"Bringing Fieldwork Back In-" To Political Science Research

Session Submission Type: Full Paper Panel

Session Description

In the same way that the edited volume Bringing the State Back In encouraged more “state centric” research, this panel examines theoretical, methodological and empirical reasons for engaging in fieldwork in order to study politics. In making the argument that fieldwork contributes to political science in unique and irreplaceable ways, the panel considers a series of questions.

How does engaging in fieldwork – which often involves data-collection techniques such as ethnography, participant observation surveys, and/or interviews – shape the research output of political scientists ? Given the increasing availability of data of all types via the internet, given the disciplinary trend towards large N empirical methods, and given that fieldwork can be costly, time consuming, and potentially dangerous, why do political scientists engage in fieldwork? Are women more likely than men to conduct field research, and if so, why would that be? Is fieldwork unavoidably reflexive – is there always some potential for data generation to be shaped by the observer? Does fieldwork produce data that can only be used to draw descriptive inferences, or can scholars test hypotheses with data garnered through field research? Do scholars who engage in fieldwork benefit professionally from doing so?

The panel features four scholars and two discussants who have extensive field research experience and who are widely recognized for their efforts to make fieldwork more mainstream in political science. Collectively we will examine how conducting fieldwork, which promotes originality and often entails the close analysis of primary sources, contributes specifically to the study of power and protest broadly defined—in established democracies as well as transitional/contested authoritarian regimes.

The papers on this panel consider the following topics:

1. Why fieldwork is often iterative, and how analytic iteration benefits research.
2. Why fieldwork, even quick immersion, is valuable to understanding political discontent.
3. Why ethnographic research is a productive route to theory-building in political science.
4. Why fieldwork makes political science more relevant and grant worthy.

Sub Unit

• DIVISION 46: Qualitative and Multi-Method Research

Individual Presentations

• "Analytic Iteration in Field Research" - Diana Kapiszewski, Georgetown University; Lauren M. MacLean, Indiana University, Bloomington; Benjamin L. Read, University of California, Santa Cruz

• Quick Immersions: Fieldwork in Authoritarian Conflict Zones - Deborah L. Wheeler, U.S. Naval Academy

• The Power of Ethnography: What Micro-Level Observation Reveals - Carrie Rosefsky Wickham, Emory University

• The Relevance of Fieldwork: from the United States to Nepal - Susan L. Ostermann, University of Notre Dame

Chair

• Gale A. Mattox U.S. Naval Academy

Discussants

• Roselyn Hsueh Temple University

• Rebecca Bill Chavez United States Naval Academy