This clear, straightforward textbook embraces the practical reality of actually doing fieldwork. It tackles the common problems faced by new researchers head on, offering sensible advice and instructive case studies from the author's own experience.
Barbara Czarniawska takes us on a master class through the research process, encouraging us to revisit the various facets of the fieldwork research and helping us to reframe our own experiences. Combining a conversational style of writing with an impressive range of empirical examples she takes the reader from planning and designing research to collecting and analyzing data all the way to writing up and disseminating findings.
This is a sophisticated introduction to a broad range of research methods and methodologies; it will be of great interest to anyone keen to revisit social research in the company of an expert guide.
Industry Reviews
Written with much wry humor, the book-which is filled with practical advice, from how to treat sources, to why correct referencing is important-will be as enjoyable for an experienced researcher as it is for a neophyte. Read this book. Recommend it to your students, your colleagues, and your professors. Hats off to Barbara Czarniawska. -- Dvora Yanow Social Science Research from Field to Desk is a goldmine of deep yet practical insights into the craft of doing high-quality field research. The book covers all relevant aspects of the research process, from study design over observation and interviewing to good academic writing. Barbara Czarniawska is a particularly trustworthy guide, because she so clearly practices what she preaches, drawing on decades of highly successful social-science field studies of her own. This is a must-read for new and seasoned field researchers alike. -- Bent Flyvbjerg Barbara Czarniawski provides us in this work with a timely and comprehensive look at a wide variety of qualitative methods currently in play across the social sciences. This is no dull and dry normative tome flattening out the field but a lively, reflexive account of a variety of methodological approaches, some tried and true, some quirky and innovative. All are wonderfully illustrated by exemplary work, much of it drawn from Professor Czarniawski's prolific and influential writings. A thoughtful and creative methodological mapping of equal value to the novice and the veteran researcher both in and out of academic communities and a must read for those interested in what is going on at the edges of disciplinary and cross-disciplinary work in social science. -- John Van Maanen Drawing on her vast experience of ethnographic research, Barbara Czarniawska offers a brilliant guide to the beginning researcher -- David Silverman The book shares a lot of her author's personal experience striving to illustrate the expressed ideas and concepts... it presents multi-cultural experience in conducting field studies and writing up academic publications. It will be useful for students, scholars and readers interested in social sciences, humanities, economics, literature, etc. -- Stanislava Stoyanova
