1. Starting your
Field Research

2. Why conduct field research?
 To create knowledge
 To enhance credibility
 To establish your niche
 To support your argument

3. Observation

4. Observations
 Determine purpose
 What are you looking for?
 Determine a system for recording data: When, where,
who, what, how often?
 Record the date, time, and place of all observations

5. Interview

6. Interview
 Determine your purpose? Why is it useful to your research
question?
 Why is that person/s credible?
 Set up interview in advance.
 Prepare a list of questions (factual and open-ended)
 Record the subject, date, time, and place
 Thank your interviewee

7. Questionnaire

8. Questionnaire
 Write out your purpose and review your research question
 Figure out how many respondents you need
 Draft potential questions. Each question must require a
short, specific answer
 Open ended vs. Closed questions
 Identify who you will survey and why they are relevant to
your question

9. Focus Groups
 Can get multiple perspectives
 Establish a conversation
 See how a group of people react to a particular issue
 Generate data for further analysis
 You can use focus groups in conjunction with interviews
and surveys

10. If you are conducting research
with human subjects…
Complete CITI training. Go to:
https://www.citiprogram.org/default.asp?language=english
---Register for an account, and complete training for:
Group 2: Social & Behavioral Research Investigators and
Key Personnel
---Print completion page and turn in with your final project.

11. Before your conference
 Read Chapter 11 in your textbook, and complete Proposal
Part II
 Bring proposal to your conference so that we can discuss
your study
 The next time that we will meet as a class will be
Friday, 3/30. Don’t skip that day! Bring whatever progress
you’ve made on your field research (which should be a
lot!).