Addressing Field Research Constraints in China
Hosted by the Department of Geography and Environment, London School of Economics and Political Science
Funded by the LSE Teaching and Learning Centre
Dates: 6-7 June 2013
Venues: 6 June in Graham Wallace Room, Old Building and 7 June in Room OLD.3.21 (For assistance finding your way around the LSE campus, please visit the maps and directions web pages|.)
It is with pleasure to announce the interdisciplinary workshop on ‘Addressing Field Research Constraints in China’, to be held at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
The field research method workshop aims at bringing together both established and early career researchers working on China and sharing their hands-on experiences of addressing various constraints that they have encountered in the course of their fieldwork. It will be an opportunity to hold scholarly debates on what tends to remain in individual researcher's private domain or between lines without getting a chance to be disseminated. How the field research constraints are addressed however often determines the quality of research outcomes.
Presenters are to reflect upon their past/present field research projects, and draw some lessons, both practical and academic, which can be shared with the audience. Below is a list of potential topics that will be covered. The actual list of papers to appear at the workshop will appear nearer the time.
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Practicalities associated with field research (e.g. issues of field access, collaboration with local partners, language barriers including dependence on translators);
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Constraints on data collection (sampling, access to government sources, credibility and contamination of field data, etc.);
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Relationship between the researcher and the researched (researcher’s positionality, power relations, insider-outsider dichotomy, boundary crossing, etc.);
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Constraints on international collaboration;
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Cultural encounters;
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Government censorship and data access;
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Research ethics
Each presenter is to contribute a short paper (about 2,000 words), which will appear initially on LSE Blogs. A collective publication in the format of an edited volume may also be explored on the basis of these contributions.
Because of the limited space, participants who wish to attend only should send their details (name, title and affiliation) to Dr Hyun Shin| (h.b.shin@lse.ac.uk|). Please also e-mail Dr Hyun Shin if you have any queries about the workshop.
Contributors: submission of papers