Membership Roles in Field Research

by Peter N. Adler

Overview

There are a range of possible roles that can be played by ethnographers in field research, from the detached observer to the the fully-fledged participant. The choice of role will affect the type of information available to the researcher and the kind of ethnography written. The authors discuss the problems and advantages at each level of involvement and give examples of modern ethnographic studies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780803925786
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Publication date:	06/01/1987
Series:	Qualitative Research Methods , #6
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	96
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.26(d)

About the Author

Peter S. Adler, Ph.D. is President of The Keystone Center, which applies consensus-building and scientific information to energy, environmental, and health-related policy problems. The Keystone Center also offers extensive training and professional education programs to educators and business leaders and runs the Keystone Science School in the Rocky Mountains. Adler's specialty is multi-party negotiation and problem solving. He has worked extensively on water management and resource planning problems and mediates, writes, trains, and teaches in diverse areas of conflict management. He has extensive experience in land planning issues, construction issues, water problems, marine and coastal affairs, and strategic resource management.

Prior to his appointment at Keystone, Adler held executive positions with the Hawaii Justice Foundation, the Hawaii Supreme Court's Center for Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR), and the Neighborhood Justice Center. He has served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in India, an instructor and Associate Director of the Hawaii Bound School, and President of the Society of Professionals in Dispute Resolution. He has been awarded the Roberston-Cunninghame Scholar in Residence Fellowship at the University of New England, New South Wales, Australia, a Senior Fellowship at the Western Justice Center, and was a consultant to the U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution.

Table of Contents

PART ONE: THE HISTORY AND EPISTEMOLOGY OF FIELDWORK ROLES
The Chicago School
More Radical Views on Membership
The California Sociologies of Everyday Life
Existential Sociology
The Investigative Paradigm
Ethnomethodology
Becoming the Phenomenon
Synthesis
The Critique of Traditional Field Research
Membership Roles in Field Research
PART TWO: PERIPHERAL MEMBERSHIP
The Process of Membership
Becoming a Peripheral-Member-Researcher
The Membership Experience
Disengagement
Reflections
PART THREE: ACTIVE MEMBERSHIP
The Process of Membership
Becoming an Active-Member-Researcher
The Membership Experience
Disengagement
Reflections
PART FOUR: COMPLETE MEMBERSHIP
The Process of Membership
Becoming a Complete-Member-Researcher
The Membership Experience
Disengagement
Reflections