This document provides guidance on selecting and recruiting participants for a fieldwork research project. It discusses different types of participants that could be included, such as those with different experiences or attributes. Strategies for selecting participants are outlined, including purposive sampling based on criteria. Key considerations for recruiting participants include gaining introductions, providing clear information, and developing trust over time. The document emphasizes conducting research with participants in an ethical manner by fully informing them and respecting their consent, confidentiality, and right to withdraw at any time.

1. Your Participants:
The People
inYour Project
Robert Croker
Center for Japanese Studies
Nanzan University
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2. Overview
• participants:
– you could have just one type of participant:
• e.g. the members of the orchestra club
… or different types of participants:
• e.g. women and men, experienced vs.
inexperienced players, different instruments
• choose your participants:
– to reflect the reality of your field
– to explore different research questions
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3. Overview: Discussion
1. What types of people are there in your field
(that you know of now)?
2. Based upon what you know now, what types of
participants would you like to include in your
fieldwork project?
3. How can you find out more about the people in
your field?
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4. Selection Strategies
• staged sampling strategies:
– first stage: select the group(s) to study
– second stage: select individual participants
or types of participants
• strategies:
– random – not commonly used
– convenience – the participants closest to you
– snowball – participants introducing others
– purposive – using specific criteria to select
participants 4

5. Selection Strategies
• purposive sampling strategies:
– criterion: having certain criteria
• biological: e.g. gender, age
• linguistic: e.g. first language, dialect, second
language proficiency
• experiential: having had certain experiences e.g.
belonging to a certain club, musical experiences
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6. Selection Strategies
• purposive sampling strategies:
– criterion: having certain criteria
• geographical criteria: e.g. coming from a certain
area, living in a certain area
• emotional/attitudinal: e.g. liking a certain type of
music, feeling a particular way about their club
– typical case: typical for that group
– maximum variation: e.g. the highest and lowest
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7. Finding Participants
often challenging and time consuming
be realistic and pragmatic
common process:
- first: convenience sampling – it's … convenient
- then: snowball sampling – via introductions
borrowing trust – complex obligation to act
responsibly; do not misuse or damage trust
- then: criteria sampling – keep in mind criteria
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8. Selection Strategies: Discussion
These questions are about how to select your
participants, not how to recruit them.
1. What strategies do you think that you will use to
select your fieldwork participants, at different
stages of your fieldwork?
2. If you are planning to use purposive sampling,
which criteria would you use to select your
fieldwork participants.Why those criteria?
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9. 'Good' Participants
key actors:
A member of the setting who is willing to act as a
guide within your field. Ideally, they should be:
• experienced: have experiences relevant to your
topic; the more experiences the better
• informed: have knowledge about your topic
• reflective: the more reflective, the more insights
they can provide
• communicative: 'insiders' who are good at
communicating with 'outsiders' – both from the
group you are interested in, and also with non-
native speakers of Japanese 9

10. 'Good' Participants: Discussion
1.Who might your key actor(s) be?
2. Ideally, what types of experiences would you like
your key actor(s) / participants to have had? What
would you like them to know about your field? How
could you find out if they have had those
experiences / that knowledge?
3.What particular insights do you hope that your
key actor(s) / participants will help you develop?
Concretely, what do you want to learn from them?
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11. Recruiting Participants
recruiting:
through friends / other students / teachers /
host family / social media / gate-keepers
gate-keepers: or 'fate-keepers'
people who decide whether or not you will be
able to enter a particular research context
1. How could you recruit participants?
2.Who might be your gate-keepers?
3. How will you explain your research to people in
general to help you recruit participants, to gate-
keepers, and to possible participants? 11

12. Recruiting Participants
Japanese participants:
1. prefer an introduction
2. prefer orientation information e.g. how long the
interview will be, what topics you'll talk about
3. might meet only once, and practice English
4. might tend to 'essentialize' Japan e.g. Japan is a
unique country, Japan has a long history,
Japanese people have a special sensitivity to
nature, Japanese has four seasons, …
5. might sanitize Japan for foreigners
6. might offer very gendered perspectives
7. might seem remarkably uncritical, uninformed12

13. Building Trust: Discussion
1. If you were a participant in a fieldwork project,
how would you expect the researcher to behave?
What behavior would make you less trusting?
2. How do you think that you can develop trusting
relationships with the participants in your study?
i.e.What do you think they in particular might value
or expect from you?
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14. Building Trust
• Research WITH participants,
not ON participants
• feminist ethical stance:
the outcomes of field research are
determined by the reciprocal relationships
developed in the field
• consider your status characteristics
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15. Building Trust
Trust can take a long time to develop,
but can disappear in moments.
1. relationships with your participants are more
important than your research project – always!
2. fully explain your research to your participants
3. always be honest
4. make promises carefully – and keep them
5. keep confidences completely
6. do unto others as you would have done to yourself
7. be aware of your ethical obligations
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16. Ethical Considerations
ethical requirements: (Bailey, 1996, p. 11)
You must inform your participants:
1. they are participating in research
2. the purpose of the research
3. the procedures of the research
4. the risks and benefits to them of participating
5. their participation is voluntary
6. they have the right to stop participating anytime
7. you will protect their confidentiality (if that is
what they want)
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17. Ethical Considerations
• consent is dynamic:
• it is constantly being negotiated – at every moment
• it can be withdrawn at any time
• anonymous: even the researcher does not know
the identity of the participant
vs. confidential: the researcher does know
the identity of the participant but does not reveal it
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18. Homework
1. Answer the questions we agreed upon, and email
them to Robert by Wednesday evening 11:59pm.
2.Time to start going out into the field!
a) Informally chat to at least two people about your
topic, and make notes of their answers. Re-read
Bailey, pp. 72-78 on informal interviewing.
b) Let's also start trying to find participants.
c) Start / keep reading about your topic.The goal
is to read at least four or five articles / chapters.
d) Next class: observations, Bailey, pp. 65-71. 18