fession. But it adds to our knowledge in a critical and important way. It is that pay-off that draws me back, despite all I have learned about the enor- mous commitment of time and energy that qualitative research demands. If it were not one of the only ways of gaining insights into the routine events of daily life and the meaning that makes social reality, qualitative methods would not have a lot going for it. It is too much work. But it is one of the only ways, and possibly the only way, to achieve such insights. The usefulness of these insights rests, however, on the character of our re- search. Exchanging notes on our disappointments and successes in field research is an important step in increasing the quality of our work.
I am indebted to William F. Whyte's work not only for the idea of writing an appendix but also for providing a model of how to write one. I have shamelessly adopted elements of his organizational structure, including this one, in my ap- pendix. Readers will note, however, a difference in the content and goals of the two appendices. Whyte's appendix elaborates issues of access, entry, and the for- mulation of the intellectual problem. He also provides a very good discussion of ethics and holding the line between researcher and native. My goals are some- what different. Although I briefly review the issues of access and entry, my focus is on the practical considerations of data collection, data analysis, and the writing up of the results. I do, however, also discuss the task of formulating an intellectual problem in qualitative research.
My job was to help determine if recently arrested defendants were qualified to be released on their own recognizance. To help indigent defendants save bail money, the Own Recognizance Project (OR Project) would prepare cases by pro- viding a summary of the social ties a defendant had to the area, including her/his correct address, contact with relatives, and employment history. Unlike bail, which was simply a matter of producing the money and the collateral, OR cases required judges' signatures. Primarily because of negative publicity, many judges were very reluctant to exercise the OR option. Although the San Francisco City Prison was not as bad as some prisons, most people found prison so uncomfort- able that they wanted to get out as soon as possible. For them OR was too slow and too chancy so they bailed out instead.
Unfortunately for those of us not trained in shorthand, it is not possible to write down every single word and idea in an interview, particularly if you are try- ing to maintain eye contact and build a rapport with the subject. Without a tape recorder researchers must do some editing while taking notes. For most of us this means that some particularly interesting passages are written in more detail than others. Yet what is considered interesting changes as the project and the research question develop, thus note-taking is inevitably altered by these intellectual ques- tions.
Whyte ( 1981) has a good discussion of the problems of access, but almost all books on qualitative research methods discuss the problems. The writing on qual- itative methods has increased radically in recent years and there are many good
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Publication Information: Book Title: Journeys through Ethnography: Realistic Accounts of Fieldwork. Contributors: Annette Lareau - editor, Jeffrey Shultz - editor. Publisher: Westview Press. Place of Publication: Boulder, CO. Publication Year: 1996. Page Number: 232.
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