Design a field research project in which you would observe the behavior of people in situations in which they are confronted by authority. Choose an appropriate setting such as a traffic court session, a city or county tax office, or a school board meeting.
Spend about an hour observing and recording verbal communications, facial expressions, body movements, and interpersonal behavior. Be sure to take careful notes of your observations and prepare a brief report of your findings and conclusions.
Exercise 12-2Assume that you wish to undertake a field study of a local chapter of Parents Without Partners, an organization for helping people cope with the problem of single parenthood. Write a brief prospectus showing how you would expect to carry out this research. In your prospectus indicate particular problems you might encounter in terms of gaining access to the group, establishing relations with members, recording observations, and analyzing data. What ethical issues might arise in the conduct of your study?
Exercise 12-3Most likely your school library has access to many social science journals. Using your school library, find a research article that employs qualitative methodology. Describe the methodology the researcher/s used. Do you think the findings would remain the same if a different method of data collection was used?