Field Research in Political ScienceField research - leaving one's home institution in order to acquire data, information or insights that significantly inform one's research - remains indispensable, even in a digitally networked era. This book, the first of its kind in political science, reconsiders the design and execution of field research and explores its role in producing knowledge. First, it offers an empirical overview of fieldwork in the discipline based on a large-scale survey and extensive interviews. Good fieldwork takes diverse forms yet follows a set of common practices and principles. Second, the book demonstrates the analytic benefits of fieldwork, showing how it contributes to our understanding of politics. Finally, it provides intellectual and practical guidance, with chapters on preparing for field research, operating in the field and making analytic progress while collecting data, and on data collection techniques including archival research, interviewing, ethnography and participant observation, surveys, and field experiments. |
Contents
practices and principles | 1 |
A historical and empirical overview of field research in the discipline | 34 |
Preparing for fieldwork | 82 |
logistical social operational and ethical challenges | 119 |
discovering data in the field | 151 |
Interviews oral histories and focus groups | 190 |
ethnography and participant observation | 234 |
Surveys in the context of field research | 266 |
Experiments in the field | 299 |
Analyzing writing and retooling in the field | 332 |
The future of field research in political science | 368 |
methodology for survey and indepth interviews | 412 |
| 416 | |
| 447 | |
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Common terms and phrases
analysis analytic tasks APSA archival research assess August 27 August 30 causal challenges Chapter communities concepts conduct field research consider course critical reflection data-collection plan data-collection techniques develop discipline discussion documents dynamics employ entails epistemological ethical ethnography evaluate example experimental facilitate faculty field context field experiments field research projects field site field sites fieldwork focus group funding gathering goals graduate students help scholars highlight home institution hypotheses identify important in-depth interviews individuals instance interaction interpretive interview respondents involved issues iteration locations methodological Moreover multiple noted Number of projects offer oral history organizations participant observation particular percent political science political scientists potential practices pre-existing materials principles programs qualitative quantitative random relevant research design research in political research question researcher’s sampling September September 11 site-intensive methods strategies subfield subjects suggest survey research topics transparency triangulation trips types understand writing