FIELD RESEARCH AND FOCUS GROUP RESEARCHwhat does not happen, or nonresponses, which are
easy to miss. Nevertheless, these items create dis-
ruption and an increased awareness of surveillance.
Researchers who rely on them must address asso-
ciated problems (e.g., ensure that batteries are fresh,
the supply of blank tapes is adequate). Also, relis-
tening to or viewing tapes can be time consuming.
For example, it may take more than 100 hours to lis-
ten to 50 hours recorded in the field. Transcriptions
of tape are expensive and not always accurate; they
do not always convey subtle contextual meanings
or mumbled words.^44Step 6: Exit the Field Site.Work in the field can
last from a few weeks to a dozen years.^45 In either
case, at some point, it ends. Some researcherssuggest
that the end comes naturally when theory building
ceases or reaches a closure; others believe that
fieldwork could go on without end and that a firm
decision to cut it off is needed.
Experienced field researchers anticipate a pro-
cess of disengaging and exiting the field. Depend-
ing on the intensity of involvement and the length
of time in the field, the process can be disruptive or
emotionally painful for both them and the members.
You may experience the emotional pain of break-
ing intimate friendships when leaving the field. You
may feel guilty and depressed immediately before
and after leaving. You may find letting go difficult
because of personal and emotional entanglements.
If the involvement in the field was intense and long
and the field site differed from your native culture,
you may need months of adjustment before feeling
at home with your original cultural surroundings.
Once you decide to leave—because the project
reaches a natural end and little new is being learned
or because external factors force it to end (e.g., end
of a job, gatekeepers order you out)—choose a
method of exiting. You can leave by a quick exit
(simply not return one day) or slowly withdraw,
reducing involvement over weeks. You also need to
decide how to tell members and how much advance
warning to give.
The exit process depends on the specific field
setting and the relationships developed. In general,
let members know a short period ahead of time. You
should fulfill any bargains or commitments that
were made and leave with a clean slate. Sometimes
a ritual or ceremony, such as a going-away party
or shaking hands with everyone, helps signal the
break for members. Feminist researchers advocate
maintaining friendships with members after exiting.
Leaving affects members. Some may feel hurt
or rejected because a close social relationship is
ending. They may react by trying to pull you back
into the field and make you more a member, or they
may become angry and resentful. They may grow
cool and distant because of an awareness that you
really are an outsider. In any case, fieldwork is not
finished until the process of disengagement and
exiting is complete. (See Summary Review Box 1,
Overview of the Field Research Process.)THE FIELD RESEARCH INTERVIEW
So far, you have read about how field researchers
observe and take notes. They also interview
members, but field interviews differ from survey
research interviews. This section introduces the
field interview.
Unstructured, nondirective, in-depth inter-
views in field research differ from formal survey
research interviews in many ways (see Table 1).^46
The field interview involves asking questions, lis-
tening, expressing interest, and recording what was
said.
The field interview is a joint production of
a researcher and one or more members. Members
are active participants whose insights, feelings,
and cooperation are essential parts of a discussion
process that reveals subjective meanings. “The
interviewer’s presence and form of involvement—
how she or he listens, attends, encourages, inter-
rupts, digresses, initiates topics, and terminates
responses—is integral to the respondent’s account”
(Mishler, 1986:82).
Field research interviews go by many names:
unstructured, depth, ethnographic, open ended,
informal,andlong.Generally, they involve one or
more people being present, occur in the field, and
are informal and nondirective (i.e., a member may
take the interview in various directions).^47