False Starts, Suspicious Interviewees and Nearly Impossible Tasks: Some Reflections on the Difficulty of Conducting Field Research Abroad

Authors

Larry D. Hubbell, University of WyomingFollow

Abstract

In this article, I discuss some of the problems I have encountered in conducting field research abroad, specifically in England, South Africa, Russia and China - a broad variety of societies ranging from free to not free societies. I discuss the problems I encountered and how I overcame some of them and was stymied by others. I have had problems gaining access to interviewees; establishing rapport with interviewees from different societies; and have had my motives questioned. Nevertheless, my research has been rewarding and has resulted in a number of serendipitous discoveries.

Keywords

Field Research, Open-Ended Interviewing, Research Abroad, Reflexivity, Serendipity, South Africa, Russia, China and England

Publication Date

6-1-2003

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

DOI

10.46743/2160-3715/2003.1887

Recommended APA Citation

Hubbell, L. D. (2003). False Starts, Suspicious Interviewees and Nearly Impossible Tasks: Some Reflections on the Difficulty of Conducting Field Research Abroad. The Qualitative Report, 8(2), 195-209. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2003.1887