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Field Research: Fiel Field

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In general, sociologists tend to conduct their research outside the confines of the laboratory. The reasons for this are somewhat obvious; sociologists study society and relationships within society, and in order to effectively study and understand human nature in its natural environment, it is necessary to conduct research outside the laboratory and directly in the society. Sociologists still conduct research in a lab, however, but the risk of creating artificial environments and thus obtaining unrealistic results is so great, that many sociologists have opted to research outside the lab, a process also known as qualitative or field research. While there are many pros and cons to field research, most sociologists consider this method an excellent and necessary way to effectively study society. …show more content…

Perhaps the greatest contribution field research has made to the field of sociology is the ability it gives sociologists to study society without the potential risk of participants behaving in an unnatural manner; a phenomenon commonly referred to as the Hawthorne effect. While the Hawthorne Effect still might occur in field research, the chances are significantly lower than in laboratory experiments because generally (depending on the mode of field research used) the participants are unaware that they are being studied (“Why Some Sociologists Choose Not to Use Experiments When Conducting Research,” 2012). Thus, the results obtained from this type of research are often a more true representation of realistic situations and behaviors instead of data whose results potentially do not represent the wider population, as could be the case in laboratory experiments. In essence, field research is critical to sociology because it generally permits sociologists to study society without the risk of atypical behavior on behalf of the participants

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