FIELD RESEARCH AND FOCUS GROUP RESEARCH(1975) access to a social work agency was aided by
mentioning that someone in the agency was a friend
of his wife.
Normalize Research.A field researcher not only
observes and investigates members in the field but
is observed and investigated by members as well.
“While the fieldworker is undertaking a study of
others, others are undertaking a study of the field-
worker” (Van Maanen, 1982:110). The isolated
researcher does not perform fieldwork alone, but
everyone in the field setting helps to create it
(Wax 1979:363). In overt field research, members
are usually initially uncomfortable with the pres-
ence of a researcher. Most are unfamiliar with field
research and fail to distinguish between sociolo-
gists, psychologists, counselors, and social workers.
They may see you as an outside critic or dangerous
spy or as a savior or all-knowing expert.
When you adopt an overt role, you must
normalize social research—that is, help members
redefine social research from something unknown
and threatening to something normal and pre-
dictable. You can help members do this by present-
ing your own biography, explaining field research
a little at a time, appearing nonthreatening, or
accepting minor deviance in the setting (e.g., minor
violations of official rules).^24 For example, in a
study of social workers, Johnson (1975:99–104)
was accepted after the social workers realized that
he accepted their minor deviance (e.g., leaving work
early to go swimming) and after he said that he
thought others did it also. Co-workers accepted
McDermott (2006) after she caught shoplifters and
agreed to work the night shift at the convenience
store alone, proving her toughness and that she was
not afraid of “mundane, thankless work.”
Another way to normalize research is to explain
it in terms members understand. Sometimes mem-
bers’ excitement about being written up in a book is
useful, as Fine and Glassner (1979), LeMasters
(1975), and Venkatesh (2008) found. In his study of
a neighborhood tavern in Wisconsin, LeMasters
became a regular over a 5-year period, going to the
bar several nights a week. He (1975:7) stated how
he explained what he was doing to members:
Initially assumed the role of patron—just another
person who liked to drink beer and shoot some pool.This finally became difficult because the amount of
time I spent in the tavern began to raise questions.
Some of the regular customers, I learned later, had
decided I must be an undercover agent from the
state liquor commission.... I adopted the follow-
ing stance when queried about being in the tavern:
that sociologists have to have some knowledge of
various aspects of American society to be effective
teachers, that I found The Oasis men and women
to be helpful in understanding how blue-collar
people feel about American society, and, further,
that I became bored by constant association with
white-collar people and that the tavern contacts
were refreshing. All of the above statements were
true.Decide on Disclosure.You must decide how much
to reveal about yourself and the research project.
Disclosing your personal life, hobbies, interests,
and background can build trust and close relation-
ships, but you also lose privacy and need to ensure
that the focus remains on events in the field.
Disclosure ranges on a continuum from fully
covert research, in which no one in the field is aware
that research is taking place, to the opposite end,
where everyone knows the specifics of the research
project. The degree and timing of disclosure
depends on your judgment and particulars in the set-
ting. Disclosure may unfold over time as you feel
more secure.
It is best to disclose the project to gatekeepers
and others unless there is a very good reason for
not doing so. Even then, you may disclose your
identity as a researcher but may pose as one who
seems submissive, harmless, and interested in
nonthreatening issues (see later discussion on being
an acceptable incompetent). McDermott (2006)
developed a cover story, telling people she wanted
to study the effects of economic restructuring on
working people and did not reveal that her real
interest was in racial attitudes. She states (p. 36), “If
I had stated my true research intentions at the onset,Normalize social research Technique in field re-
search that attempts to make the people being studied
feel more comfortable with the research process and to
help them accept the researcher’s presence.