Reviewer in Field Research

• Breaching experiment – when a field researcher intentionally breaks social rules and
patterns of behavior to reveal aspects about social meanings and relationships

• Field site – context in which events or activities occur, a socially defined territory with
shifting boundaries.

• Complete observer – researcher is behind a one-way mirror or taking on a disguised role

• Observer as a Peripheral membership – researcher maintains distance between self and those
studied, or sets limits by the his or her beliefs or discomfort with the subjects’ activities.

• Active membership – researcher goes through induction and maintains high level of trust,
but can withdraw from the field periodically.

• Complete membership – researcher converts and goes native. participant – researcher is

known from the beginning but has limited contact

• Participant as observer – researcher is overt and is intimately known to subjects

• Complete participant – researcher acts as subject.

• Gatekeeper – someone with the formal or informal authority to control access to a site

• Misinformation – unintended falsehood caused by uncertainties

• Evasions – intentional acts of not revealing information.

• Lies – untruths intended to mislead or give a false view.

• Fronts – appearances that differ from what is actually occurring.

• Ecological validity – degree to which the social world described by the researcher
matches the world of subjects.
• Natural history – full and candid disclosure of the researcher’s actions and procedures.

• Focusing – everything may be relevant at first, but later the researcher selectively focuses
on specific questions and themes.

• Descriptive – can be about time and space, people and activities, illustrations or
experiences.
• Structural – when the researcher organizes field events, situations and conversations into
categories, and asks respondents to verify the categories.

• Contrast – builds on the analysis verified by structural questions.

• Descriptive – can be about time and space, people and activities, illustrations or
experiences.
• Structural – when the researcher organizes field events, situations, and conversations into
categories, and asks respondents to verify the categories.

• Contrast – builds on the analysis verified by structural questions.