Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
this conclusion. Another significant piece of information involves time. If the
observer leaves out one vital piece of information—for example, that the
researcher saw this long chain of cars with their lights on at night—the credi-
bility and probability of this conclusion are severely eroded. Participation at
the funeral itself lends a great deal of face validity to the conclusion or crys-
tallized conception.
Every study has classic moments when everything falls into place. After
months of thought and immersion in the culture, the ethnographer discovers
that a special configuration gels. All the subtopics, mini-experiments, layers of
triangulated effort, key events, and patterns of behavior form a coherent and
often cogent picture of what is happening. One of the most exciting moments
in ethnographic research is when an ethnographer discovers a counterintuitive
conception of reality—a conception that defies common sense. Such moments
make the long days and nights worthwhile. For example, in Chapter 3, I dis-
cussed an example of low standardized test scores and high attendance in aca-
demically distressed schools in the Arkansas Delta, which did not make any
sense (based on my experience studying schools for 30 years). After landing in
Little Rock and driving 2½ hours south deep into the Delta, I realized that the
attendance figures did make sense. There was nothing else to do—schools
were the only social game in town. Fieldwork, in this case, provided the data
needed to understand and document a counterintuitive finding.
During a study of research administration in higher education, I found
after months of work that this situation had a counterintuitive solution. The
administration consisted of two separate divisions serving separate depart-
ments in the university. The director of the two divisions was contemplating
merging them into one unit. Logically, the merger would achieve greater
efficiency by eliminating redundant staff positions and sharing resources. I
was asked to comment on this plan. During the course of the study, I found
that not only two separate divisions but also two separate cultures existed in
conflict in research administration in addition to many subcultures within
each distinctive group. One group had a client-representative (or client-
centered) approach to serving faculty. When a faculty member asked his or
her client representative about a problem, the representative would find the
answer. Instead of sending the faculty member round-robin to seek the
answer from other administrators, the representative would find the infor-
mation from a colleague in administration if unable to answer the question.
Thus, the faculty member typically dealt with only one person. This group
was a cohesive team, substituting for one another as necessary. The faculty
was very pleased with this division's performance.
The second team was organized according to function, ranging from
accounting to a sponsored projects office. In general, most staff members in
