This document provides guidance on presenting fieldwork research. It discusses including an opening illustrative story to engage readers and introduce the topic. It recommends summarizing previous research on the topic in the introduction. The methods section should explain the research purpose, questions, participants, data collection, and analysis. It also notes potential problems. Claims should be supported by evidence from interviews, observations, and other data sources. Participants' privacy must be protected through anonymization.

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Presenting your Research:
Writing your Report
Robert Croker
Fieldwork Research Methods
for Japan
Nanzan University
Sections of your Report
Opening illustrative story
Overview of your topic – an introduction to the
topic and your study, based upon your readings
Who you are – your introduction
My study – explains your research method
Claims and evidence – present your claims and
your evidence together
Discussion – pull your claims together and state
them again clearly
References – list of references
Opening Illustrative Story
Tell a brief story from your research which
captures the essence of your study.
Such stories involve the reader early on, ground
them in a concrete way into the subject matter,
convey some of the emotion of the setting, and
provide a feel for what it might have been like to
be there.Tie these stories directly to the study to
make it effective – tell readers why you are
telling it and how it is tied to your research topic.
Opening Illustrative Story
Place the reader in the story
Make it vivid – use visual and sound cues
Include your participants’ voices – this also
introduces the participants to the reader
Introduce the main theme
Kalai’s Opening Story – p. 1
Kalai Chik,“Leading the Future: Women as the Face of Anti-
Nuclear Power Demonstrations in Contemporary Japan”
On a quiet December Friday night in central Nagoya, a
humble group of citizens carry vividly colored posters up a
flight of subway stairs, while others help with heavier
materials.Their aged, creaking knees and buckling ankles
shift into automatic gear as they walk up these familiar stairs.
What are other Japanese people doing on a night such as
this? Staying under a warm futon while listening to Christmas
carols on the radio? Eating home cooked meals by the side of
a roasting hot heater? But how long can these lives continue to
live like this when their energy bills sky rocket and the
remnants of Fukushima continue to radiate hazardous material
onto children who aren’t old enough to walk.
Kalai’s Opening Story – p. 2
As the citizens reached the top of the subway stairs, a cold
gust of wind scratches their aged and tired cheeks. But they
are all unwavering; they’ve made it this far.Through rain,
sleet, and snow, they’ve stood before two business goliaths
who threaten to endanger all of Japan.
How many times have they come back to stand on this
ground? Too many times – but still not enough. Not until real
changes are made, they resolve. In their light jackets, these
protesters prepare for the opposition that stands before them.
With a megaphone ready and hearts swelled with passion, a
deafening chant roars throughout the night sky:
「原発いらない」(We don’t need nuclear power).

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Amy’s Opening Story – p. 1
Amy Bush,“Developing Japanese Children’s Literacy at
Home” (2013 Fieldwork Research Methods class)
Silver feet rushed through the forest, cutting through the
dense thicket as though it were paper, splashing through
deep puddles of murky water in their haste. Faster. Faster.Run!
You can make it!
Heavy breathing echoed in the air and silver rimmed ears
jerked towards the sound of loud crashes and shouts
approaching from behind, barely audible over the rumbling of
thunder that resonated throughout the trees, signaling the
onslaught of yet another storm. Sirens sounded in the
distance, screeching into the crisp air as smoke billowed into
the night sky. Faster! Faster! Don’t look back!
Amy’s Opening Story – p. 2
The pace was brutal; the small silver paws of the creature
were raw from overuse. I have to keep going! All of a sudden, it
went completely silent.The creature came to an abrupt halt,
alarmed by the sudden change of atmosphere. He turned
slowly, examining the vicinity with his ice blue eyes, when
suddenly—SLAM! The book snapped shut, snatched away
from the hands of the child curled up on the leather couch.
“Oi!Yomu no ha yamenasai! Shodou no juugyou ga aru
yo!” [Hey! Stop reading!You have calligraphy class!]
Amy’s Opening Story – p. 3
The air was heavy with the scent of fish and rice—remains
from dinner, no doubt.The room was cluttered with stacks of
books and papers that were sprawled out across the wooden
floor.
“Yada!!” [No!] With an exaggerated huff, the child tried to
steal the book back from his overbearing mother, only to have
it placed on a shelf above his reach.
Overview ofYour Topic
The overview introduces your research topic to readers.
Begin by directly and succinctly telling readers what
your study is about.
Then, from what you have read, provide readers with
important background information about your topic.
The purpose is to provide a context for your study.You
might describe the present situation (some historical
perspective may be useful here) and also provide other
researchers’ explanations for why it is as it is.
The overview should build towards your statement of
research purpose (i.e.‘This study seeks to understand’).
Readings
For larger research projects, readings are a
central part of a study.
For this project, as it is shorter and focused on
fieldwork, they are less central.
In your report, briefly summarize what other
researchers have written about your topic.You
can discuss theory or other studies – including
both what they found and how they found it
(substantive and methodological issues).
Readings - Formatting
Please use APA: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/02/
short quote:
According to Jones (1998),“Japan is a feudal
society” (p. 200).
longer quote:
Jones’s (1998) study found the following:
Japan is a feudal society.This is clear from the
relationships that people develop with each
other, and the feelings of hierarchy that are
evident in almost all interactions. (p. 200)

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Your Introduction
Explain who you are:
ie your own identity, particularly with regard
to this topic
why you are interested in this topic
your own relationship and experience with
this topic and with your participants (ie if you
already knew them, or whether you had to get
to know them to do your fieldwork)
Your Introduction
Why do this?
to reveal who you are and so alert readers to
potential bias
to separate yourself from your topic
to show that you are aware of your own
subjectivity, and warns the reader to take that
into account
Your Voice in the Text
‘the researcher’ + passive voice:
The researcher interviewed three subjects.
Subjects were selected by random sampling.
‘I’ + active voice:
I interviewed three participants.
I selected the participants because of their
interest in _________.
Your Voice in the Text
‘the researcher’
suggests an objectivity that doesn’t really exist
ie the researcher is an individual with
particular points of view, who designed and
carried out the research, and this should be
reflected in the writing up
Your Voice in the Text
‘I’
Less pretentious than ‘the researcher’, which is
also often used to give the author a sense of
authority …
.. and more honest and direct.
So ‘I’ is more commonly used.
Kalai’s Introduction – p. 1
As a feminist and a politically active member of
American society, I took keen interests into the
differences between feminists in Japan and in the United
States. My initial topic was on the use of nuclear power in
Japan; however that quickly changed when I went to
observe the anti-nuclear protest group in Sakae. I was so
inspired by the large turnout of older people, mostly
women, who come out to protest every Friday at 6 pm
sharp. My soul was overcome with sympathy that I
wanted to join in the protests. After my observation, I
slowly wondered how all those women are able to stand
out in front of the Chubu and Kansai Electric Power
buildings when it is so hard to even get people to come
out for anti-drone demonstrations in America.

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Kalai’s Introduction – p. 2
Moreover, I wanted to understand how
Japanese people think. Last year when I came to
Japan, I held a lot of very racist sentiments that I
didn’t know were racist and misogynist until I
began talking to more people. I learned that the
only way to dispel the stereotypes of Japanese
people that have been engrained in my psyche
was to talk to more Japanese people about
social justice. As in turns out, I discovered that
Japanese people aren’t that different from
Americans.
Amy’s Introduction – p. 1
Ever since I was a child, I have been an avid reader.
Some of my earliest memories revolve around my mom
curled up in a small, twin-sized bed with my sister and
me, cradling us to her sides as she read Green Eggs
and Ham by Dr. Seuss. As I grew older, this interest in
literature progressed, spanning into a range of topics
from non-fiction autobiographies to medieval fantasy.
Once I was introduced to Japanese, however, my
interests suddenly narrowed. I fell in love with the
culture embedded deep within Japanese stories, and
consequently, fell in love with Japanese literature as
well. My adoration of these topics followed me into
college, which eventually led me to pursue a major in
Japanese Language and Literature and influenced me
to choose Japanese literature as my topic for my
Honors College thesis.
Amy’s Introduction – p. 2
Likewise, my interests in these topics encouraged
me to participate in a yearlong study abroad program
at Nanzan University.Through this program, I have
been given a unique opportunity to live with a host
family consisting of two young boys and two host
parents. As such, I am able to see what types of
literature my host brothers read, as well as how they
become fluent readers.With my mom playing such a
large role in the growth of my reading skills, I was
curious to see just how important mothers were to the
Japanese literacy development.Therefore, by using my
host family as participants, I will be able to examine
first-hand just how Japanese children acquire literacy.
My Study
To explain your research design:
your research purpose statement
your research question(s)
your participants
how you gathered your data
how you analyzed your data
major problems that you had
My Study – Kalai p. 1
To determine how Japanese mothers and women in
general are able to openly oppose nuclear power, I
interviewed two people from the Nanzan Extension
College, nine students (three males and six females)
from Nanzan Unversity, and one of the key members of
the anti-nuclear protest groups in Sakae. In my
research, I tried to answer the following three
questions. First, how do women maintain their
subordinate role and various identities in society while
also being leaders in a visible position? Second, how
does public opinion influence women’s participation in
these protests? And third, what does their societal
given roles as “mothers” play into their roles as
leader?
My Study – Kalai p. 2
Although I tried to incorporate how single women felt
about this situation as well, only one of the people I
interviewed was single. I read different articles and
books in order to supplement some of the knowledge I
learned. By comparing the data I collect from the
different interviews, I’ll be able to determine how
much public opinion plays into a woman’s motivation to
participate in these demonstrations. At the same time, I
can see how people within those demonstration groups
see themselves. All of these interviews were done
based on convenience. Even though I created a
questionnaire, I wasn’t able to use it. In the end, it
wasn’t necessary.

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My Study – Kalai p. 3
Each participant gave their explicit verbal
consent to the interviews in both Japanese and
English. An explanation sheet was always on hand,
however, it was never used. All interviews were
informal and took place in public areas such as
restaurants and in a classroom. I asked different
questions depending on the person.Thus, my data
may be inconsistent and generalized.
My Study – Amy p. 1
In order to determine how Japanese children
develop literacy, I have decided to design a case
study around my living situation where I have the
opportunity to observe how a Japanese family
develops their literacy on a day to day basis and how
the mother assists this development.Through the use
of observation and interviews, I will be able to
determine not only what types of books the children
read, but also when they read them, where they read
them, and why they read those particular books,
among other valuable information (such as what role
the mother plays in this development).This case
study will be conducted with my host family based
on convenience sampling.
My Study – Amy p. 2
Other data will be created using subsequent
interviews with other mothers with children ages six
to twelve, also chosen by convenience through
relations with the professor.Through a thematic
analysis of the data, I will be able to compare my
case study with the various interview responses and
then determine patterns that arise between the
diverse situations, which I will then be able to use to
create generalized claims about Japanese children
and mothers as a whole.
My Study – Amy p. 3
Permission to perform this research was granted by
the Nanzan University Ethics Committee, and the
details of this research were individually explained
to each participant using an explanation form in
Japanese or English. Once these explanation forms
were read and explained, participants then signed a
consent form which was also presented in Japanese
or English.
My Study – Amy p. 4
Problems with my various techniques during this
study include the inconsistencies between formal
interviews (for example, not asking each interviewee
the same exact questions), losing information due to
my lack of Japanese skills, and being unable to
perceive new details from my observations due to
the fact that I have become accustomed to the daily
routine of my host family. Also, I feel I should have
had a larger sample size to make my results more
accurate.These issues may influence the consistency
and detail of my results. It may also impact how much
one could generalize the data, consequently making
it very difficult to make claims.
Your Participants
Unless your participants gave you
permission to do otherwise, change their
names and any identifying features about
them.
If you have many participants, you could list
up your participants in a table, giving their
pseudonyms and other relevant information
about them.

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Their Voice in the Text
Quoting in English + include when and where
the interview was conducted:
As Taku noted,“I live in Nagoya” (interview,
2014/10/16, Nagoya).
Quoting in Japanese, with translation +
include when and where interview was conducted:
As Taku noted, 「私は名古屋に住んでいます。」
(“I live in Nagoya.”) (interview, 2014/10/16,
Nagoya).
Claims and Evidence
This is the core of your report. Here, present your
claims and the evidence you have to support
them, using logical arguments.
A claim is a statement of what is true about the world.
Evidence is data that you use to illustrate and support that
claim.
Arguments are statements of logic which connect your
evidence to your claims, and one claim to another.
Two Types of Claims
a description of something
an explanation of something
with different levels of abstraction, from –
a statement only about a particular situation
…a more universal statement about a group
of people (eg Takarazuka fans, Japanese people)
…to a universal statement about all humans
Writing – two parts
“Here is what I’ve found”
= your claim
“and here are the data to support these claims”
= your evidence
Balance
You need to balance the general and the
specific ie your claims and your evidence
Your claims need to be:
clear, logical, consistent, reasonable
Your evidence needs to be:
relevant, illustrative, compelling, documented
Your task!
To convince readers of the plausibility of
your claims.
Quantitative research: formal conventions of
organization and presentation
Qualitative research: conventions differ
depending upon the approach, but generally
fewer formal conventions

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Strategy One
Make a statement, then illustrate it with
several examples. At the end of such a
paragraph, add a final sentence to restate
your argument or to add another twist.
i.e. separate your claims from your evidence
Strategy One - Example
For most fans of Takarazuka, going to a performance is one of
the highlights of their social calendar, particularly for women
living in regional cities who only have the opportunity to see a
Takarazuka performance two or three times a year.Women
from Aichi explain their feelings about these performances:
“I can hardly sleep the night before, I am so excited!”
noted Mayumi, a slim woman in her mid-forties.
“My friend and I always get dressed up in our best clothes,
and go out to dinner afterwards to a nice cafe. It is almost the
only time I go out,” reflected Tamami, a housewife from Toyota.
“I love the performances! I live for them!” said Ai, smiling.
For these women,Takarazuka is a splash of color in their
otherwise quiet and rather repetitive lives.
Strategy Two
Make a statement, then illustrate it with one
longer example, using a colon:
i.e. again, separate your claims from your evidence
Strategy Two - Example
Further evidence of volunteers’ passion for the park and
its environment were clear in their questionnaire
responses.Toru, one of the older volunteers, wrote:
“I began coming to this park when I was a child. I can
remember fishing with my friends in the pond in the
northern part of the park.Then, the water was clean
and there were many fish and frogs. But after the
expressway was built upstream, the water became
dirty and the fish and frogs were no longer there. I
want my grandsons and their sons to be able to fish in
this pond. I feel that is my responsibility, my
contribution to the future. I will come here every day
to help.”
Strategy Three
Intertwine claims, evidence, and your
interpretations of that evidence to form a
flowing paragraph.
i.e. claims and evidence are mixed together.
Strategy Three - Example
For children who have learned to respect school
and to take their academic responsibilities
seriously, the experience of total immersion in a
foreign language environment can be
devastating.“I felt like a piece of wood,” says a
fifteen-year-old boy. Even the simplest question
was torture.“The teacher would ask me my name
and I was afraid to say it because I would say my
family name but she wanted me to say my first
name.”This from a 12-year-old girl from China.

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Strategy Four
Combine your claims, evidence, and your
interpretations of that evidence into a
narrative, as though you are telling a story.
i.e. claims and evidence are mixed together.You are
much less distanced from the material that you are
presenting.You put together the descriptions you gained
from observations and interviews together.
Strategy Four - Example
Bobbie Dijon was always the tallest girl in her class; only
a few boys were taller. Some of the children laughed at
her in elementary school, but by the time she was twelve
she was so strong and so big that nobody ever teased
her, for they feared that Bobbie would haul them off and
pound them with her fists, which she had been known to
do. It was not, her teachers said, that she was a tough girl,
a bad girl.There was a tough part of her, they all agreed,
but it was a small part that lived inside her, preferring not
to show itself unless it was seriously provoked. And then
it terrorized whoever had the audacity to have brought it
out. (adapted from Cottle, 1997, p. 1)
Suggestions
You could use all four strategies, to make
your writing more interesting.
Do not include large sections of raw data
with no discussion or explanation for
including them. Data is not usually self-
evident – just presenting raw data or
quotes is really a cop out.
Discussion
Incisively restate your main claims, and
explain the linkages and connections
between them.
Explain the significance of your research.
Remind readers that this is just a small-
scale research project, and explain other
limitations.
Suggested directions for future research.
You could finish with a final story.
Writing Points
Introduction:
explain what this section is about
+ link it to your main argument
+ link this section to what came earlier
Middle:
the core – deliver what you promised
End:
summarize what you said in this section
+ link it again to your main argument
+ provide a transition to the next section(s)
References
Please use APA: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/
Example - Book:
Robson, C., & Bernard, H. R. (2002). RealWorld
Research (5th ed.).Oxford: Blackwell.
Example - Book Chapter:
Knox, B., & O’Neil, J. M. (2010).The art of fandom.
In B. B.Wyte (Ed.), Fandom in Japan (pp. 101-123).
NewYork: Springer.
Example - Journal Article:
James, P. (2012). Fundamentals for preparing
reports. Journal of ComparativeWriting,55(1), 3-15.