Week 7 – Criminological

Fieldwork: February 26, 2024

Field Research
- Observing behaviour in its natural environment through direct personal observation by the
researcher
- Historically, most qualitative research took place among remote tribal villages, primarily by
anthropologists
- Over time, the qualitative field grew to include deviant subcultures
o E.g., Street corner societies, concert halls, biker gangs, etc.
o More recently, the field has entered prisons & police departments
- One of the defining characteristics of qualitative research is that it takes place outside of a
laboratory setting
o It is conducted in the field
- Fieldwork is described as “systematic gathering of data on specific aspects of social life by
means other than social surveys, demographic techniques, & experimentation that includes
ongoing relationship with those studies” (Manning, 1987)
- Flexibility is important
o Fieldwork is interested in obtaining in-depth, quality research from the subjects being
studied

Methods of Field Research

- Direct Observation: Observing subjects in a natural environment
- Participant Observation: Researcher is involved in the research process; not just as an observer
but also as a participant
- Ethnography: Entire communities are observed objectively
- Qualitative Interviews: One-on-one or focus groups
- Case Study: In-depth analysis of a person, situation, or event

Ethnography
- Research whereby the data collector immerses themselves in the study
- The purpose is to examine the phenomenon from the perspective of the study participants
- The researcher may engage in the behaviour studied to varying degrees
o The researcher may have to fully immerse themselves into the lifestyle of those being
studied
 - Immersion takes time & unique, specific skills
o Once the researcher has become imbedded, or immersed, in the study group, observations
can be made, & data recorded, coded, & analyzed
- Extreme methods
o Creative, but often risky, data collection processes
o The difficult part is making sense of the shared experiences & observations or developing
explanatory theory
- Examples
o A researcher who ‘runs’ with a violent gang to have a better understanding of gang
behaviour
o A researcher who is incarcerated to learn about prisonization
- Ethnography studies must consider ethics & be mindful of the review board process
o Ethics review boards are often designed in ways to make it difficult to get approval for
participant observation research
- The researcher needs to overcome much personal background, tradition, beliefs, and other forms
of bias before being able to explain the behaviour from the perspective of the group studied
- There are limitations with ethnographies
o Demographics may hinder access & ability to properly embed into the environment
o E.g., Men will never know by participant observation what it is really like to give birth to
a baby
- Contemporary ethnographers typically select & cultivate close relationships with individuals who
can provide access to the larger group
o The researchers risks the danger of biased viewpoints
o Presence of the ethnographer may also lead to changes in how the group acts
- Contemporary ethnographies usually adhere to a community, rather than an individual
- Ethnographic researchers utilize a variety of tools when conducting the work
o E.g., Not just using pen & paper
o Ethnographers may use other forms of data collection (Video, audio, etc.)

Autoethnography
- A form of ethnographic research where the researcher connects personal experiences to wider
cultural, political, & social meanings & understandings
- Uses a researcher’s personal experience to describe & critique cultural beliefs, practices, &
experiences
- Acknowledges & values a researcher’s relationships with others
- Uses deep & careful self-reflection
o Reflexivity
- Balances intellectual & methodological rigor, emotion, & creativity
- Autoethnography is typically written in the 1st person & can appear in a variety of forms
o E.g., Short stories, essays, journals, poetry & photographic essays
Participant Observation
- One of the more common methods in qualitative fieldwork
o Also, very demanding
o Ethnographers typically use participant observation as their method in the field
- Researcher studies a group not only through observation, but also by participating in its activities
- Researcher immerses themselves in the daily activities of the participants
- Often requires extensive time to complete the work
o Months & sometimes years

Direct Observation
- To understand a particular behaviour or phenomenon
- Involves watching or listening to participant(s) while they engage in some type of activity
o Observer takes notes pertaining to the participant’s behaviour
- The observer strives to be as unobtrusive as possible
o Use of video technology can be useful
- Can be completed more efficiently than other methods (E.g., Participant observation)

Case Studies
- Attempts to shed light on a phenomenon by studying a single case example
- Focuses on an individual person, an event, a group, or an institution
- Allows for in-depth examination by prolonged enagagement or cultural immersion
- Investigates the contexts & setting of a situation
- Combination of methods can be used

Interviews
- Can take the form of multiple methods
o One-on-one interviews vs. Focus groups
o Structured, semi-structured, unstructured
- Focus group interview involve small groups to explore in greater detail issues or questions related
to a topic
- Structured Interviews: pre-determined questions
- Unstructured Interviews: No questions prepared
- Semi-structured Interviews: Contains pre-determined questions but allows flexibility to deviate
from the interview instrument
Remote Fieldwork
- Contemporary method of recruiting hard-to-reach populations
o Typically involves online recruitment compared to traditional methods
- The internet provides an opportunity to mitigate the difficulties in recruiting heard-to-reach
populations
o More people are connected to the internet than in the past
- Hard-to-reach communities are not geographically in one location or on one site
o Members interact in various places (Both online & offline)
- The use of snowball sampling as a method to recruit participants online is advantageous
- Credibility can help recruit hard-to-reach populations through remote fieldwork
o Safety of participants is of critical importance
o Online environments as communication can leave traces (E.g., IP, addresses, geolocation)
- Internet-based recruitment can occur instantly & provide respondents quickly
- Limitations do exist with online fieldwork
o Cannot recruit people who have no internet access
o Online fieldwork is less likely to be successful with populations who have ongoing legal
issues

Advantages of Field Research

- Overcoming lack of data
o Field research can resolve major issues or gaps in data
- Research gains a deep understanding into the research subjects
- Increasing the quality of data
- Ability to collect ancillary data
o Researchers are put in a position that may allow them to collect data that the study or
project did not account for initially