Qualitative Field Research for Doctoral Researchers

This course introduces doctoral candidates to the ethics, practice, and challenges of field research. It is designed for researchers who want to use qualitative methods (e.g. interviewing, participant observation) during fieldwork. The focus is on fieldwork in political science research, with particular emphasis on conflict-affected settings. The short course will cover methodological as well as practical aspects. These include how research design, inference, and evidence link to questions of research ethics, respect for human subjects, and fieldwork practice. We will also discuss fieldwork planning, including logistics, ethics approvals, access, and emotions in the field. The course aims to prepare doctoral students for designing and conducting short- or long-term fieldwork in challenging environments. In preparation for the course, researchers should read the assigned course material and prepare to present

1) a research design for a fieldwork project (2-3 pp) and

2) an ethics note discussing the challenges of the project and how the researcher plans to address them (2-3).

The drafted research design and ethics notes will be presented and discussed in group sessions during the course. The purpose is to support researchers in thinking through both research design and ethics aspects in a systematic way before embarking on the first fieldwork trip.  

Dates

The training will take place in person on 22 and 23 May 2023 from 9:30 - 4:30 pm and 10:00 - 4:00 pm. Further information will be provided to the participants after successful registration.  

About the lecturer

Jana Krause is Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Oslo, Norway. She holds a PhD from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva and was previously Associate Professor at the University of Amsterdam and a Research Fellow at Yale University, the GIGA Hamburg, and King’s College London. Krause is the author of Resilient Communities: Non-Violence and Civilian Agency in Communal War (Cambridge University Press 2018) and Ethics of Ethnographic Methods in Conflict Zones (Journal of Peace Research 58:3). She currently directs the ERC Starting Grant Project ResilienceBuilding: Social Resilience, Gendered Dynamics, and Local Peace in Protracted Conflicts.  

*Please note that the registration period has closed.