This volume provides the new student with an accurate picture of the realities of doing field research. The author demonstrates that the stages in doing field research are not linear and step-by-step but rather overlapping, ongoing and reciprocal. Emphasis is placed on ethical issues and the many ways that status characteristics affect the process of field research.
Carol A. Bailey is an associate professor emerita of sociology at Virginia Tech. She has won numerous teaching awards at the department and university level, including the Alumni Award for Teaching Excellence and the Wine Award for Excellence in Teaching. She taught undergraduate research methods and graduate-level courses on qualitative methodology and pedagogy. Once the Director of the University Writing Program, her research focused on evaluating programs that promote science education and those that serve children with severe mental illnesses and their families.