The fieldworker must explain his or her presence and purpose to others, gain their confidence and cooperation, and develop and maintain mutually acceptable relationships. These requirements create dilemmas, produce confrontations, demand clarifications and compromises, and evoke reflections and introspection that one can neither fully anticipate nor prepare for in advance. Worthwhile projects may fail. Research strategies frequently must be modified or abandoned as researchers and subjects interact. Unexpected opportunities, fruitful leads, and important insights can blossom as fieldwork develops (Georges and Jones, 1980).
The road to completing a successful qualitative or multimethod research project is a long one. Many issues are likely to come up along the way. Listed below are books that should help begin the journey. They all attempt to give the reader a more or less comprehensive introduction to qualitative or multimethod research. In most cases they are not listed repeatedly under other more specific topical headings, even though they confront most, if not all, those topics. When particularly helpful on a particularly topic, they may be listed again for emphasis. These general guides should be helpful to have on the shelf during any investigation, and should be very useful in the conception and planning of research.
References:
Bernard, H. R. (1994). Research Methods in Anthropology: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Denzin, N. K., & Lincoln, Y. S. (Eds.). (1994). Handbook of Qualitative Research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Emerson, R. M., Fretz, R. I., & Shaw, L. L. (1995). Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Fiedler, J. (1978). Field Research: A Manual for Logistics and Management of Scientific Studies in Natural Settings. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Glaser, B., & Strauss, A. (1967). The Discovery of Grounded Theory: Strategies for Qualitative Research. Chicago: Aldine.
Lancy, D. F. (1993). Qualitative Research in Education: An Introduction to the Major Traditions. New York: Longman Publishing Group.
Lofland, J., & Lofland, L. (1995). Analyzing Social Settings. (third ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Miles, M. B., & Huberman, A. M. (1994). Qualitative Data Analysis. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Werner, O., & Schoepfle, G. M. (1987). Systematic Fieldwork. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Whyte, W. F. (1984). Learning from the Field: A Guide from Experience. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
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