NCJ Number
52910
Date Published
1976
Length
51 pages
Annotation
AFTER RECOMMENDING FIELD RESEARCH BECAUSE OF THE VARIETY OF EXPERIMENTS WHICH CAN BE FRAMED, THIS CHAPTER GIVES PRACTICAL ADVICE ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF QUESTIONNAIRES, THE CONDUCTING OF INTERVIEWS, AND FIELD STUDY DESIGN.
Abstract
RESEARCHERS ARE URGED TO CONSIDER FIELD STUDIES BECAUSE THEY OFFER GREATER INTENSITY AND RANGE, LONGER TIME FRAMES, AND MORE NATURAL CONDITIONS THAN DO LABORATORY EXPERIMENTS. THE PROBLEMS OF VALIDITY AND COST ARE EXPLORED AND FIVE RESEARCH TECHNIQUES ARE EXPLAINED WITH REFERENCE TO METHODS TO INCREASE THE TECHNIQUES' VALIDITY. THE FOLLOWING FACTORS ARE CONSIDERED REGARDING THE RESEARCH INTERVIEW: SETTING THE CONTEXT FOR A SUCCESSFUL INTERVIEW, TYPES OF INTERVIEWS, RECOMMENDED PROCEDURES FOR CONDUCTING RESEARCH INTERVIEWS, AND SPECIAL PURPOSE INTERVIEWS (E.G., TANDEM INTERVIEWS, FOCUSED INTERVIEWS, GROUP INTERVIEWS, LENGTHY INTERVIEWS, THE STRESS INTERVIEW, AND THE AUTOMATED INTERVIEW). THE SELECTION AND TRAINING OF THE INTERVIEWER IS COVERED, AS WELL AS QUESTIONNAIRE CONSTRUCTION, TESTING, AND VALIDATION. PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION STUDIES ARE DESCRIBED. THE PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED IN STANDARDIZING OBSERVATIONS, THE VARIOUS LEVELS OF PARTICIPATION THE RESEARCHER MAY EMPLOY, AND THE IMPLICATIONS OF VARIOUS TYPES OF DESIGN ARE ASSESSED. INFORMANT INTERVIEWING AND THE PROBLEMS OF OBJECTIVITY ARE ADDRESSED, PROBLEMS OF SYSTEMATIC OBSERVATION TECHNIQUES, OFTEN USED TO DEVELOP RATING SCALES, ARE DISCUSSED. THE FINAL SECTION DESCRIBES UNOBTRUSIVE MEASURES; I.E., MEASURES FOR GATHERING DATA WITHOUT THE SUBJECTS' KNOWLEDGE. THESE INCLUDE EXAMINATION OF PHYSICAL TRACES, USE OF DOCUMENTS AND RECORDS, SIMPLE OBSERVATION, AND TECHNIQUES USING CAMERAS OR OTHER HARDWARE FOR OBSERVATION. AN EXTENSIVE BIBLIOGRAPHY IS INCLUDED. (GLR)