Field Research in Political Science
Practices and Principles
Published on 6. March 2015
978-1-316-19051-7 (ISBN)
Description
Field research - leaving one's home institution in order to acquire data, information or insights that significantly inform one's research - remains indispensable, even in a digitally networked era. This book, the first of its kind in political science, reconsiders the design and execution of field research and explores its role in producing knowledge. First, it offers an empirical overview of fieldwork in the discipline based on a large-scale survey and extensive interviews. Good fieldwork takes diverse forms yet follows a set of common practices and principles. Second, the book demonstrates the analytic benefits of fieldwork, showing how it contributes to our understanding of politics. Finally, it provides intellectual and practical guidance, with chapters on preparing for field research, operating in the field and making analytic progress while collecting data, and on data collection techniques including archival research, interviewing, ethnography and participant observation, surveys, and field experiments.
Reviews / Votes
'This outstanding book is a must-read for political science scholars, from faculty members contemplating a new project, to doctoral students exploring dissertation topics, to undergraduates embarking on their first research projects. A masterly analysis of how field research contributes to our understanding of politics, the book synthesizes a broad range of literature and also draws on the field experience of the authors. Despite the diversity of approaches to field research in the discipline, authors not only identify a common core of principles and practices but also suggest how they might be deepened and sharpened.' Elisabeth Jean Wood, Yale University, ConnecticutMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Cambridge University Press
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
9 Tables, black and white; 1 Maps; 19 Line drawings, unspecified
File size
5432,58 MB
ISBN-13
978-1-316-19051-7 (9781316190517)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Diana Kapiszewski | Lauren M. MacLean | Benjamin L. Read
Field Research in Political Science
Practices and Principles
Book
03/2015
Cambridge University Press
€55.90
Shipment within 15-20 days
Diana Kapiszewski | Lauren M. MacLean | Benjamin L. Read
Field Research in Political Science
Practices and Principles
Book
03/2015
Cambridge University Press
€125.80
Shipment within 15-20 days
Persons
Diana Kapiszewski is Assistant Professor in the Department of Government at Georgetown University. Lauren M. MacLean is Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at Indiana University. Benjamin L. Read is Associate Professor in the Politics Department at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Content
1. Field research in political science: practices and principles; 2. A historical and empirical overview of field research in the discipline; 3. Preparing for fieldwork; 4. Managing in the field: logistical, social, operational, and ethical challenges; 5. Thinking outside the (archive) box: discovering data in the field; 6. Interviews, oral histories, and focus groups; 7. Site-intensive methods: ethnography and participant observation; 8. Surveys in the context of field research; 9. Experiments in the field; 10. Analyzing, writing, and retooling in the field; 11. The future of field research in political science.
