When conducting research in developing countries, an ability to negotiate a bewildering array of cultural and logistical obstacles is essential. Overseas Research: A Practical Guide distills essential lessons from scores of students and scholars who have collected data and done fieldwork abroad, including how to prepare for the field, how and where to find funding for one's fieldwork, issues of personal safety and security, and myriad logistical and relational issues.
By encouraging researchers to think through the challenges of research before they begin it, Overseas Research will help prepare fieldworkers for the practical, logistical, and psychological considerations of very demanding work, help save valuable time, make the most of scarce financial resources, and enhance the quality of the field research. This third edition contains new material on social media, including representation of research subjects/collaborators, students' digital branding and image, and representing universities abroad when posting publicly. It also covers emerging technologies such as solar panels for power in remote locations, new ways of digitally sending and receiving money, and incorporates more perspectives of women, LGBTQ+ people, and people of color researching abroad.
The book will be of interest to overseas fieldworkers, and also to undergraduates in subjects such as anthropology, economics, geography, history, international studies, politics, sociology, and development studies.
Autorentext
Christopher B. Barrett is the Stephen B. and Janice G. Ashley Professor of Applied Economics and Management, International Professor of Agriculture, Professor of Economics, and Professor of Global Development at Cornell University, USA.
Jeffrey Cason is Provost and the Edward C. Knox Professor of International Studies and Political Science at Middlebury College, USA.
Erin C. Lentz is Assistant Professor of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin, USA.
Inhalt
List of Field Narratives
List of Contributors
Preface and Acknowledgements to the Third Edition
1 Introduction
2 Identifying a Site and Funding Source
Site Selection
Exploratory Research Trips
Language Training
Finding Funding
Summary
3 Predeparture Preparations
Money and Travel
Health
Housing
Packing: What to Bring, What to Leave
Family Matters
Being LGBTQ+ in the Field
Academic Preparations
Securing Approvals and Research Clearances
4 Setting Up to Live and Work
Becoming Familiar with an Unfamiliar Environment
Money and Housing
Bureaucratic and Legal Matters
With Family in the Field
Issues of Identity in Your Daily Experiences
Relations with Expatriates
Maintaining Your Well-being in the Field
Settling in Academically
5 The Logistics of Fieldwork
Research Equipment
Transportation
Research Assistants
6 Safety and Security Matters
Personal Safety: The Basics
Less Obvious Safety Strategies
Gender, Race and Sexual Orientation-based violence
Traffic
Keeping Research Equipment and Data Safe
7 The Challenges of the Field
Choosing and Cultivating Informants
Crosschecking Data
Broaching Sensitive Subjects
Recording Interviews
Managing and Minimizing Your Cultural and Ecological Footprint
Giving Back and Maintaining Credibility in the Field
8 Knowing When to Go Home
Narrowing the Topic
Clearing the Decks
Packing Up the Data
9 Pulling It All Together: The Postpartum
Organizing Data
Beginning (and Completing) the Writing Process
Culture Shock
10 Epilogue: It's Never Over
Post-fieldwork Obligations
Post-fieldwork Opportunities
Selected Bibliography
Archival Research
Case Study Research and Comparative Method
Ethnographic Methods and Qualitative Research on Human Subjects
Fieldwork in General
Grantswriting
Living Abroad
Quantitative Methods
Research Ethics
Study Abroad
Survey Research
Websites (Blogs, and Other Repositories of Useful Information)
Index