Categories: phd
Tags: stress, Romania, fieldwork, PhD
Date: 15 June 2007 14:51:24
1. When you are trying to play back the recording of an interview, do not automatically assume when no sound emerges that the cause is technical failure. You need to also consider other hypotheses, in particular researcher stupidity and ineptness. And once you've done that, turn the volume up.
2. Your gatekeeper *will* get crucial things wrong. No matter how many times you've explained your research and that you want to do in-depth individual interviews with their clients, at the crucial moment when they have everyone's attention they will apologetically introduce you and ask if they'll do a really short group interview at the end of the session "which will only take a few minutes". The way to deal with this is to smile really weakly, stride home swearing and declaiming under your breath that your research is doomed, then make yourself a cup of tea and change your research strategy. Again.
3. In normal countries the Centre for Public Health and Directorate for Public Health will be the same organisation, or at the very least in the same building. Don't forget that you are not working in a normal country.*
* Why yes, I did go to the wrong one, however did you guess?
These tips are brought to you by the word "Doh!" and are all fresh and newly-minted, none of them more than 24 hours old.