Essentials of Field Relationships

Field research can consist of trekking across the globe to study peoples in exotic cultural settings. It can also mean strapping on your running shoes and observing behavior at the local market. Regardless of whether the researcher is "at home" or away, the development of research relationships is paramount to the success of the research project. In this book, the authors provide guidance to researchers on developing relationships in their field research. Using a myriad of examples from projects in a wide range of settings, Kaler and Beres offer helpful hints about how to navigate the personal side of conducting research---establishing and maintaining relationships, handling ethical dilemmas, and identifying how the personal identity of researchers help shape their projects.

"In this concise and well-written little volume authors Kaler and Beres demystify fieldwork and render it accessible to all. Those following a strict disciplinary approach will find it as thorough as those intending to follow a more generic one, and the many examples of fieldworkers-in-action illustrate the flexibility of the approach."---Harry E Wolcott, Emeritus, University of Oregon

"Qualitative studies are all about relationships. In this concise, beginner-friendly book, Amy Kaler and Melanie Beres provide sound advice to help the reader negotiate the complexities of interpersonal relations in fieldwork. Using their own experiences and those of other seasoned researchers, they offer practical suggestions that could spell the difference between success and failure of a project."---Maria J. Mayan, University of Alberta, author of Essentials of Qualitative Inquiry

Amy Kaler is an associate professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Alberta.
Melanie Beres is a lecturer in the Department of Anthropology, Gender and Sociology at the University of Otago.