How to read a book...a situation

Thanks for sharing the How to Read a Book, v4.0.  As I read it, I couldn't help think that it could be re-written for researchers to the tune of How to Read a Situation using the material from Stebbin's article entitled, Fitting in: The Researcher as Leaner and Participant and Shaffir's Doing Ethnography, Reflections on Finding Your Way.

Read the whole thing

Decide how much time you will spend

Have a purpose and a strategy

Read actively

Read it three times

Focus on parts with high information content

Use personal text language markup

Know the authors and organizations

Know the intellectual content

Use your unconscious mind

Rehearse, and use multiple modes



Participant as Observer as Nonmember

Learn the social world--values, lore, codes of behavior...how things work, understand the process, respect boundaries

Have commonsense, and humility.

Use personal text language markup--take lots of notes.

Have a purpose and a strategy--but be flexible, recognizing that these is no best way.

"Have enough knowledge about the settings or persons you wish to study to appear competent to do so."  (Stebbins, 105)

Be enthusiastic

Plan for the time consuming aspect of research

Focus on targeting sources of information--what can you learn  (the paths that do not lead out of the forest--Shaffir, 677)

Build trust, credibility and acceptance

Know your mind--the cultural assumptions and experiences that you bring to the study.

Hang Around--learn the how, whys and whats...

Mary Power