Quantitative, Qualitative, Comparative, and Historical Methodologies Commons^™

Dare I Embark On A Field Study? Toward An Understanding Of Field Studies, Yan Xiao, Paul Milgram

The Qualitative Report

Field studies have frequently been advocated as a means for understanding cognitive activities in naturalistic settings. However, there are several fundamental obstacles that one has to overcome to conduct a field study. This paper discusses two of these obstacles in the context of studying problem solving in complex environments: defining goals of a field study and justifying methods used in data analysis. Based on our experience from a recently finished field study, we outline a framework for understanding the nature of field studies and suggest a specific approach to data analysis. We argue that the goal of field studies should …