ABSTRACT
In the course of most field studies, researchers use a variety of methods of investigation that are related to each other. For example, in my study of Bishop McGregor School (Burgess, 1983) I utilised participant observation, unstructured interviews and personal documents that were already available or which I invited members of the school to produce especially for my research. Although these methods were used alongside each other in the study, they have, for the purpose of description and discussion, been presented independently within the previous three chapters. However, no method is considered superior to any of the others, for each has its own strengths and weaknesses, especially when considered in relation to a particular problem (cf. Trow, 1957). Accordingly, researchers need to take this situation into account and to approach substantive and theoretical problems with a range of methods that are appropriate for their problems. Such a perspective means that researchers cannot rigidly apply their methods but need to be flexible in their approach and utilise a range of methods for any problem. As Wax (1971) remarks:
Strict and rigid adherence to any method, technique or doctrinaire position may, for the fieldworker, become like confinement in a cage. If he is lucky or very cautious, a fieldworker may formulate a research problem so that he will find all the answers he needs within his cage. But if he finds himself in a field situation where he is limited by a particular method, theory, or technique he will do well to slip through the bars and try to find out what is really going on. (Wax, 1971, p. 10)
The hallmark of being a field researcher is, therefore, flexibility in relation to the theoretical and substantive problems on hand. However, such a position leads to work of this kind being branded as subjective, impressionistic, idiosyncratic and biased. Field researchers are confronted with questions of validity for they are often asked: how far does the researcher’s presence influence the generation of data? (internal validity). Can the data that are obtained in studying one situation be generalised to other situations? (external validity).
