IQMR 2025

Designing and Conducting Fieldwork (Modules 1, 5, 9, 13)

Monday, June 16; Tuesday, June 17; Wednesday, June 18; Friday, June 20

Diana Kapiszewski (Georgetown University), Lauren M. MacLean (Northeastern University), and Rob Mickey (University of Michigan), and Jessie Trudeau (Syracuse University)

This module sequence discusses strategies for designing, planning, and conducting fieldwork in the social sciences. We begin by considering the multiple aspects of preparing for field research, and then discuss some practical elements – with intellectual implications – of operating in the field. On the second day we talk through key questions relating to research ethics – the importance of which is discussed throughout the module sequence – and consider two “more-interactive” forms of data collection, surveys and interviews. The third module continues the discussion of interview techniques, and also covers focus groups, as well as the types of observation in which all social scientists who conduct field research engage. Finally, the fourth module considers the conduct of archival research, and the various ways in which scholars iterate on their research design and field research design as they conduct fieldwork. Each session of each module is conducted with the understanding that participants have carefully read the assigned materials. The instructors present key points drawing on the assigned readings, other published work on field research, and the experiences they and others have had with managing fieldwork’s diverse challenges. Interaction and discussion in small and large groups is encouraged.

Book to Purchase: Kapiszewski, D., MacLean, L. M., & Read, B. L. (2015). Field research in political science: practices and principles.

Participants may enter the module sequence after it has begun.

Preparing for Fieldwork and Operating in the Field (M1, June 16)

This module introduces the fieldwork module sequence, considering the structure of the modules and presenting some of the overarching themes we will consider over the next three days. The module then begins to discuss the design, planning, and execution of field research. We offer strategies for addressing the intellectual, social, emotional, health, and logistical challenges that carrying out field research can involve. Each session is conducted with the understanding that participants have carefully read the assigned materials. The instructors present key points drawing on the assigned readings, other published work on field research, and the experiences they and others have had with managing fieldwork’s diverse challenges. Interaction and discussion in small and large groups is encouraged.

8:45am - 10:15am – Borders and Varieties of Fieldwork

Diana Kapiszewski and Lauren M. MacLean

This session introduces the fieldwork modules, outlining their structure and identifying some underlying themes that we will consider throughout the three days of the module sequence, including questions of positionality and power, and the similarities and differences between digital and traditional fieldwork. We discuss our conception of field research as entailing repeated shifts among research design, data collection, and data analysis, consider some of the implications of these shifts, and evaluate the benefits of iterating on one’s research design. We consider fieldwork’s heterogeneity (how it varies across contexts, researchers, projects, and points of time in the same project), begin to reflect on the diverse challenges that fieldwork entails, and discuss the importance of conducting fieldwork with research ethics continuously in mind.

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1:30pm - 3:00pm – Preparing for Fieldwork

Diana Kapiszewski and Lauren M. MacLean

This session addresses pre-dissertation and other exploratory research, logistical preparation for fieldwork, securing funding, networking to obtain contacts and interviews, and negotiating institutional affiliation. We also introduce strategies for setting and tracking the achievement of data-collection goals – developing a data-collection plan – and consider the similarities and differences between preparing for digital and traditional fieldwork.

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3:30pm - 5:00pm – Operating in the Field: Overview of Data-Collection Techniques

Diana Kapiszewski and Lauren M. MacLean

This session offers practical advice on collecting data and managing interpersonal relations in the field. We introduce a range of more-interactive and less-interactive data-collection techniques, with emphasis on the latter. We consider the overall strengths and weaknesses of these different approaches to data collection, think about how they can be combined, and begin to discuss the ethical challenges that each can entail. We discuss the formation and maintenance of professional relationships in the field, such as hiring and working with research assistants and collaborating with other researchers. We also consider the similarities and differences between conducting digital and traditional fieldwork.

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Research Ethics, Surveys, and Interviews (M5, June 17)

This module begins with a discussion of research ethics. The rest of the sessions of this module and the first two of the following modules in this sequence consider a range of “more-interactive” data-collection techniques, i.e., techniques in which information is obtained or generated through interacting with people. We discuss surveys and focus groups, and conclude with two sessions on interviewing. We consider both the digital and traditional forms of all of these techniques, and the ethical underpinnings of each.

8:45am - 10:15am – Research Ethics

Diana Kapiszewski, Lauren M. MacLean, and Jessie Trudeau

Research ethics form the bedrock of all social science inquiry. We consider when and how ideas about research ethics in the social sciences developed and became formalized, and discuss the rules and organizations that guide and regulate research ethics in the social sciences. We also think through the various dimensions of ethics in practice, and reasons why social scientists may design, conduct, and disseminate research more or less ethically. We argue that research that is conducted ethically is better research, and consider three pathways through which the ethical conduct of inquiry strengthens research and foments the cumulation of knowledge: contextualization, reflexivity and transparency.

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1:30pm - 3:00pm – The Benefits and Challenges of Surveys

Lauren M. MacLean and Jessie Trudeau

This session introduces surveys as a data collection technique. It considers the benefits and challenges of conducting surveys, and what survey data can teach us about the world. We introduce important research choices related to fieldwork and survey implementation, including survey mode, sampling, and questionnaire design. We emphasize the importance of connecting the data collection plan for your project to the questions included in your questionnaire and anticipating the potential model and analysis. We discuss the costs and benefits of different types of survey question types.

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3:30pm - 5:00pm – Surveys and Qualitative Interviews

Lauren M. MacLean, Jessie Trudeau, and Diana Kapiszewski

This session continues the previous discussion about survey interviews, focusing on the use of cognitive interviews for survey development and asking sensitive questions. We then begin to consider the many challenges and opportunities that conducting interviews in the field entails. We discuss different types of interviews, interview preparation before leaving for the field and once arrived, respondent selection, and the design of interview protocols. Throughout, we offer a range of practical advice.

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Interviews, Focus Groups, and Ethnographic Observation (M9, June 18)

This module continues to consider “more-interactive” data-collection techniques, i.e., techniques in which information is obtained or generated through interacting with people. We continue the discussion of interviews, and then consider focus groups. The module concludes by emphasizing the importance of reflexive observation in the field. We consider the ethical underpinnings of all of these techniques, and consider both digital and traditional forms.

8:45am - 10:15am – Interviews

Diana Kapiszewski

This session continues the discussion of interviewing begun in the previous module. We consider a range of choices and challenges involved in conducting interviews and following-up thereafter, options for capturing interview data, and the evidentiary strengths and weaknesses of interview data. Participants will have the opportunity to create various tools for use in their own research, including a research pitch and an informed consent script, and sample interview questions.

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1:30pm - 3:00pm – Focus Group Discussions

Lauren MacLean

This session highlights the value of focus group discussions for particular types of research questions and projects. We compare a survey instrument, qualitative interview guide and focus group question guide to uncover the key strengths and weaknesses of these different types of interviews. We discuss how to approach the logistical preparations for focus groups and the unique ethical challenges involved with informed consent and confidentiality. We emphasize the critical role of the facilitator in managing the discussion, including how to handle challenging participants of a variety of types.

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3:30pm - 5:00pm – Observation and Ethnography (For All!)

Lauren MacLean

This session makes a pitch for the value of ethnographic observation during any fieldwork project, whether or not you consider yourself to be “an ethnographer”. Fieldwork involves many everyday interactions and experiences that generate important insights on your research topic or question, even if they are not part of your official data collection plan. We discuss how to leverage these insights by more systematically incorporating ethnographic practices for observation, note-taking, and analysis.

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Archival Research and Dynamic Research Design (M13, June 20)

This module begins with a discussion of a preeminent less-interactive form of fieldwork – archival research – considering its conduct in both digital and traditional forms. The module concludes with a consideration of the multiple strategies scholars can adopt in order to engage in analysis and assess their progress in the field. We consider the “iterative” nature of research design and field research design, why design is iterative, and what measures can be taken so that iteration does not undermine inference.

8:45am - 10:15am – Archival Research I

Rob Mickey

This session introduces participants to the process of planning and conducting fieldwork aimed at collecting and analyzing archival evidence, remote- access archival research, and digitized sources. Where, when and how does one start? What does one actually do at an archive? What are concrete strategies for time management, navigating materials, note-taking, and organizing and storing evidence?

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1:30pm - 3:00pm – Archival Research II

Rob Mickey

This session focuses on how to use archival materials. Participants will consider and grapple with the many biases that arise in working in the archives, as well as how to interpret archival documents. The session also deals with how to make archival research more transparent to readers, ethical challenges encountered in the archives, and how to transform archival evidence into quantitative data.

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3:30pm - 5:00pm – Analyzing, Re-Tooling, and Assessing Progress

Diana Kapiszewski and Lauren M. MacLean

This session considers various strategies for analyzing data analysis, writing up results, and presenting initial findings to different audiences while conducting fieldwork. It also considers the challenges that arise when scholars conducting fieldwork feel they need to change their project, and how to decide if and what to change. Finally, the session explores how to assess progress toward completing field research.

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