ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines the settings within which the study took place. It describes the data sources employed within the study, with due attention to the balancing of interview, diary and group discussion data and observational data. The chapter explains the social settings for each stage of fieldwork. Fieldwork was conducted in three hospitals within one health authority in a provincial area within the South of England. The first stage of fieldwork took place in a neurology ward based in the Ramsden Hospital, followed by a general medical ward in the St James’s Hospital, with six weeks being spent in each area. The second stage of fieldwork took place over six months. The first three months were spent on a dermatology ward based in the Walton Hospital. The second three months were spent back at St James’s Hospital on a general medical ward on a different floor to that used for the first stage.
