Conducting Field Research

In universities, government agencies, and the business world, field research can be as important as library research. In some majors, like education or sociology, as well as in service-learning courses, primary research projects are common. Even in the writing projects covered in Chapters 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9, observations, interviews, and surveys may be useful or even necessary. As you consider how you might use field research in your writing projects, ask your instructor whether your institution requires you to obtain approval, and check Chapter 24, “Citing and Documenting Sources in MLA Style,” or 25, “Citing and Documenting Sources in APA Style,” for information about citing interviews you conduct yourself.

Conduct observational studies.

Observational studies, such as you would conduct when profiling a place (see Chapter 3), are common in college. To conduct an observational study effectively, follow these guidelines:

Planning an Observational Study

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To ensure that your observational visits are productive, plan them carefully:

Making Observations

For more about narration, description, and classification, see Chapters 14, 15, and 17.

Strategies for conducting your observation include the following:

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Take careful notes during your visit if you can do so unobtrusively or immediately afterwards if you can’t. You can use a notebook and pencil, a laptop or tablet, or even a smartphone to record your notes. Choose whatever is least disruptive to those around you. You may need to use abbreviations and symbols to capture your observations on-site, but be sure to convert such shorthand into words and phrases as soon as possible after the visit so that you don’t forget its significance.

Writing Your Observational Study

For more about mapping, clustering, or outlining strategies, see Chapter 11.

Immediately after your visit, fill in any gaps in your notes, and review your notes to look for meaningful patterns. You might find mapping strategies, such as clustering or outlining, useful for discovering patterns in your notes. Take some time to reflect on what you saw. Asking yourself questions like these might help:

Your purpose in writing about your visit is to share your insights into the meaning and significance of your observations. Assume that your readers have never been to the place, and provide enough detail for it to come alive for them. Decide on the perspective you want to convey, and choose the details necessary to convey your insights.

PRACTICING THE GENRE

Collaborating on an Observational Study

Arrange to meet with a small group (three or four students) for an observational visit somewhere on campus, such as the student center, gym, or cafeteria. Have each group member focus on a specific task, such as recording what people are wearing, doing, or saying, or capturing what the place looks, sounds, and smells like. After twenty to thirty minutes, report to one another on your observations. Discuss any difficulties that arise.

Conduct interviews.

A successful interview involves careful planning before the interview, but it also requires keen listening skills and the ability to ask appropriate follow-up questions while conducting the interview. Courtesy and consideration for your subject are crucial at all stages of the process.

Planning the Interview

Planning an interview involves the following:

Preparing for the Interview

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In preparation for the interview, consider your objectives:

Making an observational visit and doing some background reading beforehand can be helpful. Find out as much as you can about the organization or company (size, location, purpose, etc.), as well as the key people.

Good questions are key to a successful interview. You will likely want to ask a few closed questions (questions that request specific information) and a number of open questions (questions that give the respondent range and flexibility and encourage him or her to share anecdotes, personal revelations, and expressions of attitudes):

Open Questions Closed Questions

  • What do you think about _________?

  • How do you do __________?

  • Describe your reaction when __________ happened.

  • What does _________ mean?

  • Tell me about a time you were ____________.

  • How was ________ developed?

The best questions encourage the subject to talk freely but stick to the point. You may need to ask a follow-up question to refocus the discussion or to clarify a point, so be prepared. If you are unsure about a subject’s answer, follow up by rephrasing the answer, prefacing it by saying something like “Let me see if I have this right” or “Am I correct in saying that you feel ______ ?” Avoid forced-choice questions (“Which do you think is the better approach: _______ or _______ ?”) and leading questions (“How well do you think _______ is doing?”).

During the Interview

For an example of a student’s interview notes, see the “Writer at Work” section in Chapter 3.

Another key to good interviewing is flexibility. Ask the questions you have prepared, but also be ready to shift gears to take full advantage of what your subject can offer.

Following the Interview

After the interview, do the following:

PRACTICING THE GENRE

Interviewing a Classmate

Practice interviewing a classmate:

  • Spend five to ten minutes writing questions and thinking about what you’d like to learn.

  • Spend ten minutes asking the questions you prepared, but also ask one or more follow-up questions in response to something your classmate has told you.

  • Following the interview, spend a few minutes thinking about what you learned about your classmate and about conducting an interview. What might you do differently when conducting a formal interview?

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Conduct surveys.

Surveys let you gauge the opinions and knowledge of large numbers of people. You might conduct a survey to gauge opinion in a political science course or to assess familiarity with a television show for a media studies course. You might also conduct a survey to assess the seriousness of a problem for a service-learning class or in response to an assignment to propose a solution to a problem (Chapter 7). This section briefly outlines procedures you can follow to carry out an informal survey, and it highlights areas where caution is needed. Colleges and universities have restrictions about the use and distribution of questionnaires, so check your institution’s policy or obtain permission before beginning the survey.

Designing Your Survey

Use the following tips to design an effective survey:

Administering the Survey

The more respondents you have, the better, but constraints of time and expense will almost certainly limit the number. As few as twenty-five could be adequate for an informal study, but to get twenty-five responses, you may need to solicit fifty or more participants.

You can conduct the survey in person or over the telephone; use an online service such as SurveyMonkey (surveymonkey.com) or Zoomerang (zoomerang.com); e-mail the questionnaires; or conduct the survey using a social media site such as Facebook. You may also distribute surveys to groups of people in class or around campus and wait to collect their responses.

Each method has its advantages and disadvantages. For example, face-to-face surveys allow you to get more in-depth responses, but participants may be unwilling to answer personal questions face to face. Though fewer than half the surveys you solicit using survey software are likely to be completed (your invitations may wind up in a spam folder), online software will tabulate responses automatically.

Writing the Report

When writing your report, include a summary of the results, as well as an interpretation of what the results mean.