By Katie Humphry and
Heidi Koester
Sitting in the newsroom of one of the most important newspapers in Chile, we watched the sky grow darker. When the rather intimidating editor invited us into his office, we both swallowed hard and tried to compose ourselves, but inside we were terrified. The last time we came to interview him, the editor had told us, in not so many words, that we had no clue about Chilean journalism or doing research.
As we sat down, pulled out our notebooks, and turned on the tape recorder, lightning cut across the sky, illuminating the ever-ominous Andes mountains, just seconds before we heard a loud crack of thunder. It was like something out of a horror movie. We were conquering our fears and asking tough questions, albeit off the record, against the backdrop of a raging thunderstorm.
» Continue reading
The Logistics
of Field Work
"Every year a great number of enthusiastic, well-trained social scientists set out on their first overseas research project and, with an awesome display of energy and creativity, reinvent the flat tire," say professors Christopher Barrett and Jeffrey Cason in their introduction to Overseas Research: A Practical Guide.
They believe that most novice researchers' missteps and obstacles
are due "not to poor formal training, but to a lack of field-tested advice on practical matters." They continue, "Any social scientist who has set out to collect data in 'the field' knows the gnawing feeling that previous methodological study is of limited value in the successful conduct of field research."
If you are planning to conduct research abroad, keep reading for some of their tips on what to bring and how to interview effectively and responsibily in the field.
The Forum on Education Abroad, an Abroad View Sponsor, is an association that serves the international education field. It organizes the annual Under-graduate Research Awards Competition, which showcases the most rigorous and significant undergraduate research that occurs as part of education abroad programs or that focuses on education abroad itself. This research speaks to the many ways in which students come to understand other cultures and societies through a research framework and how they connect their learning overseas to their academic and professional pursuits. Read about the past winners, and find out how you can particpate.
