Stories from the Field: A Guide to Navigating Fieldwork in Political Science

archival research, 106; Greer on, 59–60; King on, 245–52, 350; Krause on, 261–63; O’Rourke on, 142–49, 357; Trachtenberg on, 8, 135–40, 362–63

Asad, Bashar al-, 272

Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC), 322

Awlaki, Anwar al-, 40

Balcells, Laia, 9, 225–30, 344

Beddawi refugee camp (Lebanon), 84

Belfast Project/Boston Tapes, 255–58

Bemba people, 89–90

Benstead, Lindsay J., 114n2

bin Laden, Osama, 129, 130

biological weapons, 127–28

Birzeit University, 184

Black urban communities (U.S.), 58–63

Blanc, Clément, 137

Blaydes, Lisa, 114n2

Bleck, Jamie, 93–99

Bloom, Mia, 8, 156–66, 160, 344–45

Boston Tapes/Belfast Project, 255–58, 257

Brazil, 71, 73, 238–44, 356

Brown v. Board of Education (1954), 249

Bundy, McGeorge, 139

Burkina Faso, 202–8

Bush, George H.W., 250

Bush, George W., 279

Calarcá, Marco, 323

Cancian, Matthew Franklin, 7–8, 108–13, 345

Caribbean immigrants to United States, 59–63

Catalonia, 198–99, 225–30

Cebolla, Héctor, 228

cell phones, 61, 105, 360; in India, 7, 102–3; in Japan, 72; in Lebanon, 65

census taking, in Brazil, 239–42

Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), 65, 279, 280, 283, 341–42; oversight of, 143; watch lists of, 68

Centre d’Études Maghrébines en Algérie (CEMA), 261–63

Chechen-Russian conflict, 303–9

chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear weapons (CBRN), 127–28

Chenoweth, Erica, 4, 10, 168n23, 267–70, 345–46

Chihana, Chikufwa, 89

China, 69, 174–79, 359–60; academic freedom in, 174–75; ethnic groups in, 175, 232–36

China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, 175

China Institute of International Studies, 175

Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, 175

Chishinga people, 89–90

Christia, Fotini, 7, 75–79, 346

CIA Records Search Tool (CREST), 148–49

civil resistance, 267–70, 281

civil rights legislation (U.S.), 246–52

Clemenceau, Georges, 136

Clifford, James, 24, 184

Clinton administrion, 250

code of conduct, 273–75

Collaborative Multiracial Post-Election Survey (CMPS), 63n1

collapsed states, 209–13. See also conflict zones

Colombia, 279–83, 321–25, 346–47

color revolutions, 271–72

confidentiality concerns, 119, 131–32, 229; with archival research, 138; with Belfast Project, 255–58, 257; in China, 176–77; with classified documents, 138, 143; with deceased interviewee, 229; with election irregularities, 152; Electronic Frontier Foundation on, 163; of research subjects, 207, 287, 352; with sex traffickers, 333; with social media, 159–63, 160. See also research ethics

conflicts, personal, 108–13

conflict zones, 254, 344; Afghanistan, 75–79, 346; Colombia, 280–81, 321–25, 346–47; El Salvador, 116, 117; Iraq, 108–13; Mali, 94, 98–100; Northern Ireland, 258; Sierre Leone, 23–34, 354; Somalia, 209–13, 358–59. See also safety concerns

consent. See confidentiality concerns

conspiracy theories, 144, 270–71

Côte d’Ivoire, 29, 203, 206–7

Cuban Missile Crisis (1962), 139

Darden, Keith, 8, 151–55, 347

Data Access and Research Transparency standards, 291, 309

data collection techniques: of Black ethnicity, 60–63; data sets and, 218–20; dishonesty with, 108–13, 155, 345; in Lebanon, 64–65; metadata and, 108, 228, 345; of social media, 158–59; in war zones, 75–79

Dawson, Michael, 62, 63n3

“dead topics” of research, 59

Declassified Documents Reference System (DDRS), 149

Defense Advanced Research Project (DARPA), 284n1

democracy, racial, 238–44

Democratic Republic of Congo, 278

Department of Defense (U.S.), 279, 283; Minerva Research Initiative of, 270, 281

Digital National Security Archive, 149

dolo, 9, 202, 205–6

do-no-harm research, 75, 122, 229

doodles, presidential, 144–45, 146

Dugas, Michelle, 130

Eisenhower, Dwight D., 140, 145, 146, 245

election irregularities, 152–55

Eliot, T. S., 350–51

El País (newspaper), 199

El Salvador, 115–22

ethics. See research ethics

ethnicity, 199, 263–64; in Brazil, 239–40; Chinese policies on, 175, 232–36; in Israel, 259–60; of U.S. Blacks, 58–63; in Zambia, 89–90

ethnography, 119, 122, 310n4; “accidental,” 24, 42, 172; with extremists, 293–302, 356–57; “living,” 294

ethnonationalism, 277–78

European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), 169, 172

expatriates, 75–76, 279, 361

“exstorience,” 100–101

Family Support Acts (U.S.), 250

FARC. See Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia

fascist militia (Italy), 293–302

Fatah al-Islam organization, 84

Fearon, James D., 201n1

Fenno, Richard, 3, 91, 105

field experiments, 301, 346; in Mali, 93–100

“first principles” approach, 85–87

Ford Foundation, 239–40

Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS) documents, 149

Frampton, Martyn, 158

Francis, Megan Ming, 252

Franco, Francisco, 225–29

Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, 143, 148

Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional (FMLN), 116

Fujii, Lee Ann, 207, 328; on “accidental ethnography,” 24, 42, 172; on metadata, 228

Fundação Getúlio Vargas, 240

García Fernández, Carlos Mauricio, 324

Geertz, Clifford, 24, 184

gender issues, 132, 242–43; in Afghanistan, 7, 76–78; in Lebanon, 66–67; LGBTQ rights and, 169–73; machismo as, 118–19; in Mali, 95–98; in Russia, 169–73; sex workers and, 172; in Sierra Leone, 23–34; with terrorist interviews, 128–29

General Social Survey (GSS), 59–60

Germany, Nazi, 227, 231n3

ghazawat (ISIS media raids), 157

Gillum, Rachel M., 114n2

Google Corporation, 285n1

Granda, Rodrigo, 323

Green, Amelia Hoover, 8, 115–22, 348–49

Greer, Christina M., 7, 58–63, 347–48

groundnut soup, 23, 25, 27, 32–33, 365

Gush Emunim settlers, 20

Hamlet Evaluation System, 54

Han, Enze, 9, 232–36, 348

Harkat ul Mujahideen, 128–29

health concerns, 336, 339, 340–41, 344, 358

Hezbollah, 64–69, 312–17

Hitchens, Christopher, 318n3

Hughes, Brendan, 255

human relations approach, 338

human rights activists, 169–73, 184

human trafficking, 327–33

al-Husayn mosque (Cairo), 36–38, 37

identities, 284; born versus chosen, 254–64; ethnonationalities and, 277–79; racial, 58–63, 238–44

India, 277–78; fieldwork in, 93–101, 188–94, 340–43

Ingham, Bernard, 144

Inner Mongolia, 232–34

Institute for Women’s Studies in the Arab World, 334n6

Institute for World Politics, 240

institutional review board (IRB), 4; Abdo-Katsipis on, 327–28; Balcells on, 229, 231n1; Chenoweth on, 268; on criminal activities, 327–28; Darden on, 152; Green on, 117–18, 121; Hajj on, 84; McCauley on, 202–8; Michelitch on, 100–101; research exempt from, 132, 158, 163, 172; Stern on, 131; virtual research and, 157–58; Wiegand on, 68–69, 363

Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE), 240–41

International Islamic Front, 130

International Monetary Fund (IMF), 278

internet research. See social media

interview techniques, 328; Abdo-Katsipis on, 328–32, 349–50; appointment strategies and, 102–6, 361; Balcells on, 226–29; Christia on, 76–78; Daly on, 346–47; Darden on, 152–55, 314; with focus groups, 95; Fujii on, 328; Greer on, 61–62, 347–48; Hajj on, 84–87, 348; King on, 249–51; Michelitch on, 95; for political elites, 105–6, 107n1; Posner on, 88–91; religion as factor in, 114n2; Ross on, 359–60; Saideman on, 73–74; Sperling on, 172, 361; Stern on, 127–33; with violent people, 117, 127–33, 297–99, 303–9, 356–57; Wiegand on, 64–69

Iraq, 75, 108–13, 279

IRB. See institutional review board

Irish Republican Army (IRA), 255–58

ISI (Pakistani Intelligence agency), 129

Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), 40, 109; online platform of, 156–66, 345, 368; recruitment methods of, 156

Israel, 15–22, 259

Italian fascist militia, 293–302

Jacob Hiatt Institute (Jerusalem), 15–16

Jamal, Amaney, 9, 215–20, 349, 366

Johnson, Kimberley, 252

Johnson, Lyndon B., 245

Jordan, 83–84, 86, 215–20

journaling, 344–45

journalists, networking with, 75–76, 128, 130

“just show up” strategy, 105–6

Kalyvas, Stathis N., 4, 6–7, 49–56, 248, 305

Kaplan, Fred, 138–39

Karadzic, Radovan, 133

Katznelson, Ira, 252

Kennedy, John F., 139, 144–45, 245

Kenney, Michael, 161

Khalil, Fazlur Rahman, 128–29

Khouri, Laith Al, 162

kidnapping threats, 210–11

kidney stone, 337–38

King, Desmond, 9–10, 245–52, 350

Klotz, Louis-Lucien, 136

Kolbert, Elizabeth, 55–56

Krause, Peter, 1–12, 254–64, 350–51, 364–68

Kruglanski, Arie, 130

Laitin, David D., 4, 9, 51, 196–200, 219, 351

Lebanon, 312–17; Hezbollah in, 64–69; Palestinian refugee camps in, 84–87; sex-traffickers in, 327–33

LGBTQ activists, 169–73

Lieberman, Robert, 252

“linked fate” theory, 62, 63n3

Linz, Juan, 198, 226

listening skills, 129–30, 328

Lokmanoglu, Ayse, 8, 156–66, 344–45

Loucheur, Louis, 136

Lozada, Carlos Antonio, 323

Luapulan people, 89–90

Lunda people, 89–90

Lustick, Ian S., 6, 15–22, 351–52

Lynch, Marc, 10, 261, 286–92, 352–53

Malinowski, Bronislaw, 155n2

Mampilly, Zachariah Cherian, 10, 168n23, 277–84, 353, 364

Mansaray, Fatmatah, 33

Maqdisi, Abu Muhammad al-, 40

Marks, Zoe, 6, 23–34, 354

McCauley, John F., 9, 202–8, 354–55

McNamara, Robert, 138

Mead, Margaret, 155n2

Mearsheimer, John, 139

media raids (ghazawat), 157

medical concerns, 336, 339, 340–41, 344, 358

metadata, 108, 228, 345. See also data collection techniques

Michelitch, Kristin, 7, 93–101, 355

Microsoft Corporation, 285n1

Milgram, Stanley, 300, 301

Minerva Research Initiative (U.S.), 270, 281

Moore, Barrington, 52–53

moral hazard, 268–69

Morsi, Mohammed el-, 287, 290

Mubarak, Hosni, 286, 289

Mughniyeh, Imad, 312–13

Mujahideen, 128–29

Murcia, Erika, 117, 119

Muslim Brotherhood, 286–87

Nahr al Bared refugee camp (Lebanon), 84

Napoleon Bonaparte, 140

Narang, Vipin, 11, 340–43, 355

Nasrallah, Hassan, 313

National Black Election Study (NBES), 60

National Defense University (China), 175

National Election Study (NES), 59–60

National Liberation Front (FLN), 263

National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA), 98–99

National Science Foundation (U.S.), 270, 281

NATO nuclear strategies, 137–38

Nazi Germany, 227, 231n3

neo-Nazis (U.S.), 128

Netherlands, 132–33

networking, 210; Abdo-Katsipis on, 328–29; anonymous contacts versus, 154–55, 161–62; Balcells on, 227; with expatriates, 75–76, 361; Jamal on, 215–20, 349, 366; Lynch on, 352–53; Stern on, 128, 130

New Deal policies, 252

New Institutional Economics, 85

Nielsen, Richard A., 6, 36–43, 355–56

Nigeria, 196–98, 200

9/11 attacks, 129–30, 132. See also War on Terror

Nobles, Melissa, 9, 238–44, 356

Nonviolent and Violent Campaigns and Outcomes (NAVCO) data set, 268–70

Northern Ireland, 188, 190–91, 255–58, 257

nuclear weapons, 127–28, 137–38, 340–41

Obama, Barack, 335–39; Russian sanctions of, 169–71, 170

Occupy Wall Street movement, 268

Office of Radio and Television in Mali (ORTM), 93–100

Office of Risk Management guidelines, 213

“onion principle,” 9, 196–200, 351

oral histories, 13, 226–29, 255–58

Orientalism, 21, 290

O’Rourke, Lindsey A., 8, 106, 142–49, 357

Orsini, Alessandro, 10, 293–302, 356–57

Ottoman Empire, 151–52, 154

Pakistan, 128–31, 341–42

Palestine, 15–22, 184, 259–60

Palestinian National Front, 20

Palestinian refugee camps, 83–87, 368

Paris, 135–37, 188

PATRIOT Act, 68. See also War on Terror

Peace Corps, 196, 204

peacekeeping soldiers, 281

Pearlman, Wendy, 8–9, 173n2, 183–87, 217, 357, 366

Pendleton Act (U.S., 1882), 246–52

Pentagon Papers, 144

people power movements, 268, 271–72. See also Arab Spring

Perry, Ravi, 11, 335–39, 358

Petersen, Roger, 50–51

Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, 151–52, 154

“political correctness,” 177

Portes, Alejandro, 83

positionality of research, 228; Han on, 234–36, 348; Krause on, 9–10, 254–64, 351, 366–67; Mampilly on, 280–84, 353; Nobles on, 241–44; Szekely on, 9–10. See also subjectivity

positivist political science, 40–43, 115, 235

Posner, Daniel N., 3, 7, 88–91, 203, 358

posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), 133, 162, 227

Prima Linea (terrorist group), 298

principal-agent theory, 73

prison system: Colombian, 322–24; United States, 248–49

privacy. See confidentiality concerns

property rights, of Palestinians, 85–87

prostitution, 171, 171–72. See also sex-trafficking

Putin, Vladimir, 170

Qualitative Transparency Deliberations, 276n5

Qualtrics software, 108–9, 112, 345

Quandt, William, 263

Qur’an, recitation of, 36–43, 366

racial inequality, structural, 245–52

Ramadan War (1973), 18

Ramírez, Sandra, 323

Rand Corporation, 138

Ranstorp, Magnus, 285n4

refugee camps, 83–87, 368

regime change, 142–43, 145

Reno, Will, 9, 209–13, 358–59

research: collaboration in, 274–75, 274; “dead topics” of, 59; do-no-harm, 75, 122, 229; engaged, 268–69, 272–75; funding of, 270, 274, 280–83, 345–46, 360; hidden costs of, 61, 355; among insurgents, 64–69; journal of, 344–45; political implications of, 269–72; unintended consequences of, 268–69, 274. See also archival research

research assistants, 117–20; acknowledgment of, 71, 79, 275; gender issues with, 77, 96–98; hiring of, 70–74, 77, 96; pay of, 71, 79; supervision of, 78–79, 108–13

research ethics, 4, 10; accountability for, 275; Balcells on, 229; Bloom on, 161–66; Chenoweth on, 267–75, 345–46; code of conduct, 273–75; Green on, 120–22; Krause on, 257–58; Lustick on, 352; Lynch on, 290–91; Michelitch on, 100–101; Orsini on, 297–302; Souleimanov on, 306–9; Stern on, 131–32; Szekely on, 315–17. See also confidentiality concerns

Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), 280–81, 321–25

Revolutionary United Front (Sierra Leone), 23, 26, 29

Rihawi, Imad, 327, 330, 331

risk management. See safety concerns

Roig, Montserrat, 231n3

Roosevelt, Franklin D., 245

Rosenhan, David, 301

Rosenzweig, Franz, 19

Ross, Robert, 8, 174–79, 359–60

Russia, 271, 272; Chechen conflict with, 303–9; Estonia and, 199–200; gender discrimination in, 169–73; Ukraine and, 151, 154, 169–70; U.S. sanctions against, 169–71, 170

safety concerns, 11, 360; Abdo-Katsipis on, 327–33, 349; Bloom on, 160–63; Chenoweth on, 271–72; Daly on, 321–25; Darden on, 153; Krause on, 256–57; Lynch on, 286–92; Mampilly on, 279; medical, 336–39, 340–41, 344, 358; Michelitch on, 99–101; Nielsen on, 44n4; Nobles on, 242–43; Orsini on, 294–95, 356–57; Reno on, 209–13, 358–59; Stern on, 130, 131, 133; Wiegand on, 65. See also conflict zones

Saideman, Stephen M., 7, 70–74, 360

Sankoh, Foday, 23, 25–26

security. See safety concerns

self-censorship, 299–300

sex-trafficking, 327–33

sexual harassment, 169–70. See also gender issues

sex workers, 171, 171–73

Sierra Leone, 115, 120; fieldwork in, 23–34, 354; secret societies in, 25; war crimes in, 29

Sinn Féin, 256–58, 257

Six-Day War (1967), 19

Skocpol, Theda, 52–53

social desirability bias, 206

social media, 218, 344–45, 359; ISIS’s use of, 156–66, 345, 368; research subjects’ use of, 280, 288–89

Social Services Employees Union, 60, 62

Somalia, 196, 209–13, 358–59

Souleimanov, Emil Aslan, 10, 303–9, 360

South China Sea disputes, 69

South Sudan, 278–79, 283

Spanish Civil War (1936–1939), 225–30

Sperling, Valerie, 8, 169–73, 361

Spontaneous Order theory, 85

Sri Lanka, 189, 194, 279

Staniland, Paul, 9, 188–94, 217, 361

Stephan, Maria, 267–68

Stern, Jessica, 8, 127–33, 362

Strahan, Randall, 83

subjectivity of research, 9–10, 263–64, 351, 366–67; Daly on, 346–47; Han on, 234–36, 348; Mampilly on, 280–84, 353; Marks on, 354; Nobles on, 241–44

Sundstrom, Lisa McIntosh, 169–70

survey research, 345; in Afghanistan, 77; in Burkina Faso, 204–8; in Colombia, 324; in Iraq, 108–13; in Lebanon, 64–65; in Mali, 96–98; in New York, 60–63; in Spain, 228

Szekely, Ora, 1–12, 312–17, 362, 364–68

Tamil Tigers (LTTE), 189, 194, 279

taxis, 72, 117–19; Brazilian, 242–43; Irish, 255–56; Palestinian, 20–22; Ukrainian, 151–55

Telegram platform, 156–66, 368

terrorist organizations, 270, 293–302; Al Qaeda, 98–99, 130; al-Shabaab, 209; as “freedom fighters,” 235; Harkat ul Mujahideen, 128–29; interview techniques for, 127–33, 297–99, 356–57; ISIS, 156–66, 345; Prima Linea, 298. See also War on Terror