower ranked institutions in the broader United States as well as in graduate education throughout North America and Europe.

As all the authors have carried out qualitative fieldwork, this is the primary focus of this guide. This does not, however, mean that we exclude quantitative or experimental data collection from our definition of fieldwork.

There is great variation in graduate students’ financial situations, even in the Global North. For example, while higher education is tax-funded in most countries in Europe and Ph.D. students in countries such as Sweden, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Switzerland receive a comparatively generous full-time salary, healthcare and contributions to pension schemes, Ph.D. programs in other contexts like the United States and the United Kingdom have (high) enrollment fees and rely on scholarships, stipends, or departmental duties like teaching to (partially) offset these, while again others, such as Germany, are commonly financed by part-time (50 percent) employment at the university with tasks substantively unrelated to the dissertation. These different preconditions leave many Ph.D. students struggling financially and even incurring debt, while others are in a more comfortable financial position. Likewise, Ph.D. programs around the globe differ in structure, such as required coursework, duration and supervision relationships. Naturally, all of these factors have a bearing on the extent to which fieldwork is feasible. We acknowledge unequal preconditions across institutions and contexts, and trust that those Ph.D. students interested in pursuing fieldwork are best able to assess the structural and institutional context in which they operate and what this implies for how, when, and how long to carry out fieldwork.

In our experience, this is not only the general cycle for graduate students in North America, but also in Europe and likely elsewhere.

For helpful advice and feedback on earlier drafts, we wish to thank the editors and reviewers at International Studies Review , and Cassandra Emmons. We are also grateful to our interlocuters in Argentina, Canada, Colombia, Germany, Guatemala, Japan, Kenya, Norway, the Philippines, Sierra Leone, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States, without whom this reflection on fieldwork would not have been possible. All authors contributed equally to this manuscript.

This material is based upon work supported by the Forskraftstiftelsen Theodor Adelswärds Minne, Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation(KAW 2013.0178), National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program(DGE-1418060), Southeast Asia Research Group (Pre-Dissertation Fellowship), University at Albany (Initiatives for Women and the Benevolent Association), University of Missouri (John D. Bies International Travel Award Program and Kinder Institute on Constitutional Democracy), University of Southern California (Provost Fellowship in the Social Sciences), Vetenskapsrådet(Diarienummer 2019-06298), Wilhelm och Martina Lundgrens Vetenskapsfond(2016-1102; 2018-2272), and William & Mary (Global Research Institute Pre-doctoral Fellowship).

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Understanding Qualitative Field Work

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4. Preparing for fieldwork - deciding what to observe and how to record observations

Once you have a clear set of aims and objectives for your research study and have decided that fieldwork is the right approach to use, your aims and objectives will help you determine both your methods and what you want to observe. Having an in-depth knowledge of the research topic, and the field, will also assist in planning and performing appropriate observations.

Fieldwork requires a standard for observation and interpretation of the data obtained. Observing not only what is happening, but why it is happening allows the researcher to differentiate regular from irregular behaviours and how these relate to the theoretical purpose of the observation.

Interacting with research participants in the field is also essential to help clarify and add depth to the emerging understanding about what is being observed.

As you progress with fieldwork and become immersed in the setting, you will develop a deeper understanding of what you need to observe in order answer your research question.

A nurse preparing patient for medical observation.

Module 2: Sociological Research

Field research, learning outcomes.

Explain the three types of field research: participant observation, ethnography, and case studies

The work of sociology rarely happens in limited, confined spaces. Sociologists seldom study subjects in their own offices or laboratories. Rather, sociologists go out into the world. They meet subjects where they live, work, and play. Field research refers to gathering primary data from a natural environment without doing a lab experiment or a survey. It is a research method suited to an interpretive framework rather than to the scientific method. To conduct field research, the sociologist must be willing to step into new environments and observe, participate, or experience those worlds. In field work, the sociologists, rather than the subjects, are the ones out of their element.

The researcher interacts with or observes a person or people and gathers data along the way. The key point in field research is that it takes place in the subject’s natural environment, whether it’s a coffee shop or tribal village, a homeless shelter or the DMV, a hospital, airport, mall, or beach resort.

A man is shown taking notes outside a tent in the mountains.

Figure 1. Sociological researchers travel across countries and cultures to interact with and observe subjects in their natural environments. (Photo courtesy of IMLS Digital Collections and Content/flickr and Olympic National Park)

While field research often begins in a specific setting , the study’s purpose is to observe specific behaviors in that setting. Field work is optimal for observing how people behave. It is less useful, however, for understanding why they behave that way. You can’t really narrow down cause and effect when there are so many variables to be factored into a natural environment.

Many of the data gathered in field research are based not on cause and effect but on correlation. And while field research looks for correlation, its small sample size does not allow for establishing a causal relationship between two variables.

BeyoncÉ and LADY gaga as sociological subjects

Two pictures depict Lady Gaga and Beyoncé performing.

Figure 2. Researchers have used surveys and participant observations to accumulate data on Lady Gaga and Beyonce as multifaceted performers. (Credit a: John Robert Chartlon/flickr, b: Kristopher Harris/flickr.)

Sociologists have studied Lady Gaga and Beyoncé and their impact on music, movies, social media, fan participation, and social equality. In their studies, researchers have used several research methods including secondary analysis, participant observation, and surveys from concert participants.

In their study, Click, Lee & Holiday (2013) interviewed 45 Lady Gaga fans who utilized social media to communicate with the artist. These fans viewed Lady Gaga as a mirror of themselves and a source of inspiration. Like her, they embrace not being a part of mainstream culture. Many of Lady Gaga’s fans are members of the LGBTQ community. They see the “song “Born This Way” as a rallying cry and answer her calls for “Paws Up” with a physical expression of solidarity—outstretched arms and ﬁngers bent and curled to resemble monster claws.”

Sascha Buchanan (2019) made use of participant observation to study the relationship between two fan groups, that of Beyoncé and that of Rihanna. She observed award shows sponsored by iHeartRadio, MTV EMA, and BET that pit one group against another as they competed for Best Fan Army, Biggest Fans, and FANdemonium. Buchanan argues that the media thus sustains a myth of rivalry between the two most commercially successful Black women vocal artists.

Here, we will look at three types of field research: participant observation, ethnography, and the case study.

Participant Observation

In participant observation research, a sociologist joins people and participates in a group’s routine activities for the purpose of observing them within that context. This method lets researchers experience a specific aspect of social life. A researcher might go to great lengths to get a firsthand look into a trend, institution, or behavior. Researchers temporarily put themselves into roles and record their observations. A researcher might work as a waitress in a diner, live as a homeless person for several weeks, or ride along with police officers as they patrol their regular beat.

Although these researchers try to blend in seamlessly with the population they study, they are still obligated to obtain IRB approval. In keeping with scholarly objectives, the purpose of their observation is different from simply “people watching” at one’s workplace, on the bus or train, or in a public space.

Waitress serves customers in an outdoor café.

Figure 3. Who is the sociologist in this photo? It’s impossible to tell! In participant observation, researchers immerse themselves in an environment for a time. (Photo courtesy of zoetnet/flickr)

At the beginning of a field study, researchers might have a question: “What really goes on in the kitchen of the most popular diner on campus?” or “What is it like to experience homelessness?” Participant observation is a useful method if the researcher wants to explore a certain environment from the inside.

Field researchers simply want to observe and learn. In such a setting, the researcher will be alert and open minded to whatever happens, recording all observations accurately. Soon, as patterns emerge, questions will become more specific, observations will lead to hypotheses, and hypotheses will guide the researcher in shaping data into results.

Some sociologists prefer not to alert people to their presence. The main advantage of covert participant observation is that it allows the researcher access to authentic, natural behaviors of a group’s members. The challenge, however, is gaining access to a setting without disrupting the pattern of others’ beha vior. Becoming an inside member of a group, organization, or subculture takes time and effort. Researchers must pretend to be something they are not. The process could involve role playing, making contacts, networking, or applying for a job. Whenever deception is involved in sociological research, it will be intensely scrutinized and may or may not be approved by an institutional IRB.

Once inside a group, participation observation research can last months or even years. Sociologists have to balance the types of interpersonal relationships that arise from living and/or working with other people with objectivity as a researcher. They must keep their purpose in mind and apply the sociological perspective. That way, they illuminate social patterns that are often unrecognized. Because information gathered during participant observation is mostly qualitative, rather than quantitative, the e nd results are often descriptive or interpretive. This type of research is well-suited to learning about the kinds of human behavior or social groups that are not known by the scientific community, who are particularly closed or secretive, or when one is attempting to understand societal structures, as we will see in the following example.

Nickel and Dimed (2001, 2011)

Journalist Barbara Ehrenreich con ducted participation observation research for her book Nickel and Dimed . One day over lunch with her editor, Ehrenreich mentioned an idea. How can people exist on minimum-wage work? How do low-income workers get by? she wondered aloud. Someone should do a study. To her surprise, her editor responded, Why don’t you do it?

That’s how Ehrenreich found herself joining the ranks of the working class. For several months, she left her comfortable home and lived and worked among people who lacked, for the most part, higher education and marketable job skills. Undercover, she applied for and worked minimum wage jobs as a waitress, a cleaning woman, a nursing home aide, and a retail chain employee. During her participant observation, she used only her income from those jobs to pay for food, clothing, transportation, and shelter.

She discovered the obvious, that it’s almost impossible to get by on minimum wage service work. She also experienced and observed attitudes many middle and upper-class people never think about. She witnessed firsthand the treatment of working class employees. She saw the extreme measures people take to make ends meet and to survive. She described fellow employees who held two or three jobs, worked seven days a week, lived in cars, could not pay to treat chronic health conditions, got randomly fired, submitted to drug tests, and moved in and out of homeless shelters. She brought aspects of that life to light, describing difficult working conditions and the poor treatment that low-wage workers suffer.

Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America , the book she w rote upon her return to her real life as a well-paid writer, has been widely read and used in many college classrooms. The first edition was published in 2001 and a follow-up post-recession edition was published with updated information in 2011.

About 10 empty office cubicles are shown.

Figure 4. Field research happens in real locations. What type of environment do work spaces foster? What would a sociologist discover after blending in? (Photo courtesy of drewzhrodague/flickr)

Ethnography

Ethnography is a type of social research that involves the extended observation of the social perspective and cultural values of an entire social setting. Ethnogra phies involve objective observation of an entire community, and they often involve participant observation as a research method.

British anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski, who studied the Trobriand Islanders near Papua New Guinea during World War I, was one of the first anthropologists to engage with the communities they studied and he became known for this methodological contribution, which differed from the detached observations that took place from a distance (i.e., “on the verandas” or “armchair anthropology”).

Although anthropologists had been doing ethnographic research longer, sociologists were doing ethnographic research in the 20th century, particularly in what became known as The Chicago School at the University of Chicago. William Foote Whyte’s Street Corner Society: The Social Structure of an Italian Slum (1943) is a seminal work of urban ethnography and a “classic” sociological text.

The heart of an ethnographic study focuses on how subjects view their own social standing and how they understand themselves in relation to a community. An ethnographic study might observe, for example, a small U.S. fishing town, an Inuit community, a village in Thailand, a Buddhist monastery, a private boarding school, or an amusement park. These places all have borders. People live, work, study, or vacation within those borders. People are there for a certain reason and therefore behave in certain ways and respect certain cultural norms. An ethnographer would commit to spending a predetermined amount of time studying every aspect of the chosen place, taking in as much as possible.

A sociologist studying a tribe in the Amazon might watch the way villagers go about their daily lives and then write a paper about it. To observe a spiritual retreat center, an ethnographer might attend as a guest for an extended stay, observe and record data, and collate the material into results.

The Making of Middletown: A Study in Modern U.S. Culture

In 1924, a young married couple named Robert and Helen Lynd undertook an unprecedented ethnography: to apply sociological methods to the study of one U.S. city in order to discover what “ordinary” people in the United States did and believed. Choosing Muncie, Indiana (population about 30,000), as their subject, they moved to the small town and lived there for eighteen months.

Ethnographers had been examining other cultures for decades—groups considered minority or outsider—like gangs, immigrants, and the poor. But no one had studied the so-called average American.

Recording interviews and using surveys to gather data, the Lynds did not sugarcoat or idealize U.S. life (PBS). They objectively stated what they observed. Researching existing sources, they compared Muncie in 1890 to the Muncie they observed in 1924. Most Muncie adults, they found, had grown up on farms but now lived in homes inside the city. From that discovery, the Lynds focused their study on the impact of industrialization and urbanization.

They observed that the workers of Muncie were divided into business class and working class groups. They defined business class as dealing with abstract concepts and symbols, while working class people used tools to create concrete objects. The two classes led different lives with different goals and hopes. However, the Lynds observed, mass production offered both classes the same amenities. Like wealthy families, the working class was now able to own radios, cars, washing machines, telephones, vacuum cleaners, and refrigerators. This was a newly emerging economic and material reality of the 1920s.

Early 20th century black and white photo of a classroom with female students at their desks.

Figure 5. A classroom in Muncie, Indiana, in 1917, five years before John and Helen Lynd began researching this “typical” U.S. community. (Photo courtesy of Don O’Brien/flickr)

As the Lynds worked, they divided their manuscript into six sections: Getting a Living, Making a Home, Training the Young, Using Leisure, Engaging in Religious Practices, and Engaging in Community Activities. Each chapter included subsections such as “The Long Arm of the Job” and “Why Do They Work So Hard?” in the “Getting a Living” chapter.

When the study was completed, the Lynds encountered a big problem. The Rockefeller Foundation, which had commissioned the book, claimed it was useless and refused to publish it. The Lynds asked if they could seek a publisher themselves.

As it turned out, Middletown: A Study in Modern American Culture was not only published in 1929, but also became an instant bestseller, a status unheard of for a sociological study. The book sold out six printings in its first year of publication, and has never gone out of print (PBS).

Nothing like it had ever been done before. Middletown was reviewed on the front page of the New York Times . Readers in the 1920s and 1930s identified with the citizens of Muncie, Indiana, but they were equally fascinated by the sociological methods and the use of scientific data to define ordinary people in the United States. The book was proof that social data were important—and interesting—to the U.S. public.

Institutional Ethnography

Institutional ethnography is an extension of basic ethnographic research principles that focuses intentionally on everyday concrete social relationships. Developed by Canadian sociologist Dorothy E. Smith, institutional ethnography is often considered a feminist-inspired approach to social analysis and primarily considers women’s experiences within male-dominated societies and power structures. Smith’s work challenges sociology’s exclusion of women, both academically and in the study of women’s lives (Fenstermaker, n.d.).

Historically, social science research tended to objectify women and ignore their experiences except as viewed from a male perspective. Modern feminists note that describing women, and other marginalized groups, as subordinates helps those in authority maintain their own dominant positions (Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, n.d.). Smith’s three major works explored what she called “the conceptual practices of power” (1990; cited in Fensternmaker, n.d.) and are still considered seminal works in feminist theory and ethnography.

Sometimes a researcher wants to study one specific person or event. A case study is an in-depth analysis of a single event, situation, or individual. To conduct a case study, a researcher examines existing sources like documents and archival records, conducts interviews, or engages in direct observation and even participant observation, if possible.

Researchers might use this method to study a single case of, for example, a foster child, drug lord, cancer patient, criminal, or rape victim. However, a major criticism of the case study method is that a developed study of a single case, while offering depth on a topic, does not provide broad enough evidence to form a generalized conclusion. In other words, it is difficult to make universal claims based on just one person, since one person does not verify a pattern. This is why most sociologists do not use case studies as a primary research method.

However, case studies are useful when the single case is unique. In these instances, a single case study can add tremendous knowledge to a certain discipline. For example, a feral child, also called a “wild child,” is one who grows up isolated from other human beings. Feral children grow up without social contact and language, which are elements crucial to a “civilized” child’s development. These children mimic the behaviors and movements of animals, and often invent their own language. There are only about one hundred cases of “feral children” in the world.

As you may imagine, a feral child is a subject of great interest to researchers. Feral children provide unique information about child development because they have grown up outside of the parameters of “normal” child socialization and language acquisition. And since there are very few feral children, the case study is the most appropriate method for researchers to use in studying the subject.

At age three, a Ukranian girl named Oxana Malaya suffered severe parental neglect. She lived in a shed with dogs, and she ate raw meat and scraps. Five years later, a neighbor called authorities and reported seeing a girl who ran on all fours, barking. Officials brought Oxana into society, where she was cared for and taught some human behaviors, but she never became fully socialized. She has been designated as unable to support herself and now lives in a mental institution (Grice 2011). Case studies like this offer a way for sociologists to collect data that may not be collectable by any other method.

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Epidemiological Field Work in Population-Based Studies

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Field work in epidemiological studies consists of collecting data in natural and experimental settings to answer research questions or test hypotheses about the origins, distribution, and control of disease in populations. Field data can be collected directly and indirectly. Although direct data collection traditionally includes collecting biological samples such as blood and saliva, epidemiologists also collect data about the health of populations by contacting respondents through the telephone, mail, or online. To study a community’s use of preventative health services (such as influenza vaccinations), for example, a team of epidemiologists can conduct in-person or telephone interviews or administer written, computer-assisted or online surveys. Indirect data collection includes reviewing written, oral, and visual records of respondents’ thoughts and actions and observing them in their natural or experimental environment. To study the extent to which a health care system’s medical providers adhere to recommended guidelines for preventative health care, for instance, a team of epidemiologists might review a sample of medical records to identify which preventative services were used and by whom. If the team were interested in understanding why preventative services were (or were not) used, it might review transcripts of audio or videotapes of selected physician and patient encounters.

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Fink, A. (2005). Epidemiological Field Work in Population-Based Studies. In: Ahrens, W., Pigeot, I. (eds) Handbook of Epidemiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-26577-1_11

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Research Aptitude MCQ Based on Solved Paper | Updated

MCQ On Research Aptitude For NTA NET Exam

(MCQ Research Aptitude Based on Solved Paper UGC NET EXAM 2006-2018 )

1. There are two sets given below. Set – I specifies the types of research, while Set – II indicates their characteristics. Match the two and give your answer by selecting the appropriate code. Set – I Set – II (Research types) (Characteristics) (a) Fundamental research (i) Finding out the extent of perceived impact of an intervention (b) Applied research (ii) Developing an effective explanation through theory building (c) Action research (iii) Improving an existing situation through use of interventions (d) Evaluative research (iv) Exploring the possibility of a theory for use in various situations (v) Enriching technological resources Code : (a) (b) (c) (d) (1) (ii) (iv) (iii) (i) (2) (v) (iv) (iii) (ii) (3) (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (4) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v)

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2. Which of the sets of activities best indicate the cyclic nature of action research strategy ? (1) Reflect, Observe, Plan, Act (2) Observe, Act, Reflect, Plan (3) Act, Plan, Observe, Reflect (4) Plan, Act, Observe, Reflect

3. Which of the following sequences of research steps is nearer to scientific method ? (1) Suggested solution of the problem, Deducing the consequences of the solution, Perceiving the problem situation, Location of the difficulty and testing the solutions. (2) Perceiving the problem situation, Locating the actual problem and its definition, Hypothesizing, Deducing the consequences of the suggested solution and Testing the hypothesis in action. (3) Defining a problem, Identifying the causes of the problem, Defining a population, Drawing a sample, Collecting data and Analysing results. (4) Identifying the causal factors, Defining the problem, Developing a hypothesis, Selecting a sample, Collecting data and arriving at generalizations and Conclusions.

4. The problem of ‘research ethics’ is concerned with which aspect of research activities ? (1) Following the prescribed format of a thesis (2) Data analysis through qualitative or quantitative techniques (3) Defining the population of research (4) Evidence based research reporting

5. In which of the following activities, potential for nurturing creative and critical thinking is relatively greater ? (1) Preparing research summary (2) Presenting a seminar paper (3) Participation in research conference (4) Participation in a workshop

1. Which of the following research types focuses on ameliorating the prevailing situations ? (1) Fundamental Research (2) Applied Research (3) Action Research (4) Experimental Research

2. A researcher attempts to evaluate the effect of method of feeding on anxiety – proneness of children. Which method of research would be appropriate for this ? (1) Case study method (2) Experimental method (3) Ex-post-facto method (4) Survey method

3. In which of the following arrangements a wider spectrum of ideas and issues may be made possible ? (1) Research Article (2) Workshop mode (3) Conference (4) Symposium

4. In finalizing a thesis writing format which of the following would form part of supplementary pages ? (1) List of tables and figures (2) Table of contents (3) Conclusions of the study (4) Bibliography and Appendices

5. Which of the following is susceptible to the issue of research ethics ? (1) Inaccurate application of statistical techniques (2) Faulty research design (3) Choice of sampling techniques (4) Reporting of research findings

1. The principal of a school conducts an interview session of teachers and students with a view to explore the possibility of their enhanced participation in school programmes. This endeavour may be related to which type of research ? (1) Evaluation Research (2) Fundamental Research (3) Action Research (4) Applied Research

2. In doing action research what is the usual sequence of steps ? (1) Reflect, observe, plan, act (2) Plan, act, observe, reflect (3) Plan, reflect, observe, act (4) Act, observe, plan, reflect

3. Which sequence of research steps is logical in the list given below ? (1) Problem formulation, Analysis, Development of Research design, Hypothesis making, Collection of data, Arriving at generalizations and conclusions. (2) Development of Research design, Hypothesis making, Problem formulation, Data analysis, Arriving at conclusions and data collection. (3) Problem formulation, Hypothesis making, Development of a Research design, Collection of data, Data analysis and formulation of generalizations and conclusions. (4) Problem formulation, Deciding about the sample and data collection tools, Formulation of hypothesis, Collection and interpretation of research evidence.

4. Below are given two sets – research methods (Set-I) and data collection tools (Set-II). Match the two sets and indicate your answer by selecting the correct code : Set – I (Research Methods) Set – II (Data Collection Tools) a. Experimental method i. Using primary and secondary sources b. Ex post-facto method ii. Questionnaire c. Descriptive survey method iii. Standardized tests d. Historical method iv. Typical characteristic tests Codes : a b c d (1) ii i iii iv (2) iii iv ii i (3) ii iii i iv (4) ii iv iii i

5. The issue of ‘research ethics’ may be considered pertinent at which stage of research ? (1) At the stage of problem formulation and its definition (2) At the stage of defining the population of research (3) At the stage of data collection and interpretation (4) At the stage of reporting the findings.

1. In qualitative research paradigm, which of the following features may be considered critical? (A) Data collection with standardised research tools. (B) Sampling design with probability sample techniques. (C) Data collection with bottom-up empirical evidences. (D) Data gathering to take with top-down systematic evidences.

2. From the following list of statements identify the set which has negative implications for ‘research ethics’ : (i) A researcher critically looks at the findings of another research. (ii) Related studies are cited without proper references. (iii) Research findings are made the basis for policy making. (iv) Conduct of practitioner is screened in terms of reported research evidences. (v) A research study is replicated with a view to verify the evidences from other researches. (vi) Both policy making and policy implementing processes are regulated in terms of preliminary studies.

Codes: (A) (i), (ii) and (iii) (B) (ii), (iii) and (iv) (C) (ii), (iv) and (vi) (D) (i), (iii) and (v)

3. In a research on the effect of child-rearing practices on stress-proneness of children in competing school projects, the hypothesis formulated is that ‘child rearing practices do influence stress-proneness’. At the data-analysis stage a null hypothesis is advanced to find out the tenability of research hypothesis. On the basis of the evidence available, the null hypothesis is rejected at 0.01 level of significance. What decision may be warranted in respect of the research hypothesis? (A) The research hypothesis will also be rejected. (B) The research hypothesis will be accepted. (C) Both the research hypothesis and the null hypothesis will be rejected. (D) No decision can be taken in respect of the research hypothesis.

4. A research intends to explore the effect of possible factors for the organization of effective mid-day meal interventions. Which research method will be most appropriate for this study? (A) Historical method (B) Descriptive survey method (C) Experimental method (D) Ex-post-facto method

5. Which of the following is an initial mandatory requirement for pursuing research? (A) Developing a research design (B) Formulating a research question (C) Deciding about the data analysis procedure (D) Formulating a research hypothesis

6. The format of thesis writing is the same as in (A) preparation of a research paper/article (B) writing of seminar presentation (C) a research dissertation (D) presenting a workshop/conference paper

1. Which of the following statements is not true in the context of participatory research? (A) It recognizes knowledge as power. (B) It emphasises on people as experts. (C) It is a collective process of enquiry. (D) Its sole purpose is production of knowledge.

2. Which of the following statements is true in the context of the testing of a hypothesis? (A) It is only the alternative hypothesis, that can be tested. (B) It is only the null hypothesis, that can be tested. (C) Both, the alternative and the null hypotheses can be tested. (D) Both, the alternative and the null hypotheses cannot be tested.

3. Which of the following are the basic rules of APA style of referencing format? (a) Italicize titles of shorter works such as journal articles or essays (b) Invert authors’ names (last name first) (c) Italicize titles of longer works such as books and journals (d) Alphabetically index reference list

Select the correct answer from the codes given below: (A) (a) and (b) (B) (b), (c) and (d) (C) (c) and (d) (D) (a), (b), (c) and (d)

4. Which of the following are the characteristics of a seminar? (a) It is a form of academic instruction. (b) It involves questioning, discussion and debates. (c) It involves large groups of individuals. (d) It needs involvement of skilled persons.

Select the correct answer from the codes given below (A) (b) and (c) (B) (b) and (d) (C) (b), (c) and (d) (D) (a), (b) and (d)

5. A researcher is interested in studying the prospects of a particular political party in an urban area. What tool should he prefer for the study? (A) Rating scale (B) Interview (C) Questionnaire (D) Schedule

6. Ethical norms in research do not involve guidelines for: (A) Thesis format (B) Copyright (C) Patenting policy (D) Data sharing policies

7. Consider the argument given below: ‘Pre – employment testing of teachers is quite fair because doctors, architects and engineers who are now employed had to face such a testing.’

What type of argument it is? (A) Deductive (B) Analogical (C) Psychological (D) Biological

8. A definition that has a meaning that is deliberately assigned to some symbol is called: (A) Lexical (B) Precising (C) Stipulative (D) Persuasive

9. A Cluster of propositions with a structure that exhibits some inference is called (A) An inference (B) An argument (C) An explanation (D) A valid argument

1. Which of the following statements regarding the meaning of research are correct (a) Research refers to a series of systematic activity or activities undertaken to find out the solution of a problem (b) It is a systematic, logical and an unbiased process wherein verification of hypothesis data analysis, interpretation and formation of principles can be done (c) It is an intellectual enquiry or quest towards truth (d) It leads to enhancement of knowledge

(A) (a), (b) and (c) (B) (b), (c) and (d) (C) (a), (c) and (d) (D) (a), (b), (c) and (d)

2. A good thesis writing should involve (a) reduction of punctuation and grammatical errors to a minimum (b) careful checking of references (c) consistency in the way the thesis is written (d) a clear and well written abstract

(A) (a), (b), (c) and (d) (B) (a), (b) and (c) (C) (a), (b) and (d) (D) (b), (c) and (d)

3. Jean Piaget gave a theory of cognitive development of humans on the basis of his (A) Fundamental research e basis of his (B) applied research (C) Action research (D) Evaluation Research

4. “Male and female students perform equally well in a numerical aptitude test.” This statement indicates a(A) research hypothesis (B) null hypothesis (C) directional hypothesis (D) statistical hypothesis

5. The conclusions/findings of which type of research cannot be generalized to other situations (A) Historical research (B) Descriptive Research (C) Experimental Research (D) Causal Comparative Research

6.Which of the following steps are required to design a questionnaire (a) Writing primary and secondary aims of the study (b) Review of the current literature (c) Prepare a draft of questionnaire (d) Revision of the draft

(A) (a), (b) and (c) (B) (a), (c) and (d) (C) (b), (c) and (d) (D) (a), (b), (c) and (d)

7. When the purpose of a definition is to explain the use or to eliminate ambiguity the definition is called (A) Stipulative (B) Theoretical (C) Lexical (D) Persuasive

1. The core elements of dissertation are (A) Introduction; Data Collection; Data Analysis; Conclusions and Recommendations (B) Executive Summary; Literature review; Data gathered; Conclusions; Bibliography (C) Research Plan; Research Data; Analysis; References (D) Introduction; Literature Review; Research Methodology; Results; Discussion and Conclusion

2. What is a Research Design? (A) A way of conducting research that is not grounded in theory. (B) The choice between using qualitative or quantitative methods. (C) The style in which you present your research findings e.g. a graph. (D) A framework for every stage of the collection and analysis of data.

3. “Sampling Cases” means (A) Sampling using a sampling frame (B) Identifying people who are suitable for research (C) Literally the researcher’s brief case (D) Sampling of people, newspapers, television programmes etc.

4. The frequency distribution of a research data which is symmetrical in shape similar to a normal distribution but center peak is much higher, is (A) Skewed (B) Mesokurtic (C) Leptokurtic (D) Platykurtic

5. When planning to do a social research, it is better to (A) Approach the topic with an open mind (B) Do a pilot study before getting stuck into it (C) Be familiar with literature on the topic (D) Forget about theory because this is a very practical

6. When academicians are called to deliver lecture or presentations to an audience on certain topics or a set of topics of educational nature, it is called (A) Training Program (B) Seminar (C) Workshop (D) Symposium

7. Media is known as (A) First Estate (B) Second Estate (C) Third Estate (D) Fourth Estate

1. In a thesis, figures and tables are included in (A) The appendix (B) A separate chapter (C) The concluding chapter (D) The text itself

2. A thesis statement is (A) An observation (B) A fact (C) An assertion (D) A discussion

3. The research approach of Max Weber to understand how people create meanings in natural settings is identified as (A) Positive paradigm (B) Critical paradigm (C) Natural paradigm (D) Interpretative paradigm

4. Which one of the following is a non probability sampling? (A) Simple Random (B) Purposive (C) Systematic (D) Stratified

5. Identify the category of evaluation that assesses the learning progress to provide continuous feedback to the students during instruction. (A) Placement (B) Diagnostic (C) Formative (D) Summative

6. The research stream of immediate application is (A) Conceptual research (B) Action research (C) Fundamental research (D) Empirical research

1. The population information is called parameter while the corresponding sample information is known as (A) Universe (B) Inference (C) Sampling design (D) Statistics

2. The sequential operations in scientific research are (A) Co-vaiation, Elimination of Spurious Relations, Generalisation, Theorisation (B) Generalisation, Co-variation, Theorisation, Elimination of Spurious Relations (C) Theorisation, Generalisation, Elimination of Spurious Relations, Co-variation (D) Elimination of Spurious Relations, Theorisation, Generalisation, Co-variation.

3. In sampling, the lottery method is used for (A) Interpretation (B) Theorisation (C) Conceptualisation (D) Randomisation

4. Which is the main objective of research? (A) To review the literature (B) To summarize what is already known (C) To get an academic degree (D) To discover new facts or to make fresh interpretation of known facts

5. Sampling error decreases with the (A) Decrease in sample size (B) Increase in sample size (C) Process of randomization (D) Process of analysis

6. The Principles of fundamental research are used in (A) Action research (B) Applied research (C) Philosophical research (D) Historical research

1. Which one of the following is not a type of experimental method? (A) Single group experiment (B) Residual group experiment (C) Parallel group experiment (D) Rational group experiment

2. Which one of the following is not a non-parametric test ? (A) t-test (B) Sign test (C) Chi-square test (D) Run test

3. Read the following statements – one labelled as Assertion (A) and the other as Reason (R) : Assertion (A) : Qualitative research in India has a long way to go to reach international standards. Reason (R) : Because the funding agencies do not support qualitative research in academic institutions.

Find the correct answer from the codes given below : (A) Both (A) and (R) are true and (R) is the correct explanation of (A). (B) Both (A) and (R) are true, but (R) is not the correct explanation of (A). (C) Both (A) and (R) are false. (D) (A) is true, but (R) is false

4. Identify the correct sequence of research steps : (A) Selection of topic, review of literature, data collection, interpretation of findings (B) Review of literature, selection of topic, data collection, interpretation of findings (C) Selection of topic, data collection, review of literature, interpretation of findings (D) Selection of topic, review of literature, interpretation of findings, data collection

5. Deconstruction is a popular method of research in (A) Basic Science (B) Applied Science (C) Social Science (D) Literature

6. With which one of the following techniques communality is associated? (A) Univariate analysis (B) Factor analysis (C) Case studies (D) SWOT analysis

7. The variable which impacts the relationship between an independent variable and a dependent variable is known as (A) antecedent variable (B) precedent variable (C) predictor variable (D) control variable

8. Which one of the following is a nonprobability sampling method? (A) Simple Random Sampling (B) Stratified Sampling (C) Cluster Sampling (D) Quota Sampling

1. A research paper (A) is a compilation of information on a topic. (B) contains original research as deemed by the author. (C) contains peer-reviewed original research or evaluation of research conducted by others. (D) can be published in more than one journal.

2. Which one of the following belongs to the category of good ‘research ethics’? (A) Publishing the same paper in two research journals without telling the editors. (B) Conducting a review of the literature that acknowledges the contributions of other people in the relevant field or relevant prior work. (C) Trimming outliers from a data set without discussing your reasons in a research paper. (D) Including a colleague as an author on a research paper in return for a favor even though the colleague did not make a serious contribution to the paper.

3. Which of the following sampling methods is not based on probability? (A) Simple Random Sampling (B) Stratified Sampling (C) Quota Sampling (D) Cluster Sampling

4. Which one of the following references is written as per Modern Language Association (MLA) format? (A) Hall, Donald. Fundamentals of Electronics, New Delhi : Prentice Hall of India, 2005 (B) Hall, Donald. Fundamentals of Electronics, New Delhi : Prentice Hall of India, 2005 (C) Hall, Donald. Fundamentals of Electronics, New Delhi : Prentice Hall of India, 2005 (D) Hall, Donald. Fundamentals of Electronics, New Delhi : Prentice Hall of India, 2005

5. A workshop is (A) a conference for discussion on a topic. (B) a meeting for discussion on a topic. (C) a class at a college or a university in which a teacher and the students discuss a topic. (D) a brief intensive course for a small group emphasizing the development of a skill or technique for solving a specific problem.

6. A working hypothesis is (A) a proven hypothesis for an argument. (B) not required to be tested. (C) a provisionally accepted hypothesis for further research. (D) a scientific theory.

1. Which one of the following is an indication of the quality of a research journal? (A) Impact factor (B) h-index (C) g-index (D) i10-index

2. Good ‘research ethics’ means (A) Not disclosing the holdings of shares/stocks in a company that sponsors your research. (B) Assigning a particular research problem to one Ph.D./research student only. (C) Discussing with your colleagues confidential data from a research paper that you are reviewing for an academic journal. (D) Submitting the same research manuscript for publishing in more than one journal.

3. Which of the following sampling methods is based on probability? (A) Convenience sampling (B) Quota sampling (C) Judgement sampling (D) Stratified sampling

4. Which one of the following references is written according to American Psychological Association (APA) format? (A) Sharma, V. (2010). Fundamentals of Computer Science. New Delhi : Tata McGraw Hill (B) Sharma, V. 2010. Fundamentals of Computer Science. New Delhi : Tata McGraw Hill (C) Sharma.V. 2010. Fundamentals of Computer Science, New Delhi : Tata McGraw Hill (D) Sharma, V. (2010), Fundamentals of Computer Science, New Delhi : Tata McGraw Hill

5. Arrange the following steps of research in correct sequence : (1) Identification of research problem (2) Listing of research objectives (3) Collection of data (4) Methodology (5) Data analysis (6) Results and discussion

(A) 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 (B) 1 – 2 – 4 – 3 – 5 – 6 (C) 2 – 1 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 (D) 2 – 1 – 4 – 3 – 5 – 6

6. Identify the incorrect statement: (A) A hypothesis is made on the basis of limited evidence as a starting point for further investigations. (B) A hypothesis is a basis for reasoning without any assumption of its truth. (C) Hypothesis is a proposed explanation for a phenomenon. (D) Scientific hypothesis is a scientific theory.

1. The research that aims at immediate application is (A) Action Research (B) Empirical Research (C) Conceptual Research (D) Fundamental Research

2. When two or more successive footnotes refer to the same work which one of the following expressions is used ? (A) ibid (B) et.al (C) op.cit : (D) loc.cit.

3. Nine year olds are taller than seven year olds. This is an example of a reference drawn from (A) Vertical study (B) Cross-sectional study (C) Time series study (D) Experimental study

4. Conferences are meant for (A) Multiple target groups (B) Group discussions (C) Show-casing new Research (D) All the above

5. Ex Post Facto research means (A) The research is carried out after the incident (B) The research is carried out prior to the incident (C) The research is carried out along with the happening of an incident. (D) The research is carried out keeping in mind the possibilities of an incident.

6. Research ethics do not include (A) Honesty (B) Subjectivity (C) Integrity (D) Objectivity

1. A hypothesis is a (A) law (B) canon (C) postulate (D) supposition

2. Suppose you want to investigate the working efficiency of nationalized bank in India, which one of the following would you follow? (A) Area Sampling (B) Multi-stage Sampling (C) Sequential Sampling (D) Quota Sampling

3. Controlled group condition is applied in (A) Survey Research (B) Historical Research (C) Experimental Research (D) Descriptive Research

4. Workshops are meant for (A) giving lectures (B) multiple target groups (C) showcase new theories (D) hands on training/experience

5. Which one of the following is a research tool? (A) Graph (B) Illustration (C) Questionnaire (D) Diagram

6. Research is not considered ethical if it (A) tries to prove a particular point. (B) does not ensure privacy and anonymity of the respondent. (C) does not investigate the data scientifically. (D) is not of a very high standard.

1. A research paper is a brief report of research work based on (A) Primary Data only (B) Secondary Data only (C) Both Primary and Secondary Data (D) None of the above

2. Newton gave three basic laws of motion. This research is categorized as (A) Descriptive Research (B) Sample Survey (C) Fundamental Research (D) Applied Research

3. A group of experts in a specific area of knowledge assembled at a place and prepared a syllabus for a new course. The process may be termed as (A) Seminar (B) Workshop (C) Conference (D) Symposium

4. In the process of conducting research “Formulation of Hypothesis” is followed by (A) Statement of Objectives (B) Analysis of Data (C) Selection of Research Tools (D) Collection of Data

5. Which one of the following methods is best suited for mapping the distribution of different crops as provided in the standard classification of crops in India ? (A) Pie diagram (B) Chorochromatic technique (C) Isopleth technique (D) Dot method

6. Which one of the following does not come under the methods of data classification ? (A) Qualitative (B) Normative (C) Spatial (D) Quantitative

7. Which one of the following is not a source of data ? (A) Administrative records (B) Population census (C) GIS (D) Sample survey

8. The essential qualities of a researcher are (A) spirit of free enquiry (B) reliance on observation and evidence (C) systematization or theorizing of knowledge (D) all the above

9. Research is conducted to I. Generate new knowledge II. Not to develop a theory III. Obtain research degree IV. Reinterpret existing knowledge Which of the above are correct ? (A) I, III & II (B) III, II & IV (C) II, I & III (D) I, III & IV

1. Which of the following variables cannot be expressed in quantitative terms? (A) Socio-economic Status (B) Marital Status (C) Numerical Aptitude (D) Professional Attitude

2. A doctor studies the relative effectiveness of two drugs of dengue fever. His research would be classified as (A) Descriptive Survey (B) Experimental Research (C) Case Study (D) Ethnography

3. The term ‘phenomenology’ is associated with the process of (A) Qualitative Research (B) Analysis of Variance (C) Correlational Study (D) Probability Sampling

4. The ‘Sociogram’ technique is used to study (A) Vocational Interest (B) Professional Competence (C) Human Relations (D) Achievement Motivation

5. Which one of the following methods serve to measure correlation between two variables? (A) Scatter Diagram (B) Frequency Distribution (C) Two-way table (D) Coefficient of Rank Correlation

6. Which of the following phrases is not relevant to describe the meaning of research as a process? (A) Systematic Activity (B) Objective Observation (C) Trial and Error (D) Problem Solving

7. Which of the following is not an example of a continuous variable? (A) Family size (B) Intelligence (C) Height (D) Attitude

1. Action research means (A) A longitudinal research (B) An applied research (C) A research initiated to solve an immediate problem (D) A research with socioeconomic objective

2. Research is (A) Searching again and again (B) Finding solution to any problem (C) Working in a scientific way to search for truth of any problem (D) None of the above

3. A common test in research demands much priority on (A) Reliability (B) Useability (C) Objectivity (D) All of the above

4. Which of the following is the first step in starting the research process? (A) Searching sources of information to locate problem. (B) Survey of related literature (C) Identification of problem (D) Searching for solutions to the problem

5. If a researcher conducts a research on finding out which administrative style contributes more to institutional effectiveness ? This will be an example of (A) Basic Research (B) Action Research (C) Applied Research (D) None of the above

6. Normal Probability Curve should be (A) Positively skewed (B) Negatively skewed (C) Leptokurtic skewed (D) Zero skewed

7. Which one of the following is the oldest Archival source of data in India ? (A) National Sample Surveys (B) Agricultural Statistics (C) Census (D) Vital Statistics

8. In a large random data set following normal distribution, the ratio (%) of number of data points which are in the range of (mean ± standard deviation) to the total number of data points, is (A) ~ 50% (B) ~ 67% (C) ~ 97% (D) ~ 47%

1. A null hypothesis is (A) when there is no difference between the variables (B) the same as research hypothesis (C) subjective in nature (D) when there is difference between the variables

2. The research which is exploring new facts through the study of the past is called (A) Philosophical research (B) Historical research (C) Mythological research (D) Content analysis

3. Action research is (A) An applied research (B) A research carried out to solve immediate problems (C) A longitudinal research (D) Simulative research

4. The process not needed in Experimental Researches is (A) Observation (B) Manipulation (C) Controlling (D) Content Analysis

5. Manipulation is always a part of (A) Historical research (B) Fundamental research (C) Descriptive research (D) Experimental research

6. Which correlation co-efficient best explains the relationship between creativity and intelligence? (A) 1.00 (B) 0.6 (C) 0.5 (D) 0.3

1. How can the objectivity of the research be enhanced? (A) Through its impartiality (B) Through its reliability (C) Through its validity (D) All of these

2. Action-research is: (A) An applied research (B) A research carried out to solve immediate problems (C) A longitudinal research (D) All the above

3. The basis on which assumptions are formulated: (A) Cultural background of the country (B) Universities (C) Specific characteristics of the castes (D) All of these

4. Which of the following is classified in the category of the developmental research? (A) Philosophical research (B) Action research (C) Descriptive research (D) All the above

5. We use Factorial Analysis: (A) To know the relationship between two variables (B) To test the Hypothesis (C) To know the difference between two variables (D) To know the difference among the many variables

1. The research is always – (A) verifying the old knowledge (B) exploring new knowledge (C) filling the gap between knowledge (D) all of these

2. The research that applies the laws at the time of field study to draw more and more clear ideas about the problem is: (A) Applied research (B) Action research (C) Experimental research (D) None of these

3. When a research problem is related to heterogeneous population, the most suitable sampling method is: (A) Cluster Sampling (B) Stratified Sampling (C) Convenient Sampling (D) Lottery Method

4. The process not needed in experimental research is: (A) Observation (B) Manipulation and replication (C) Controlling (D) Reference collection

5. A research problem is not feasible only when: (A) it is researchable (B) it is new and adds something to knowledge (C) it consists of independent and dependent variables (D) it has utility and relevance

1. Research problem is selected from the stand point of: (A) Researcher’s interest (B) Financial support (C) Social relevance (D) Availability of relevant literature

2. Which one is called non-probability sampling? (A) Cluster sampling (B) Quota sampling (C) Systematic sampling (D) Stratified random sampling

3. Formulation of hypothesis may NOT be required in: (A) Survey method (B) Historical studies (C) Experimental studies (D) Normative studies

4. Field-work based research is classified as: (A) Empirical (B) Historical (C) Experimental (D) Biographical

5. Which of the following sampling method is appropriate to study the prevalence of AIDS amongst male and female in India in 1976, 1986, 1996 and 2006? (A) Cluster sampling (B) Systematic sampling (C) Quota sampling (D) Stratified random sampling

6. A statistical measure based upon the entire population is called parameter while measure based upon a sample is known as: (A) Sample parameter (B) Inference (C) Statistics (D) None of these

7. The importance of the correlation co-efficient lies in the fact that: (A) There is a linear relationship between the correlated variables. (B) It is one of the most valid measure of statistics. (C) It allows one to determine the degree or strength of the association between two variables. (D) It is a non-parametric method of statistical analysis.

8. The F-test: (A) is essentially a two tailed test. (B) is essentially a one tailed test. (C) can be one tailed as well as two tailed depending on the hypothesis. (D) can never be a one tailed test.

9. Which one of the following is the most comprehensive source of population data? (A) National Family Health Surveys (B) National Sample Surveys (C) Census (D) Demographic Health Surveys

10. Which one of the following principles is not applicable to sampling? (A) Sample units must be clearly defined (B) Sample units must be dependent on each other (C) Same units of sample should be used throughout the study (D) Sample units must be chosen in a systematic and objective manner

1. Generalised conclusion on the basis of a sample is technically known as: (A) Data analysis and interpretation (B) Parameter inference (C) Statistical inference (D) All of the above

2. The experimental study is based on: (A) The manipulation of variables (B) Conceptual parameters (C) Replication of research (D) Survey of literature

3. The main characteristic of scientific research is: (A) empirical (B) theoretical (C) experimental (D) all of the above

4. Authenticity of a research finding is its: (A) Originality (B) Validity (C) Objectivity (D) All of the above

5. Which technique is generally followed when the population is finite? (A) Area Sampling Technique (B) Purposive Sampling Technique (C) Systematic Sampling Technique (D) None of the above

1. To test null hypothesis, a researcher uses: (A) t test (B) ANOVA (C) X2 (D) factorial analysis

2. A research problem is feasible only when: (A) it has utility and relevance (B) it is researchable (C) it is new and adds something to knowledge (D) all the above

3. Bibliography given in a research report: (A) shows vast knowledge of the researcher (B) helps those interested in further research (C) has no relevance to research (D) all the above

4. Fundamental research reflects the ability to: (A) Synthesize new ideals (B) Expound new principles (C) Evaluate the existing material concerning research (D) Study the existing literature regarding various topics

5. The study in which the investigators attempt to trace an effect is known as: (A) Survey Research (B) ‘Ex-post Facto’ Research (C) Historical Research (D) Summative Research

6. A ratio represents the relation between: (A) Part and Part (B) Part and Whole (C) Whole and Whole (D) All of the above

7. Out of four numbers, the average of the first three numbers is thrice the fourth number. If the average of the four numbers is 5, the fourth number is: (A) 4.5 (B) 5 (C) 2 (D) 4

8. Circle graphs are used to show: (A) How various sections share in the whole? (B) How various parts are related to the whole? (C) How one whole is related to other wholes (D) How one part is related to other parts?

9. Which of the following methods will you choose to prepare choropleth map of India showing urban density of population: (A) Quartiles (B) Quintiles (C) Mean and SD (D) Break – point

10. Which of the following methods is best suited to show on a map the types of crops being grown in a region? (A) Choropleth (B) Chorochromatic (C) Choroschematic (D) Isopleth

1. Research can be conducted by a person who: (A) has studied research methodology (B) holds a postgraduate degree (C) possesses thinking and reasoning ability (D) is a hard worker

Answer: (A)

2. Which of the following statements is correct? (A) Objectives of research are stated in first chapter of the thesis (B) Researcher must possess analytical ability (C) Variability is the source of problem (D) All the above

Answer: (D)

3. Which of the following is not the Method of Research? (A) Observation (B) Historical (C) Survey (D) Philosophical

4. Research can be classified as: (A) Basic, Applied and Action Research (B) Quantitative and Qualitative Research (C) Philosophical, Historical, Survey and Experimental Research (D) All the above

5. The first step of research is: (A) Selecting a problem (B) Searching a problem (C) Finding a problem (D) Identifying a problem

1. Which of the following options are the main tasks of research in modern society? (I) to keep pace with the advancement in knowledge. (II) to discover new things. (III) to write a critique on the earlier writings. (IV) to systematically examine and critically analyse the investigations/sources with objectivity.

(A) IV, II and I (B) I, II and III (C) I and III (D) II, III and IV

2. Match List-I (Interviews) with List-II (Meaning) and select the correct answer from the code given below: List – I (Interviews) List – II (Meaning) (a) structured interviews (i) greater flexibility approach (b) Unstructured interviews (ii) attention on the questions to be answered (c) Focused interviews (iii) individual life experience (d) Clinical interviews (iv) Pre determined question (v) non-directive Code: (a) (b) (c) (d) (A) (iv) (i) (ii) (iii) (B) (ii) (iv) (i) (iii) (C) (v) (ii) (iv) (i) (D) (i) (iii) (v) (iv)

3. What do you consider as the main aim of inter disciplinary research? (A) To bring out holistic approach to research. (B) To reduce the emphasis of single subject in research domain. (C) To over simplify the problem of research. (D) To create a new trend in research methodology.

4. One of the aims of the scientific method in research is to: (A) improve data interpretation (B) eliminate spurious relations (C) confirm triangulation (D) introduce new variables

Answer: (B)

5. The depth of any research can be judged by: (A) title of the research. (B) objectives of the research. (C) total expenditure on the research. (D) duration of the research.

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Home • Knowledge hub • What is Fieldwork in Market Research?

What is Fieldwork in Market Research?

Definition of Fieldwork

Fieldwork in market research refers to the collection of primary data directly from the source or field. This involves various techniques such as surveys, interviews, observations, and experiments conducted with targeted groups or individuals. The main aim of fieldwork is to gather raw data, providing firsthand, in-depth, and accurate information about customers’ behaviors, attitudes, preferences, or any other aspects needed for the study. This data is then used to make informed decisions or predictions about the market.

History of Fieldwork

The history of fieldwork in market research is as old as the history of market research itself. It dates back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries when businesses began recognizing the need for informed decisions based on customers’ perspectives. The modern practice of fieldwork, as part of the market research process, took shape after World War II, when there was increased competition in the market, leading to the need for more detailed consumer insights.

Initial fieldwork methodologies were very traditional, heavily relying on door-to-door surveys and in-person interviews. As technology advanced, fieldwork methodologies have also evolved significantly. They now incorporate online surveys, telephone interviews, video interviews, social media analytics, mobile data collection, etc., allowing researchers to reach larger and more diverse audiences.

Surveys : One of the most common types of fieldwork. They can be conducted face-to-face, via telephone, or online. For instance, a beverage company could survey consumers about their flavor preferences for new product development.
Interviews : These can be structured (with pre-defined questions) or unstructured (more open-ended). An example could be a car manufacturer conducting face-to-face interviews to understand consumers’ thoughts on their latest car model.
Observations : Here, the researcher observes consumers in their natural settings. An example could be a clothing retailer observing consumer behavior in their store to understand how they interact with different product displays.
Experiments : These are typically set up in controlled environments to test specific variables. For instance, a restaurant might experiment with different menu designs to see which results in higher sales.

Is the term fieldwork in market research known by any other names?

The term “fieldwork” in market research is often interchangeably used with several other terms, depending on the context and specific methods used. Some of these include:

Primary Research : This term is used because fieldwork involves collecting original or primary data that has not been previously gathered. However, primary research also includes other techniques like experiments and content analysis, which may or may not be considered fieldwork, depending on their design.
Data Collection : This is a more general term that refers to gathering information. Fieldwork is a type of data collection that occurs directly from the source or field.
Ethnographic Research : While technically a type of fieldwork, this term is often used when the research involves immersive observation of the subject in their natural environment over extended periods.
Survey Research : This term is commonly used when fieldwork primarily involves using surveys to gather information from a sample of individuals.

It’s important to note that while these terms often overlap with the concept of fieldwork in market research, they each have their nuances and specificities. Hence, the appropriate term to use would depend on the context and the precise nature of the research being conducted.

Fieldwork Use Cases

Fieldwork in market research has a broad spectrum of applications across various industries. Here are some common use cases:

Product Development : Companies often conduct fieldwork to gather insights about consumer preferences and needs, which can guide the development of new products or services.
Brand Positioning : Fieldwork helps understand consumers’ perceptions of a brand and its competitors, assisting in devising effective positioning strategies.
Customer Satisfaction : By gathering firsthand data from customers, businesses can gauge the level of customer satisfaction and identify areas of improvement.
Advertising Testing : Fieldwork can be used to test the effectiveness of advertising campaigns, with feedback used to optimize future efforts.
Market Segmentation : Fieldwork helps in identifying different customer groups based on their behaviors, attitudes, and needs, aiding in the creation of targeted marketing strategies.

Fieldwork is a vital component of market research, offering a direct line to consumer insights and behaviors. Its robust methodologies, adaptable to changing market and technological conditions, make it a reliable tool for any business looking to succeed in its market.

Trends in Fieldwork in Market Research

As an integral part of market research, fieldwork is continually evolving, keeping pace with technological advancements and changing consumer behaviors. Some notable trends shaping the future of fieldwork include:

Mobile Fieldwork : As smartphones become ubiquitous, they play a key role in shaping fieldwork methodologies. Mobile surveys are gaining traction thanks to their convenience and the ability to reach a broader audience. These surveys allow respondents to provide data in real-time, anywhere, at any time, providing researchers with immediate, valuable insights. An added advantage is leveraging smartphone features like geolocation and multimedia capabilities, enriching the data collected.
Social Media Analytics : Social media platforms have become a goldmine of consumer behavior data. As consumers share their preferences, opinions, and experiences on these platforms, they leave a trail of valuable data points. By observing and analyzing these interactions, researchers can gain profound insights into consumer sentiments and trends. This practice is growing rapidly due to its potential to provide unfiltered, authentic, and timely data.
AI and Machine Learning in Fieldwork : AI and machine learning technologies are revolutionizing fieldwork data processing and analysis. They provide sophisticated tools to handle large and complex data sets, reducing the time and effort traditionally required for data analysis. These technologies can uncover hidden patterns, predict trends, and provide deeper insights, thus enhancing the value derived from fieldwork. With the increase in computational power and the availability of big data, the role of AI and machine learning in fieldwork is set to expand.

These trends are evidence of an exciting evolution in the field of market research. Embracing these changes will enable researchers to conduct fieldwork more efficiently, effectively and deliver more accurate and actionable insights. As market research continues to evolve, it will be intriguing to see how these trends will further shape the future of fieldwork.

Challenges in Fieldwork in Market Research

While fieldwork plays a crucial role in market research, it has its hurdles. Understanding these challenges can help refine strategies and lead to more effective data collection and analysis. Here are some common challenges faced by researchers:

Data Quality : One of the foremost challenges in fieldwork is ensuring the quality of the data collected. Several factors can affect this:

Respondent Fatigue : This occurs when respondents become tired or bored during data collection, leading to hurried or careless responses, thus affecting the data’s reliability.
Bias : Bias can creep in from various sources – from the researcher’s side (e.g., leading questions) or from the respondent’s side (e.g., social desirability bias where respondents answer in a way they believe is socially acceptable rather than being truthful). Managing these biases is crucial to obtaining accurate data.
Dishonesty : Some respondents may provide false information, either deliberately or unintentionally. Such misinformation can skew the research results.

Ethical Considerations : Fieldwork must be conducted responsibly, respecting participants’ rights and privacy:

Privacy : Protecting respondent privacy is critical, especially with data protection regulations like GDPR. Researchers must ensure that personal data is collected, stored, and used ethically and legally.
Informed Consent : Researchers must ensure respondents understand the purpose of the research, what their participation involves, and their rights, including the right to withdraw from the study at any time without repercussions.
Sensitive Topics or Vulnerable Populations : Extra care must be taken when dealing with sensitive topics or vulnerable populations, such as children or people with disabilities. Appropriate measures should be implemented to ensure their comfort and safety during the research process.

Conducting Fieldwork in Rural Versus Urban Areas

Fieldwork in both rural and urban settings has its unique set of opportunities and challenges, given the differences in these environments.

Urban Areas:

Urban areas generally have a higher population density, diverse demographics, and better connectivity. This makes it easier to find and reach target respondents for fieldwork. However, urban respondents may have higher expectations for incentives or maybe less available due to busy lifestyles. There could also be more distractions, potentially affecting data quality.

Rural Areas:

Rural areas, on the other hand, may pose logistical challenges due to lower population density, less developed infrastructure, and potentially greater geographical distances between respondents. However, rural populations may be more available and willing to participate in fieldwork studies. It is also important to be aware of cultural and social norms, which may vary greatly from urban areas, and to adapt research methods accordingly.

Conducting Fieldwork in Multiple Countries

Fieldwork across different countries provides the opportunity to gather diverse and rich data. It enables comparative studies and offers insights into different markets. However, it also comes with its own set of challenges:

Cultural Differences : Different countries have different cultural norms, values, and behaviors, which could affect the conduct and interpretation of fieldwork. Ensuring cultural sensitivity and understanding these differences is vital for successful fieldwork.
Language Barriers : Communication can be challenging if the researchers and respondents do not share a common language. It may be necessary to hire local fieldworkers or translators.
Legal and Ethical Considerations : Different countries may have different laws and regulations around data collection, privacy, and research ethics. It is important to understand and comply with these.
Logistical Challenges : Time zones, travel arrangements, and scheduling can all present logistical difficulties when conducting fieldwork across multiple countries.

To overcome these challenges, careful planning, adequate resources, cultural training, and collaboration with local partners can be beneficial. By taking into account these considerations, fieldwork in different geographical and cultural contexts can yield valuable insights.

Key Considerations for Brands Conducting Fieldwork Research

Fieldwork can provide invaluable insights for brands, but it’s essential to approach it thoughtfully. Here are some crucial considerations:

Defining Clear Objectives : The first step in any research initiative is to clearly outline what you hope to learn. The objectives of the fieldwork must be defined upfront to guide the design of the research methodology.
Selection of Appropriate Methodology : Depending on the research objectives, brands should choose the right mix of fieldwork methods – surveys, interviews, observations, etc. The chosen methods should effectively gather the required information and be feasible in the given context.
Sample Selection : Brands must determine who they will include in their fieldwork research. The sample should represent the population they want to make inferences about. Proper sample selection ensures the reliability and validity of the study.
Training of Fieldworkers : The quality of data collected heavily relies on the skills of the researchers. Brands need to ensure that fieldwork researchers are adequately trained to conduct the research ethically and effectively, minimizing bias.
Data Analysis : The data collected during fieldwork needs to be appropriately analyzed to derive meaningful insights. This might require statistical expertise and the use of appropriate data analysis tools.
Respecting Privacy and Ethical Considerations : Brands must conduct their fieldwork per ethical guidelines and respect participants’ privacy. They need to ensure informed consent, anonymity, and data protection.
Budget and Timeline : Brands must consider their resources in terms of budget and timeline. Fieldwork can be time-consuming and potentially expensive depending on the scale, so proper planning is necessary to ensure efficiency.
Incorporating Findings into Strategy : Finally, brands should plan how to use the insights gathered from fieldwork. The findings should inform decision-making, strategy development, and improvement initiatives.

By considering these factors, brands can ensure their fieldwork research is effective, efficient, and beneficial to their strategic goals.

The Advantage of Partnering with a Market Research Company

Choosing to collaborate with a market research agency, particularly one as established as Kadence International, can be a strategic decision for brands for several reasons:

Expertise : Market research agencies like Kadence bring a wealth of expertise in various research methodologies, including fieldwork. We know how to design effective research studies, choose appropriate data collection methods, select representative samples, and analyze data to derive meaningful insights.
Experience Across Markets : Kadence International, with its global footprint, has experience conducting research in diverse markets. We understand cultural nuances, local market dynamics, and regional consumer behavior, which can be invaluable in multinational research.
Access to Tools and Technologies : Market research agencies often have access to advanced research tools and technologies. This can range from sophisticated data analysis software to mobile or online survey platforms. These tools can enhance the efficiency and accuracy of the research.
Time and Resource Efficiency : Conducting fieldwork can be time-consuming and resource-intensive. By outsourcing this task to a market research agency, brands can focus on their core competencies. Also, agencies often have established processes and resources to conduct research more quickly and efficiently.
Impartiality : An external agency can bring an objective perspective to the research. They can minimize biases that may inadvertently creep into internally conducted research.
Actionable Recommendations : Beyond data collection and analysis, market research agencies often provide actionable recommendations based on their findings. They can help translate research insights into strategic implications, making it easier for brands to apply the learnings.

Partnering with a market research agency like Kadence International can enhance the quality, efficiency, and impact of fieldwork research, driving informed decision-making and strategic success for brands.

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We’ve been working with Kadence on a couple of strategic projects, which influenced our product roadmap roll-out within the region. Their work has been exceptional in providing me the insights that I need. Senior Marketing Executive Arla Foods

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UGC NET Library and Information Science June 2008 Solved Paper 1 Questions 1-50 with Answers

UGC NET in Library and Information Science

National Eligibility Test (NET) or the NTA UGC NET in Library and Information Science, is also an exam for determining the eligibility of Indian nationals for the eligibility for Assistant Professor only or Junior Research Fellowship & Eligibility for Assistant Professor both in Library and Information Science in Indian universities and colleges. It is also a desired qualification for appointment of the post of librarian in libraries of universities, colleges, and government institutions in India. It has a comprehensive syllabus covering all the areas of Library and Information Science. In this article is given Solved Question Papers of NTA UGC NET exam in Library and Information Science in India. Even if you are from a country other than India, study of these solved UGC NET examination questions and answers will improve your knowledge and understanding of Library and Information Science .

1. The teacher has been glorified by the phrase "Friend, philosopher and guide" because:

(A) He has to play all vital roles in the context of society

(B) He transmits the high value of humanity to students

(D) He is a great patriot

Answer: (B)

2. The most important cause of failure for teacher lies in the area of:

(A) inter personal relationship

(B) lack of command over the knowledge of the subject

(D) strict handling of the students

3. A teacher can establish rapport with his students by:

(A) becoming a figure of authority

(B) impressing students with knowledge and skill

(D) becoming a friend to the students

4. Education is a powerful instrument of:

(A) Social transformation

(B) Personal transformat i on

(D) All the above

Answer: (D)

5. A teacher's major contribution towards the maximum self-realization of the student is affected through:

(A) Constant fulfillment of the students' needs

(B) Strict control of classroom activities

(D) Strict reinforcement of academic standards

Answer: (C)

6. Research problem is selected from the standpoint of:

(A) Researcher's interest

(B) Financial support

(D) Availability of relevant literature

7. Which one is called non-probability sampling?

(A) Cluster sampling

(B) Quota sampling

(D) Stratified random sampling

8. Formulation of hypothesis may NOT be required in:

(A) Survey method

(B) Historical studies

(D) Normative studies

9. Field-work based research is classified as:

(A) Empirical

(B) Historical

(D) Biographical

Answer: (A)

10. Which of the following sampling method is appropriate to study the prevalence of AIDS amongst males and females in India in 1976, 1986, 1996, and 2006?

(B) Systematic sampling

Read the following passage and answer the questions 11 to 15:

The fundamental principle is that Article 14 forbids class legislation but permits reasonable classification for the purpose of legislation which classification must satisfy the twin tests of classification being founded on an intelligible differentia which distinguishes persons or things that are grouped together from those that are left out of the group and that differentia must have a rational nexus to the object sought to be achieved by the Statute in question. The thrust of Article 14 is that the citizen is entitled to equality before law and equal protection of laws. In the very nature of things the society being composed of unequals a welfare State will have to strive by both executive and legislative action to help the less fortunate in society to ameliorate their condition so that the social and economic inequality in the society may be bridged. This would necessitate a legislative application to a group of citizens otherwise unequal and amelioration of whose lot is the object of state affirmative action. In the absence of the doctrine of classification such legislation is likely to flounder on the bed rock of equality enshrined in Article 14. The Court realistically appraising the social and economic inequality and keeping in view the guidelines on which the State action must move as constitutionally laid down in Part IV of the Constitution evolved the doctrine of classification. The doctrine was evolved to sustain a legislation or State action designed to help weaker sections of the society or some such segments of the society in need of succour. Legislative and executive action may accordingly be sustained if it satisfies the twin tests of reasonable classification and the rational principle correlated to the object sought to be achieved.

The concept of equality before the law does not involve the idea of absolute equality among human beings which is a physical impossibility. All that Article 14 guarantees is a similarity of treatment contra-distinguished from identical treatment. Equality before law means that among equals the law should be equal and should be equally administered and that the likes should be treated alike. Equality before the law does not mean that things which are different shall be as though they are the same. It of course means denial of any special privilege by reason of birth, creed or the like. The legislation as well as the executive government, while dealing with diverse problems arising out of an infinite variety of human relations must of necessity have the power of making special laws, to attain any particular object and to achieve that object it must have the power of selection or classification of persons and things upon which such laws are to operate.

11. Right to equality, one of the fundamental rights, is enunciated in the constitution under Part III, Article:

12. The main thrust of Right to equality is that it permits:

(A) class legislation

(B) equality before law and equal protection under the law

(D) special privilege by reason of birth

13. The social and economic inequality in the society can be bridged by:

(A) executive and legislative action

(B) universal suffrage

(D) none of the above

14. The doctrine of classification is evolved to:

(A) Help weaker sections of the society

(B) Provide absolute equality

(D) None of the above

15. While dealing with diverse problems arising out of an infinite variety of human relations, the government

(A) must have the power of making special laws

(B) must not have any power to make special laws

16. Communication with oneself is known as:

(A) Group communication

(B) Grapevine communication

(D) Intrapersonal communication

17. Which broadcasting system for TV is followed in India?

18. All India Radio before 1936 was known as:

(A) Indian Radio Broadcasting

(B) Broadcasting Service of India

(D) All India Broadcasting Service

19. The biggest news agency of India is:

(D) Samachar Bharati

20. Prasar Bharati was launched in the year:

21. A statistical measure based upon the entire population is called parameter while measure based upon a sample is known as:

(A) Sample parameter

(B) Inference

(D) None of these

22. The importance of the correlation co-efficient lies in the fact that:

(A) There is a linear relationship between the correlated variables.

(B) It is one of the most valid measure of statistics.

(D) It is a non-parametric method of statistical analysis.

23. The F-test:

(A) is essentially a two tailed test.

(B) is essentially a one tailed test.

(D) can never be a one tailed test.

24. What will be the next letter in the following series?

DCXW, FGVU, HGTS

25. The following question is based on the diagram given below. If the two small circles represent formal class-room education and distance education and the big circle stands for university system of education, which figure represents the university systems?

26. The statement, 'To be non-violent is good' is a:

(A) Moral judgment

(B) Factual judgment

(D) Value judgment

27. Assertion (A): Man is a rational being.

Reason (R): Man is a social being.

(A) Both (A) and (R) are true and (R) is the correct explanation of (A)

(B) Both (A) and (R) are true but (R) is not the correct explanation of (A)

(D) (A) is false but (R) is true

28. Value Judgements are:

(A) Factual Judgements

(B) Ordinary Judgements

(D) Expression of public opinion

29. Deductive reason i ng proceeds from:

(A) general to particular

(B) particular to general

(D) one particular conclusion to another particular conclusion

30. AGARTALA is written in code as 14168171, the code for AGRA is:

31. Which one of the following is the most comprehensive source of population data?

(A) National Family Health Surveys

(B) National Sample Surveys

(D) Demographic Health Surveys

32. Which one of the following principles is not applicable to sampling?

(A) Sample units must be clearly defined

(B) Sample units must be dependent on each other

(D) Sample units must be chosen in a systematic and objective manner

33. If January 1st, 2007 is Monday, what was the day on 1st January 1995?

(D) Saturday

34. Insert the missing number in the following series:

4 16 8 64 ? 256

35. If an article is sold for Rs. 178 at a loss of 11%; what would be its selling price in order to earn a profit of 11%?

(A) Rs. 222.50

(B) Rs. 267

(D) Rs. 220

36. WYSIWYG - describes the display of a document on screen as it will actually print:

(A) What you state is what you get

(B) What you see is what you get

(D) What you suggest is what you get

37. Which of the following is not a Computer language?

38. A key-board has at least:

(A) 91 keys

(B) 101 keys

(D) 121 keys

39. An E-mail address is composed of:

(A) two parts

(B) three parts

(D) five parts

40. Corel Draw is a popular:

(A) Illustration programme

41. Human ear is most sens i tive to noise in which of the following ranges:

(A) l-2 KHz

(B) 100-500 Hz

(D) 13-16 KHz

Answer: (Wrong question)

42. Which one of the following units is used to measure the intensity of noise?

(A) decibel

(D) Watts/m 2

43. If the population growth follows a logistic curve, the maximum sustainable yield:

(A) is equal to half the carrying capacity.

(B) is equal to the carrying capacity.

(D) depends on the initial population.

44. Chemical weathering of rocks is largely dependent upon:

(A) high temperature

(B) strong wind action

(D) glaciation

45. Structure of earth's system consists of the following:

Match List-I with List-II and give the correct answer.

List-I (Zone)

(a) Atmosphere

(b) Biosphere

(d) Lithosphere

List-II (Chemical Character)

(i) Inert gases

(ii) Salt, freshwater, snow, and ice

(iii) Organic substances, skeleton matter

(iv) Light silicates

Codes:

(a) (b) (c) (d)

(A) (ii) (iii) (i) (iv)

(B) (i) (iii) (ii) (iv)

(D) (iii) (i) (ii) (iv)

46. NAAC is an autonomous institution under the aegis of:

47. National Council for Women's Education was established in:

48. Which one of the following is not situated in New Delhi?

(A) Indian Council of Cultural Relations

(B) Indian Council of Scientific Research

(D) Indian Institute of Advanced Studies

49. Autonomy in higher education implies freedom in:

(A) Administration

(B) Policy-making

(D) Curriculum development

50. Match List-I with List-II and select the correct answer from the code given below:

List-I (Institutions)

(a) Dr. Hari Singh Gour University

(b) S.N.D.T. University

(d) J.N. Vyas University

List-II (Locations)

(ii) Baroda

(iii) Jodhpur

Codes:

(A) (iv) (i) (ii) (iii)

(B) (i) (ii) (vi) (iv)

(D) (ii) (iv) (i) (iii)

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