SWRK 171Dr. Hardina
Fall, 2008
ASSIGNMENT #3
Field Research Report
Form a research team with 4-5 students.
Identify a community or organization to study.
As part of your field research, your team should (at minimum)
-Conduct at least six interviews.
-Observe the community or organization for a total of 10 hours. Please note that the total refers to the total numbers spent collectively by team members to observe. While you can observe as a team or in pairs, you may not double count hours. For example, if two team members observe the organization for community for 1 hour on Tuesday afternoon and 2 hours on Friday morning – total time spent is 3 hours rather than 6.
-Content analysis of reports, documents, or media sources is also required. [Information from reports etc. should be found in the final report- a reference list is also required].
Prior to starting your research – write one overall research question and prepare a non-structured or conversational interview guide for your research. Keep in mind that you may alter the interview guide or ask additional questions as the situation demands.
Based on your research, your group will write a report to describe your findings.
Your report should contain a section on methodology and your primary research question.
The report should also contain at least some of the following information (Questions 1-7).
1) Who are the members of the organization/community?
2) How are membersdifferentiated from nonmembers?
3) Describe key physical characteristics of theorganization or community setting.
4) Who are the primary decision-makers or leadersand what are their sources of power?
5) What specific groups are members of theorganization and community?
6) What are some of the characteristics of members of atleast one group?
7) How do these group members interact with others?
8) Describeaspects of organization or community culture that make it distinct from other
organizations or communities (customs, practices, behavior, language, etc). [All reports should contain this information]
In addition to the report, you will be required to submit field notes and a transcript of each interview. On the field notes and interview guides, please indicate which group member was responsible for completing the observation or interview.
You also should submit a list of group members and the tasks they were assigned to complete as well as a list of tasks that group members did complete. Your group may elect to receive one overall group grade for this assignment or individuals may elect to submit their own reports once data has been collected.
(Note: The report should include a title page, an introduction, a conclusion, subheadings (you may use the eight topic areas as subheadings), a reference list and an appendix with your notes. The report should be approximately 5-10 pages not including references or appendices. Use APA format for references. See the class website or BlackBoard for an APA guide.
Grading for Group Project (75-100% of Grade for this assignment)
Activity / PointsObservations Completed/Notes Submitted / 20 points
Interviews Completed/Notes Submitted / 20 points
List of Group Members and Tasks Assigned / 2 points
List of Group Members and Tasks Completed / 3 points
Primary research question and description of methodology is contained in the report. / 10 points
A draft of the interview guide is contained in the appendix. / 5 points
Report contains a introduction, conclusion, and subheadings / 5 points
Report contains a reference list; APA guidelines are followed / 5 points
Information on people/members is contained in the report / 5 points
Information on the setting is contained in the report / 5 points
Information on decision-makers is contained in the report / 5 points
Information on community groups is contained in the report / 5 points
Information on community/organization culture is contained in the report. / 5 points
Information from content analysis of documents/reports/media sources is integrated into the report / 5 points
Total / 100 points
100 points or 20% of Final GradeDue: December 9