Experimental designs in the social sciences have received increasing attention due to their power to produce causal inferences. Nevertheless, experimental research faces limitations, including limited external validity and unrealistic treatments. We propose combining qualitative fieldwork and experimental design iteratively--moving back-and-forth…

While research into PhD programs and doctoral students' experiences has increased in recent years, fieldwork is overlooked as a source of learning and support. In education, the focus of this paper, fieldwork remains laced with notions of the anthropologist gathering data in a place that is not their own, which narrowly construct the role of the…

World-wide responses to the global pandemic, such as travel restrictions, border closures and lockdowns, have posed new challenges to researchers. For qualitative researchers conducting fieldwork, gathering data in person can be inapplicable (Howlett, 2021). My research investigates English as a Foreign Language (EFL) pre-service teachers' beliefs…

This research project case is a recount of my personal experience in conducting a study on web-enhanced learning within Cambodian higher education. The research forms the basis of my PhD in Education, and the aim of the study is to examine the application of web-based technologies to support teaching and learning practices by using design-based…

Netnography (Kozinets, 2010) is an ethnographic approach to study communities that exist primarily online. Engaging in online participant observation, the netnographer connects to the online community through a computer screen, and the field is located inside the screen. Although it has been used in marketing research extensively, netnography is a…

Three issues must be addressed when discussing the standards needed to judge the methodological rigor of naturalistic approaches to administrative research. The first issue involves defining naturalistic inquiry. In contrast to the scientific paradigm, naturalistic inquiry emphasizes, first, the inseparability of variables or events from their…

This book is intended to give teacher education students and practicing teachers an introduction to research methods and does so by following the procedures and results of a recent study. Chapter 1 discusses the research problem and the procedures for setting up a research design. Chapter 2 discusses the major stages of field work. Chapter 3…

Methodological adequacy in naturalistic inquiry is enhanced by understanding the differences between the naturalistic and rationalistic paradigms; by using simultaneous data collection and analysis, with prolonged field research, an audit trail, multiple sources, and referential materials; and by employing "thick description" extensively…

A major problem in social science research is that of successfully carrying out the random assignment of persons to experimental and control groups. In this study a computer-based random assignment procedure operated successfully on a weekly basis for 17 consecutive weeks in a program serving over 360 ex-offenders. (CTM)

The microcomputer offers social science field researchers a valuable tool for managing qualitative research data. In addition to the flexibility and efficiency of the microcomputer, the logic governing its programming and operation imposes a framework on the research process which necessitates that research decisions and strategies be explicit and…

This paper examines the benefits of merging sociological methods by concentrating on the contribution of field observation prior to the designing of a survey study of black anti-Semitism. (Author)

Discusses research strategy and data collection methods in field studies of unapprehended illegal immigrants living in the United States and suggests ways to increase the reliability and validity of interview responses. Also provides a bibliography of recent field studies of undocumented immigrants. (Author/GC)

Differences between ethnographic, phenomenological, or qualitative research techniques are reviewed through an explanation of the rationale behind their use and discussion of some of the processes by which this type of research is conducted. While this article is focused on educational research, the discussion applies equally to social…

Attrition, or the loss of study subjects, confounds the subject identification process. Design attrition occurs when subjects initially involved in the study are excluded because of changes in study focus or rationale. Data collection attrition occurs when subjects are excluded because they were not contacted by the data gatherer, or because the…

It is the purpose of this paper to discuss one qualitative research method, participant observation, which describes and analyzes a setting based on data that has been laboriously and systematically collected and analyzed. (Author/RK)