Studying Japan

Name: Studying Japan | Handbook of Research Designs, Fieldwork and Methods
Brand: Nomos
Price: 58.0 EUR
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Handbook of Research Designs, Fieldwork and Methods

Nora Kottmann Cornelia Reiher(Editor)

Nomos (Publisher)

1st Edition

Published on 24. November 2020

501 pages

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978-3-8452-9287-8 (ISBN)

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Studying Japan is the first comprehensive guide on qualitative methods, research designs and fieldwork in social science research on Japan. More than 70 Japan scholars from around the world provide an easy-to-read overview on qualitative methods used in research on Japan's society, politics, culture and history. The book covers the entire research process from the outset to the completion of a thesis, a paper, or a book. The authors provide basic introductions to individual methods, discuss their experiences when applying these methods and highlight current trends in research on Japan. The book serves as a foundation for a course on qualitative research methods and is, but can also be used as a reference for all researchers in Japanese Studies, the Social Sciences and Area Studies. It is an essential reading for students and researchers with an interest in Japan! With contributions by: Chapter: Celeste L. Arrington, David Chiavacci, Andreas Eder-Ramsauer, James Farrer, Roger Goodman, Carola Hommerich, Nora Kottmann, Gracia Liu-Farrer, Levi McLaughlin, Chris McMorran, Caitlin Meagher, Kaori Okano, Theresia B. Peucker, Cornelia Reiher, Katja Schmidtpott, Christian Tagsold, Katrin Ullmann, Gabriele Vogt, Cosima Wagner, Akiko Yoshida and Urs Matthias Zachmann. Essays: Shinichi Aizawa, Noor Albazerbashi, Daniel P. Aldrich, Allison Alexy, Verena Blechinger-Talcott, Christoph Brumann, Genaro Castro-Vázquez, David Chiavacci, Jamie Coates, Emma E. Cook, Laura Dales, James Farrer, Flavia Fulco, Isaac Gagné, Nana Okura Gagné, Sonja Ganseforth, Sheldon Garon, Julia Gerster, Christopher Gerteis, Markus Heckel, Steffen Heinrich, Joy Hendry, Swee-Lin Ho, Barbara Holthus, Katharina Hülsmann, Jun Imai, Hanno Jentzsch, Aya H. Kimura, Emi Kinoshita, Susanne Klien, Gracia Liu-Farrer, Patricia L. Maclachlan, Wolfram Manzenreiter, Kenneth M. McElwain, Lynne Y. Nakano, Scott North, Robin O'Day, Robert J. Pekkanen, Saadia M. Pekkanen, Isabelle Prochaska-Meyer, Nancy Rosenberger, Richard J. Samuels, Annette Schad-Seifert, Katja Schmidtpott, Tino Schölz, Kai Schulze, Kay Shimizu, Karen Shire, David H. Slater, Celia Spoden, Brigitte Steger, Nicolas Sternsdorff-Cisterna, Christian Tagsold, Akiko Takeyama, Daisuke Watanabe, Daniel White, Anna Wiemann and Tomiko Yamaguchi. Foreword: Ilse Lenz and Franz Waldenberger.

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Content

Cover
Introduction: Studying Japan
1. Introduction
2. Why this handbook and why now?
3. What this handbook is about
4. Editorial decisions
5. How to use this handbook
6. Structure and content of this handbook
7. Summary and future perspectives
Chapter 1 How to begin research: The diversity of Japanese Studies
1. Introduction
2. The importance of personal biography
3. Interrogating the relationship between the person and society
4. Example of the impact of theoretical assumptions on research on contemporary Japan
5. Japanology versus Japanese Studies
6. Practical steps for beginning graduate research on Japan
7. Summary
1.1 Positioning one's own research in Japanese Studies: Between Area Studies and discipline
1.2 Let the field be your guide
Puzzles from the real world
From personal experience to a research project
The challenge of Japan's presumed uniqueness
Be flexible!
1.3 Studying marriage in Japan: A social anthropological approach
Finding a field site
Settling in
Some final thoughts on taking notes
Further reading
References
Chapter 2 How to ask: Research questions
1. Introduction
2. What is the core of a research question?
3. Types of research questions: The common denominator and specific forms
4. The characteristics of research questions: Relevance, originality and rigour
4.1 Relevance
4.2 Originality
4.3 Rigour
5. How do I develop my research question?
5.1 The process: Ping-ponging back and forth
5.2 Narrowing down your research question: Don't bite off more than you can chew
6. How the research question affects your methodological choices: Quantitative, qualitative and mixed method approaches
7. Summary
2.1 Your research questions may change and that is ok
2.2 Studying Japanese political behaviour and institutions
Studying electoral politics and LDP single-party dominance
What's new is what's old: Public opinion and economic performance
Some concluding thoughts
2.3 Capturing social change in Japan
Research question first: From the question to the project
Struggling with research questions
Asking questions about non-change
Concluding remarks
Further reading
References
Chapter 3 How to organise research: Research designs
1. Introduction
2. Case studies
3. Different approaches of case studies
4. Selecting cases: Analysis of a single case or multiple cases
5. The Kobe women's panel study: An evolving project
6. Bounding cases and units of analysis
7. Knowledge production: The theory building and theory testing continuum
8. Summary
3.1 Developing a comparative study: Single women in Hong Kong, Tokyo and Shanghai
3.2 Contained serendipity as fieldwork in Japan: Studying Chinese people in Japan
3.3 The universe of cases: Agricultural cooperatives in Japan as a case study
Research project: Studying institutional change in Japan through the lens of agricultural cooperatives
Research design
Problems and potential solutions
General advice
Further reading
References
Chapter 4 How to identify relevant scholarly debates: Reviewing the literature
1. Introduction
2. Reviewing literature: Two kinds of review
3. Getting started: The scope of searching for secondary literature
4. Basic types of sources and their general ambivalence
4.1 Primary sources
4.2 Secondary literature
5. Finding secondary literature
6. Cultivating a sense for the 'best source'
7. An inclusive approach to literature: Literature in Japanese and other languages
8. Reading secondary literature: Some practical advice
9. Identifying relevant debates and situating one's own research
10. Writing the literature review
11. When to start writing
12. Summary
4.1 Looking for sources in all the right places
Definitions
Secondary sources
Primary sources
Bookstores in Japan: Some concluding thoughts
4.2 Ambiguity and blurred boundaries: Contextualising and evaluating heterogeneous sources
Beyond disciplinarity: Positioning one's own research
Literature research: Hunting for relevant multilingual sources
The politics of research: Blurred boundaries and ambiguous sources
Engaged scholarship
4.3 Doing migration research in Japan: The roles of scholarly literature
Zoning in: Localising the research
Reorienting: Continued literature review in the field
Zoning out: Situating your study
Drawing on publications in Japanese
Concluding remarks
Further reading
References
Chapter 5 How to collect data: An introduction to qualitative Social Science methods
1. Introduction
2. What qualitative data collection methods are there?
3. What is each method useful for?
4. Which data collection method should you select for your research?
5. How to prepare your research?
6. How to position yourself when collecting data?
7. Summary
5.1 Participant observation and interviews: Going with the flow and dipping in and out
Project methods
Problems and ongoing problem-solving
General advice
5.2 Transnational research in Japan Studies-an oxymoron? Studying cross-border labour mobility in globalising Japanese production organisations
Transnational research design: Following the staffing agencies and tracing mobility patterns
Qualitative interviewing methods
Patterns of cross-border labour mobility: The case of JiaIi Kobayashi
Conclusion
5.3 'Bullseye view on happiness': A qualitative interview survey method
Access to the field and the interviewees
Experimental design: Coming to terms with happiness
Reflections
Further reading
References
Chapter 6 How to do fieldwork: Studying Japan in and outside of Japan
1. Introduction
2. Getting started: Connecting with a Japanese university
3. Forging new ties in Japan
4. Pitches
5. Written self-introductions
6. Who you are matters
7. Go for the ask
8. Fieldwork stuff: Practical considerations
9. Fieldwork tips
10. Strategies for notetaking and storing data
11. The all-important thank you
12. Ethnography in and outside Japan via social media
13. Ethical concerns
14. Conclusion
6.1 The cosmology of fieldwork: Relationship building, theoretical engagement and knowledge production in Japan Anthropology
The practice of fieldwork
Maintaining relationships
The cosmology of fieldwork
6.2 A mobilities approach to 'Japan' fieldwork
6.3 Building arguments on national policies from everyday observations
Studying national policies on the local level
Open-ended field research
Further reading
References
Chapter 7 How to interview people: Qualitative interviews
1. Introduction
2. Qualitative interviews
3. Choosing the 'right' type of interview and questions
4. Selecting and finding interviewees
5. Preparing interviews: Location, timing and things to bring
6. Deciding on the language
7. The process of interviewing: Listening, contradictions and (non-)verbal expressions
8. Negotiating interviewer-interviewee relations and reflexivity
9. Recording, taking notes and (not) transcribing
10. Following up and keeping in touch
11. Summary
7.1 The empire of interviews: Asking my way through Japan
Interview strategies
Recording and ethics
7.2 The art of interviewing: A Japanese perspective
What are qualitative interviews?
What can we learn from qualitative interviews?
The art of interviewing
7.3 Talking through difficult topics
Further reading
References
Chapter 8 How to observe people and their environment: Participant observation
1. Introduction
2. What is participant observation all about?
3. Participant observations in Japan: From the 16th to the 21st century
4. Selecting field sites
5. Gaining access
6. Ethical implications
7. Positioning oneself in the field
8. Cell phones, writing pads and field notes
9. Summary
8.1 Of serendipities, success and failure and insider/outsider status in participant observation
How to observe
Challenges during preparation and implementation
General recommendations
8.2 Doing and writing affective ethnographya
8.3 Reflections on fieldwork in post-bubble Japan: Gender, work and urban space
Framing the fields
Selecting sites and sampling subjects
Ethics and positioning in the field
Further reading
References
Chapter 9 How to access written and visual sources: Archives, libraries and databases
1. Introduction
2. General hints on how to approach and operate library catalogues
2.1 Where to start your search?
2.2 How to search the library catalogue
2.3 How to search for Japanese language content in catalogues
2.4 Japan-related library reference tools
3. Libraries in Japan
4. Archives in Japan
4.1 Regional public archives (chiho kobunshokan)
4.2 Archives and collections of other public institutions: Libraries, museums, universities
5. Final comment
9.1 Clever approaches to tricky sources: How to extract information from business archives and war memorials
Private archives: Business archives
Public space as an archive: War memorials
Summary
9.2 Writing transnational history through archival sources
Discovering the transnational in the sources
Designing a transnational study
Some advice
9.3 Accessing quantitative data for qualitative research: White Papers, official statistics and micro datasets
White Papers in Japan: Characteristics and access
Official macro statistics via e-Stat
Accessing micro datasets from data archives
Final remarks
Further reading
References
Chapter 10 How to combine methods: Mixed methods designs
1. Introduction
2. What are mixed methods designs?
3. Overcoming the qualitative-quantitative divide: A pragmatic approach
4. Combining qualitative and quantitative data: Three core designs
5. Practical advice
5.1 Getting started with your research
5.2 How to collect data
5.3 How to analyse your data
5.4 How to present and report your findings
5.5 Stumbling blocks and how to avoid them
6. Summary: Prospects and challenges
10.1 Reflections on multi-method research
10.2 Texts, voices and numbers: Using mixed methods to sketch social phenomena
Researching friendship
Triangulating with contemporary literature
Adding a quantitative lens
Conclusion
10.3 Examining facts from different angles: The case of the deregulation of employment relations in Japans
Questions as a starting point
Tuning the interpretation via triangulation
Importance of the historical context
Summary
Further reading
References
Chapter 11 How to analyse data: An introduction to methods of data analysis in qualitative Social Science research
1. Introduction
2. Qualitative data analysis and the research process
3. Approaches to data analysis
4. Steps in the analysis: From data to theories
4.1 Transcribing and exploring the data
4.2 Summarising and identifying the first themes
4.3 Coding
4.4 Identifying patterns and structures
5. Computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software (CAQDAS): Pros and cons
6. Ensuring the quality of data analysis: Reflexivity, validity and reliability
7. Data analysis with Japanese language material
8. Concluding remarks
11.1 Negotiating the ethics of gathering research data in a subcultural context
11.2 Researching sex and the sexuality of Japanese teenagers: The intricacies of condom use
11.3 Studying economic discourse
Introduction
Employee well-being in China and Japan
Monetary policy
Text-mining tools
Conclusion
Further reading
References
Chapter 12 How to make sense of data: Coding and theorising
1. Introduction
2. Grounded theory as one framework for coding
3. A blueprint for the process of coding
4. Data collection: What counts as data?
5. Identifying and isolating codes and concepts: Initial/open coding
6. How to do initial coding?
7. In vivo coding
8. Developing concepts: Focused/selective coding
9. How much is enough? Theoretical saturation
10. Coding as theory: Theoretical coding
11. Practical considerations: memos and diagrams
12. Conclusion
12.1 Cresting the wave of data
Coding
Themes
12.2 Lost in translation? Grounded theory and developing theoretical concepts
Grounded theory and coding
Grounded in the data or forced onto it?
Absent or grounded in the data?
Co-construction, self-reflexivity and cultural translation
12.3 Coding: Mapping the mountains of ethnographic post-disaster data
Further reading
References
Chapter 13 How to systematise texts: Qualitative content and frame analysis
1. Introduction
2. What are qualitative content analysis and frame analysis?
3. Getting started: Don't wait!
4. The logic behind the methods and research design
4.1 Interpretivist accounts
4.2 Correlational or causal accounts
5. Units of analysis
6. Coding, categories and concepts
7. Manual versus computer-assisted analysis and feasibility
8. Presenting qualitative content analysis and frame analysis findings
9. Reliability and validity: Annotating and documenting the analysis
10. Summary
13.1 Qualitative content analysis: A systematic way of handling qualitative data and its challenges
13.2 Analysis of biographical interviews in a transcultural research process
Confusion
Decision
Prospects
13.3 Qualitative content analysis and the study of Japan's foreign policy
Further reading
References
Chapter 14 How to understand discourse: Qualitative discourse analysis
1. Introduction
2. What is discourse?
3. What is discourse analysis?
4. How to conduct discourse analysis?
Key steps 1-3: Decide on a research topic, explore its context and find a research question
Key steps 4-6: Clarify if and what type of DA to use and define key concepts
Key step 7: Select sources
Key steps 8-9: Find formal (and linguistic) structures and situate statements in their situational and material context
Key step 10: Interpreting data
5. Summary
14.1 Media buzzwords as a source of discourse analysis: The discourse on Japan's herbivore men
Introduction
Step one: The broader theoretical picture
Step two: The socio-economic context
Step three: Material for analysis
Step four: Identifying the actors of discourse
Step five: Content analysis
Step six: Conclusive evaluation of discourse
14.2 Analysing affect, emotion and feelings in fieldwork on Japan
Discourse and emotion
The sensorial and affect
Interactive approaches
Conclusion
14.3 From buzzwords to discourse to Japanese politics
Political discourse in Japan and the discourse on the work-style reform
Salience
Content and context
Concluding remarks
Further reading
References
Chapter 15 How to finish: Writing in a stressful world
1. Introduction
2. Getting started
3. Engaging with theory
3.1. PhD dissertations
3.2. Journal articles
3.3. Books
4. Establishing good habits for writing
4.1 Avoid writing myths
4.2. Writing routines
4.3. Write with others
5. Managing mental health
6. Conclusions
15.1 Training your 'writing muscle': Writing constantly and theoretically
Write as you go
Making writing social
Writing to different audiences
Conclusion
15.2 Writing stories
The power of stories
Storify but don't get carried away
Conclusion
15.3 Writing about Japans
Further reading
References
Chapter 16 How to conduct reliable and fair research: Good research practice
1. Introduction
2. What constitutes reliable and fair research?
3. Good practice during the research process
3.1 Research design and data collection
3.2 Data practices and management
3.3 Presenting research results: Things to remember before and while writing
4 Closing remarks: Towards open Japan(ese) Studies
16.1 Fairness in research and publishing: The balancing act of cultural translation
Navigating 'local moral worlds'
Writing ethnographies and balancing voices
Final thoughts: The balancing act of cultural translation
16.2 Digital oral narrative research in Japan: An engaged approach
Selection of topic
Modes of engagement
Contact and research design
Relationships with stakeholders, collection of data and written release forms
Dissemination of research results
16.3 Writing for publication: Eight helpful hints
Further reading
References
Chapter 17 How to present findings: Presenting and publishing
1. Introduction: Reaching your audience
2. Think about your audience(s)!
3. Reaching an academic audience
3.1 Conferences and workshops
3.2 Academic journals
3.3 From dissertations to books
3.4 Beware of predators
3.5 Promoting your publications
4. Reaching a broader audience
4.1 Talking with journalists
4.2 Publishing for a general audience
4.3 Film and video
4.4 Sharing data
4.5 Connecting with a community
5. Conclusions: Balancing goals
17.1 Finding an audience: Presenting and publishing in Japanese Studies
Choosing where and how to publish or present
Conference presentations
Some publishing problems: Edited volumes, language concerns
General advice
17.2 Ethnographic film and fieldwork on active ageing in rural Japan
Pre-production: What story did we want to tell?
Post-production: What story were we going to tell?
Challenges and what we learned
Conclusion: It's a wrap!
17.3 Weird and wonderful: Popularising your research on Japan
Further reading
References
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Studying Japan

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