Research Questions Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Research Questions - Assignment Example Almost all areas of study are enhanced by field research, but in particular those that deal with humans as they relate to their environment are most assisted. Ethnography, Sociology, cultural anthropology, environmental and industrial psychology and of course forensic criminology as it relates to causation by environment and culture are all areas of study that must have a field work component to assure validity. Criminological theories such as Strain, Labeling, and the like have an environmental component that can best be assed via the field researcher’s involvement. 2: Certainly different research can require differing roles for the field researcher. The complete participant approach, the spy whose identity as observer is completely obscured to the participant, may at first seem the ideal approach. Like a double agent the complete participant is undercover and supposedly not affecting the participants. However, the fact that this role is assuming a part in the process must at last affect the results in some fashion. The participant as observer is similar to the above in that the researcher is identified as such but ensconced in the environment as well. This method adds some separation as this reveals the truth of the researcher’s intentions, however, the researchers can gain the trust of the participants in perhaps a more effective way. The next method, observer as participant, is again similar to the previous but there is more of a distinct separation between the researcher and the participant. There is very little trust gained and no i nformal associations created, it is almost the role of a survey taker who has extremely minimal interactions with the participant and creates a professional and formal setting, which may work for simple studies, but not more complex cultural analysis. Finally there is the role of complete observer, the voyeur, the eavesdropper who is