What do you do if you get stuck in an elevator in Mogadishu? How worried should you be about being followed after an interview with a ring of human traffickers in Lebanon? What happens to your research if you get placed on a government watchlist? And what if you find yourself feeling like you just aren’t cut out for fieldwork?
Stories from the Field is a relatable, thoughtful, and unorthodox guide to field research in political science. It features personal stories from working political scientists: some funny, some dramatic, all fascinating and informative. Political scientists from a diverse range of biographical and academic backgrounds describe research in North and South America, Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, ranging from archival work to interviews with combatants. In sharing their stories, the book’s forty-four contributors provide accessible illustrations of key concepts, including specific research methods like conducting surveys and interviews, practical questions of health and safety, and general principles such as the importance of flexibility, creativity, and interpersonal connections. The contributors reflect not only on their own experiences but also on larger questions about research ethics, responsibility, and the effects of their personal and professional identities on their fieldwork. Stories from the Field is an essential resource for graduate and advanced undergraduate students learning about field research methods, as well as established scholars contemplating new journeys into the field.
- Table of Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction: Learning Through Stories, by Peter Krause and Ora Szekely
- Part I. Welcome to the Field
- 1. Fieldwork and Emotions, by Ian S. Lustick
- 2. Cooking Soup and Killing Chickens: Navigating Gender and Food-as-Fieldwork in West Africa, by Zoe Marks
- 3. Recite! Interpretive Fieldwork for Positivists, by Richard A. Nielsen
- Part II. Designing Your Research and Deciding Where to Go
- 4. Fieldwork by Decree, Not by Design, by Stathis N. Kalyvas
- 5. Conducting 1,500 Surveys in New York City (With Great Uncertainty and a Limited Budget), by Christina M. Greer
- 6. Hezbollah Will Take Your Data: How to Plan for Research Among Insurgents, by Krista E. Wiegand
- 7. When the Linguistic Lightweight Goes Abroad: Relying on Sharp Students by Stephen M. Saideman
- 8. Navigating Data Collection in War Zones, by Fotini Christia
- Part III. Make a Plan . . . Then Be Ready to Toss It
- 9. Let Go and Let Ali, by Nadya Hajj
- 10. Be Prepared (To Go Off Script), by Daniel N. Posner
- 11. Radio Gaga: Evolving Field Experiments in Mali, by Kristin Michelitch
- 12. Crossed Wires: Interviewing the Wrong People, by Bethany Lacina
- 13. “You Don’t Know What You’re Getting Into”: Dealing with Dishonesty in the Field, by Matthew Franklin Cancian and Kristin E. Fabbe
- 14. Successful Fieldwork for the Fieldwork-Hater, by Amelia Hoover Green
- Part IV. Creatively Collecting Data and Evidence
- 15. How to Interview a Terrorist, by Jessica Stern
- 16. Stumbling Around in the Archives, by Marc Trachtenberg
- 17. Details in the Doodles: Documenting Covert Action, by Lindsey A. O’Rourke
- 18. My Stint as a Ukrainian Taxi Driver, by Keith Darden
- 19. Conducting Fieldwork in a Virtual Space: Exploring ISIS’s Encrypted Messaging on Telegram, by Mia Bloom and Ayse Lokmanoglu
- 20. All the Signs Are There: Incidental Discoveries During Fieldwork on Gender Discrimination in Russia, by Valerie Sperling
- 21. Learning from Foreign Colleagues, by Robert Ross
- Part V. Developing Local Knowledge
- 22. On Field-Being, by Wendy Pearlman
- 23. Fieldwork on Foot, by Paul Staniland
- 24. The Onion Principle, by David D. Laitin
- 25. The Intoxication of Fieldwork: Obtaining Authorizations in Burkina Faso, by John F. McCauley
- 26. Field Research and Security in a Collapsed State, by Will Reno
- 27. Building Field Networks in the Era of Big Data, by Amaney Jamal
- Part VI. Seeing and Being Seen: Identity in the Field
- 28. Researching an Old Civil War Close to Home, by Laia Balcells
- 29. Positionality and Subjectivity in Field Research, by Enze Han
- 30. Race and the Study of a Racial Democracy, by Melissa Nobles
- 31. “Why Are You Interested in That?” Studying Racial Inequality in the United States from the Outside, by Desmond King
- 32. Navigating Born and Chosen Identities in Fieldwork, by Peter Krause
- Part VII. Being Ethically Accountable
- 33. On Research That “Matters,” by Erica Chenoweth
- 34. The Field Is Everywhere, by Zachariah Cherian Mampilly
- 35. Things Change: Protecting Yourself and Your Sources in Uncertain Times, by Marc Lynch
- 36. Ethnography with Extremists: Living in a Fascist Militia, by Alessandro Orsini
- 37. Building Trust with Ex-Insurgents, by Emil Aslan Souleimanov
- 38. On Being Seen, by Ora Szekely
- Part VIII. Staying Safe and Healthy
- 39. Conducting Safe Fieldwork on Violence and Peace, by Sarah Zukerman Daly
- 40. Your Safety and Theirs: Interviewing Sex-Traffickers, by Carla B. Abdo-Katsipis
- 41. Shingles on the Campaign Trail, by Ravi Perry
- 42. Drink the Tea, by Vipin Narang
- One Last Thing Before You Go . . .
- Conclusion: What Does It Mean to Do Fieldwork?, by Peter Krause and Ora Szekely
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