The Benefits And Drawbacks The Fieldwork And Observations Methods In The Field Of Community-Based Research

Community-based research is crucial in collecting information from any community, for any study across the globe. It integrates many different values and ideas, as well as methods to collect information that are incredibly beneficial to the community being studied, and the data collector, which overall benefits society in all forms. This paper will speak about the benefits and drawbacks of using the method of observations and field work, and discuss multiple articles about the use of this method in real communities. Fieldwork and observations in the field of community-based research is incredibly beneficial for collecting information on a community, and results in more genuine and important information for studies and research.

Benefits & Challenges

As found in the textbook, it is stated that field observations can help researched become familiarized with communities and their events, and help them get the members comfortable. Throughout the study, it provides insights into the lives of the participants that is very useful. Another benefit of fieldwork, is that you can view the details of their lives, and obtain physical descriptions of what the community is doing, and how they are interacting. Finally, you can see how the participants speak to each other informally on a daily basis, and begin to see their trains of thought due to the extensive amount that you are observing and learning their habits. This can benefit any study, because you are getting to know them on more than a superficial level, and gain more important knowledge. One challenge regarding fieldwork and observing communities and individuals, can be that sometimes people can act differently or strangely if they know someone is watching them. This challenge is common in many types of studies where participants are watched closely, and they can feel awkward or not act how they usually would act on a regular basis because there is someone recording and observing them. A second challenge of fieldwork and observation techniques is that it is an interpretive method, meaning that the person studying the community will have to make sense of what he/she sees and hears, because they could be interpreted in different ways.

Background Information

There are many types of methods involved and different ways about studying communities using the chosen topic of fieldwork and observations. These methods are known as videotaped observations, field notes and also participant observation. Videotaped observations are very helpful in the sense that they can capture much more detail than an observer could remember or record, and they provide more insight with physical evidence, not just words. Secondly, there are field notes, which are separated into two categories: descriptive and reflective. Descriptive field notes “provide in-depth descriptions and depictions of particular settings and events, as well as the participants, objects, activities, behaviours and interactions that make up these contexts”. Reflective field notes are usually focusing on the role of the person doing the research, relating to the setting or whatever they are studying. The researcher provides reflective commentary on what he or she sees. Finally, the final method that can be used is participant observation, which is the main method, most commonly used. It can be done formally or informally, depending on the need of the study.

What is CBR?

The main purpose of community-based research, as stated in lecture, is “active and meaningful engagement in all phases of the research”. CBR is very important to research studies and to communities, because it involves communities in studies and makes them feel like they are important, and like they matter. The research being done, as stated above, is meaningful and the engagement in communities is to ensure that there are no ethical issues, and that everyone is consenting to the research being done. Community-based research is also defined as all partnerships sharing and contributing to the project to enhance the understanding of something, such as a phenomenon found in a certain community of people. The definition also mentions integrating knowledge gained with interventions to improve the wellbeing of people in a certain community, which I think is a very important part of CBR research, making sure that the people you are studying are benefiting from the knowledge you find. There are also multiple principles of CBR that are crucial to its success and the understanding of what CBR is.

Articles

The study done on open community placement speaks about many benefits to using this method in research, and in social work. The author states that “Field work facilitates the inculcation of humanistic values and development of professional attitudes. In addition, it adds to knowledge, and imparts a perspective to deal with human problems which relate to the self, between the self and others, and between human being and their environment”. These are major benefits, similar to what was mentioned above in an earlier paragraph. Also, this article connects to the other articles benefits in the sense that it mentions adding to knowledge and adding perspective to research that is crucial and that knowledge can only be added to the study through observation, not through interviewing or other methods. The study done on community interventions within indigenous communities spoke about the benefits of field-based research as well, and one of those benefits was that you can recognize and learn from the community, while furthering your knowledge, which is echoed in the first article mentioned. They were respectful and nurturing with the community over the years, and in return they thrived, gaining knowledge they never knew they would need or want. One main point mentioned, was that being collaborative was a main benefit of their studies, working side by side with members of the indigenous community, instead of just viewing them and observing them from the sidelines. The article by Jhai and Ji about the challenges of participant observation speaks about many drawbacks of using this method of CBR. A few of these drawbacks were having to outline exactly what you will do in the study and what the participant will encounter for ethical reasons ahead of time, as there is no way to predict when or why certain things happen during a study.

Secondly, a drawback that was mentioned in this article was that it is hard to arrange times to observe certain participants if they do not spend a lot of time at home or in the community, because they are busy and also the researcher may be busy as well. This can interrupt research and observation time tremendously, and was also mentioned in the article by Azeez. The article spoke about the social work students who were attempting to do field studies, and how it was difficult to match up times with participants if they were not physically stayed at the site. Finally, the last drawback that was discussed was in Smiley’s article: they stated that field notes can be taken quickly in the field, and made into jot notes, which can then be later depicted as something different than you remember. These notes are not full descriptions, and can be open for much interpretation if the researcher cannot remember every conversation specifically.

Principles

As mentioned in lecture, there are many important principles of CBR that can be reflected in the articles chosen about observations and fieldwork. The first principle is ‘seeks balance between research and action’ and this can be connected to the article by Azeez, where they speak about Mr. Ram, who was very skeptical at first of the study. Instead of pushing him, the researchers did some research on his culture, being a caste, and they made sure that he was comfortable and very knowledgeable before rushing into action with the study. The second principle of CBR used is ‘Emphasizes local relevance and an ecological perspective’, and this can be shown in the article about community intervention and field-based research. It states that “Its goal is to provide a case study fulfilling the spirit of ecological inquiry, offering a detailed and nuanced description of a community intervention”. The principle can also be seen in the article speaking about field work & community placement, where it states that the purpose of using field observation in their research was “to engage their young trainees proactively with the rural issues. ” which connects to the ecological view and seeing the community as rural and interactive. Lastly, there is a principle used in CBR called ‘Involves long-term process and commitment’, and this idea can be found in the article by Allen & Mohatt. They studied indigenous communities for years using CBR and field research, living in villages with them and learning about them first hand. This is the definition of long-term process, and by living in these villages they showed their undeniable commitment to the research.

Conclusion

In conclusion, fieldwork and observations are incredibly beneficial in the field of community-based research. It opens minds to new environments and cultures, and also broadens the horizons of researchers. Observations and field work are beneficial for collecting information on a specific community being studied, and results in more genuine and in-depth information for research studies.