Field Research in Political Science: Practices and Principles

Hardback

Main Details

Title Field Research in Political Science: Practices and Principles
Authors and Contributors      By (author) Diana Kapiszewski
By (author) Lauren M. MacLean
By (author) Benjamin L. Read
SeriesStrategies for Social Inquiry
Physical Properties
Format:Hardback
Pages:470
Dimensions(mm): Height 244,Width 170
ISBN/Barcode 9781107006034
ClassificationsDewey:320.072 320.0723
Audience
Professional & Vocational
Illustrations 9 Tables, black and white; 1 Maps; 19 Line drawings, unspecified

Publishing Details

Publisher Cambridge University Press
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publication Date 19 March 2015
Publication Country United Kingdom

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.

Author Biography

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.

Reviews

'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, Connecticut