What is Field Research: Definition, Methods, Examples and

Field research is defined as a qualitative method of data collection that aims to observe, interact and understand people while they are in a natural ... Products Surveysoftware Leadingsurveysoftwaretohelpyouturndataintodecisions. ResearchEdition Intelligentmarketresearchsurveysthatuncoveractionableinsights. CustomerExperience Experienceschangetheworld.DeliverthebestwithourCXmanagementsoftware. Workforce Powerfulinsightstohelpyoucreatethebestemployeeexperience. 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Fieldresearchisdefinedasaqualitativemethodofdatacollectionthataimstoobserve,interactandunderstandpeoplewhiletheyareinanaturalenvironment.Forexample,natureconservationistsobservebehaviorofanimalsintheirnaturalsurroundingsandthewaytheyreacttocertainscenarios.Inthesameway,socialscientistsconductingfieldresearchmayconductinterviewsorobservepeoplefromadistancetounderstandhowtheybehaveinasocialenvironmentandhowtheyreacttosituationsaroundthem. Learnmoreabout:MarketResearch Fieldresearchencompassesadiverserangeofsocialresearchmethodsincludingdirectobservation,limitedparticipation,analysisofdocumentsandotherinformation,informalinterviews,surveysetc.Althoughfieldresearchisgenerallycharacterizedasqualitativeresearch,itofteninvolvesmultipleaspectsofquantitativeresearchinit. Fieldresearchtypicallybeginsinaspecificsettingalthoughtheendobjectiveofthestudyistoobserveandanalyzethespecificbehaviorofasubjectinthatsetting.Thecauseandeffectofacertainbehavior,though,istoughtoanalyzeduetopresenceofmultiplevariablesinanaturalenvironment.Mostofthedatacollectionisbasednotentirelyoncauseandeffectbutmostlyoncorrelation.Whilefieldresearchlooksforcorrelation,thesmallsamplesizemakesitdifficulttoestablishacausalrelationshipbetweentwoormorevariables. MethodsofFieldResearch Fieldresearchistypicallyconductedin5distinctivemethods.Theyare: DirectObservation Inthismethod,thedataiscollectedviaanobservationalmethodorsubjectsinanaturalenvironment.Inthismethod,thebehaviororoutcomeofsituationisnotinterferedinanywaybytheresearcher.Theadvantageofdirectobservationisthatitofferscontextualdataonpeople,situations,interactionsandthesurroundings.Thismethodoffieldresearchiswidelyusedinapublicsettingorenvironmentbutnotinaprivateenvironmentasitraisesanethicaldilemma. ParticipantObservation Inthismethodoffieldresearch,theresearcherisdeeplyinvolvedintheresearchprocess,notjustpurelyasanobserver,butalsoasaparticipant.Thismethodtooisconductedinanaturalenvironmentbuttheonlydifferenceistheresearchergetsinvolvedinthediscussionsandcanmouldthedirectionofthediscussions.Inthismethod,researchersliveinacomfortableenvironmentwiththeparticipantsoftheresearch,tomakethemcomfortableandopenuptoin-depthdiscussions. Ethnography Ethnographyisanexpandedobservationofsocialresearchandsocialperspectiveandtheculturalvaluesofan entiresocialsetting.Inethnography,entirecommunitiesareobservedobjectively.Forexample, ifaresearcherwouldliketounderstandhowanAmazontribelivestheirlifeandoperates,he/shemaychosetoobservethemorliveamongstthemandsilentlyobservetheirday-to-daybehavior. QualitativeInterviews Qualitativeinterviewsareclose-endedquestionsthatareaskeddirectlytotheresearchsubjects.Thequalitativeinterviewscouldbeeitherinformalandconversational,semi-structured,standardizedandopen-endedoramixofalltheabovethree.Thisprovidesawealthofdatatotheresearcherthattheycansortthrough.Thisalsohelpscollectrelationaldata.Thismethodoffieldresearchcanuseamixofone-on-oneinterviews,focusgroupsandtextanalysis. CaseStudy Acasestudyresearchisanin-depthanalysisofaperson,situationorevent.Thismethodmaylookdifficulttooperate,however,itisoneofthesimplestwaysofconductingresearchasitinvolvesadeepdiveandthoroughunderstandingthedatacollectionmethodsandinferringthedata. StepsinConductingFieldResearch Duetothenatureoffieldresearch,themagnitudeoftimelinesandcostsinvolved,fieldresearchcanbeverytoughtoplan,implementandmeasure.Somebasicstepsinthemanagementoffieldresearchare: BuildtheRightTeam:Tobeabletoconductfieldresearch,havingtherightteamisimportant.Theroleoftheresearcherandanyancillaryteammembersisveryimportantanddefiningthetaskstheyhavetocarryoutwithdefinedrelevantmilestonesisimportant.Itisimportantthattheuppermanagementtooisvestedinthefieldresearchforitssuccess. RecruitingPeoplefortheStudy:Thesuccessofthefieldresearchdependsonthepeoplethatthestudyisbeingconductedon.Usingsamplingmethods,itisimportanttoderivethepeoplethatwillbeapartofthestudy. DataCollectionMethodology:Asspokeninlengthaboutabove,datacollectionmethodsforfieldresearcharevaried.Theycouldbeamixofsurveys,interviews,casestudiesandobservation.Allthesemethodshavetobechalkedoutandthemilestonesforeachmethodtoohavetobechalkedoutattheoutset.Forexample,inthecaseofasurvey,thesurveydesignisimportantthatitiscreatedandtestedevenbeforetheresearchbegins. SiteVisit:Asitevisitisimportanttothesuccessofthefieldresearchanditisalwaysconductedoutsideoftraditionallocationsandintheactualnaturalenvironmentoftherespondent/s.Hence,planningasitevisitalongwiththemethodsofdatacollectionisimportant. DataAnalysis:Analysisofthedatathatiscollectedisimportanttovalidatethepremiseofthefieldresearchand decidetheoutcomeofthefieldresearch. CommunicatingResults:Oncethedataisanalyzed,itisimportanttocommunicatetheresultstothestakeholdersoftheresearchsothatitcouldbeactionedupon. FieldResearchNotes Keepinganethnographicrecordisveryimportantinconductingfieldresearch.Fieldnotesmakeuponeofthemostimportantaspectsoftheethnographicrecord.Theprocessoffieldnotesbeginsastheresearcherisinvolvedintheobservationalresearchprocessthatistobewrittendownlater. TypesofFieldResearchNotes Thefourdifferentkindsoffieldnotesare: JobNotes:Thismethodoftakingnotesiswhiletheresearcherisinthestudy.Thiscouldbeincloseproximityandinopensightwiththesubjectinstudy.Thenoteshereareshort,conciseandincondensedformthatcanbebuiltonbytheresearcherlater.Mostresearchersdonotpreferthismethodthoughduetothefearoffeelingthattherespondentmaynottakethemseriously. FieldNotesProper:Thesenotesaretobeexpandedonimmediatelyafterthecompletionofevents.Thenoteshavetobedetailedandthewordshavetobeasclosetopossibleasthesubjectbeingstudied. MethodologicalNotes:Thesenotescontainmethodsontheresearchmethodsusedbytheresearcher,anynewproposedresearchmethodsandthewaytomonitortheirprogress.Methodologicalnotescanbekeptwithfieldnotesorfiledseparatelybuttheyfindtheirwaytotheendreportofastudy. JournalsandDiaries:Thismethodoffieldnotesisaninsightintothelifeoftheresearcher.ThistracksallaspectsoftheresearcherslifeandhelpseliminatetheHaloeffectoranybiasthatmayhavecroppedupduringthefieldresearch. ReasonstoConductFieldResearch Fieldresearchhasbeencommonlyusedinthe20thcenturyinthesocialsciences.Butingeneral,ittakesalotoftimetoconductandcomplete,isexpensiveandinalotofcasesinvasive.Sowhythenisthiscommonlyusedandispreferredbyresearcherstovalidatedata?Welookat4majorreasons: Overcominglackofdata:Fieldresearchresolvesthemajorissueofgapsindata.Veryoften,thereislimitedtonodataaboutatopicinstudy,especiallyinaspecificenvironment.Theproblemmightbeknownorsuspectedbutthereisnowaytovalidatethiswithoutprimaryresearchanddata.Conductingfieldresearchhelpsnotonlyplug-ingapsindatabutcollectsupportingmaterialandhenceisapreferredresearchmethodofresearchers. Understandingcontextofthestudy:Inmanycases,thedatacollectedisadequatebutfieldresearchisstillconducted.Thishelpsgaininsightintotheexistingdata.Forexample,ifthedatastatesthathorsesfromastablefarmgenerallywinracesbecausethehorsesarepedigreedandthestableownerhiresthebestjockeys.Butconductingfieldresearchcanthrowlightintootherfactorsthatinfluencethesuccesslikequalityoffodderandcareprovidedandconduciveweatherconditions. Increasingthequalityofdata:Sincethisresearchmethodusesmorethanonetooltocollectdata,thedataisofhigherquality.Inferencescanbemadefromthedatacollectedandcanbestatisticallyanalyzedviathetriangulationofdata. Collectingancillarydata:Fieldresearchputstheresearchersinapositionoflocalizedthinkingwhichopensthemnewlinesofthinking.Thiscanhelpcollectdatathatthestudydidn’taccounttocollect. ExamplesofFieldResearch Someexamplesoffieldresearchare: Deciphersocialmetricsinaslum Purelybyusingobservationalmethodsandin-depthinterviews,researcherscanbepartofacommunitytounderstandthesocialmetricsandsocialhierarchyofaslum.Thisstudycanalsounderstandthefinancialindependenceandday-to-dayoperationalnuancesofaslum.Theanalysisofthisdatacanprovideaninsightintohowdifferentaslumisfromstructuredsocieties. Understandtheimpactofsportsonachild’sdevelopment Thismethodoffieldresearchtakesmultipleyearstoconductandthesamplesizecanbeverylarge.Thedataanalysisofthisresearchprovidesinsightsintohowthekidsofdifferentgeographicallocationsandbackgroundsrespondtosportsandtheimpactofsportsontheirallrounddevelopment. Studyanimalmigrationpatterns Fieldresearchisusedextensivelytostudyfloraandfauna.Amajorusecaseisscientistsmonitoringandstudyinganimalmigrationpatternswiththechangeofseasons.Fieldresearchhelpscollectdataacrossyearsandthathelpsdrawconclusionsabouthowtosafelyexpeditethesafepassageofanimals. AdvantagesofFieldResearch Theadvantagesoffieldresearchare: Itisconductedinareal-worldandnaturalenvironmentwherethereisnotamperingofvariablesandtheenvironmentisnotdoctored. Duetothestudybeingconductedinacomfortableenvironment,datacanbecollectedevenaboutancillarytopics. Theresearchergainsadeepunderstandingintotheresearchsubjectsduetotheproximitytothemandhencetheresearchisextensive,thoroughandaccurate. DisadvantagesofFieldResearch Thedisadvantagesoffieldresearchare: Thestudiesareexpensiveandtime-consumingandcantakeyearstocomplete. Itisverydifficultfortheresearchertodistancethemselvesfromabiasintheresearchstudy. Thenoteshavetobeexactlywhattheresearchersaysbutthenomenclatureisverytoughtofollow. Itisaninterpretivemethodandthisissubjectiveandentirelydependentontheabilityoftheresearcher. Inthismethod,itisimpossibletocontrolexternalvariablesandthisconstantlyaltersthenatureoftheresearch. 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