- Resources and References on Research Methods and Theories
(Compiled by Jerry L. Reed, Lucy M. Long, John Broadwell, Quinlin Odom, Hannah Santino)
- Folklore Resources
- Oral History Resources (also see separate document)
III. Public History Resources
- Sociology Resources
- Public Health Resources
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- Folklore Ethnography and Fieldwork Resources
(Selected; Includes cultural anthropology, sociologistics, etc.)
Blank, Trevor, ed. Folk Culture in the Digital Age: The Emergent Dynamics of Human Interaction. Logan: Utah State University Press, 2012.
Borland, Katherine. 1991. “That’s Not What I Said”: Interpretive Conflict in Oral Narrative
Research. In Women’s Words: The Feminist Practice of Oral History, eds. Sherna Berger Gluck and
Daphne Patai, pp. 63-75. New York: Routledge.
Clifford, James and George E. Marcus, eds. Writing Culture: The Poetics and Politics of Ethnography, eds. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1986.
Finnegan, Ruth. 1992. Oral Traditions and the Verbal Arts: A Guide to Research Practices. New York: Routledge.
Gilman, Lisa and John Fenn.. A Handbook for Folklore and Ethnomusicology Fieldwork. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2019.
Jackson, Bruce. 1987. Fieldwork. Urbana: University of Chicago Press
Jones, Michael O. 1980. People Studying People: The Human Element in Fieldwork. Berkeley: University of California Press.Lambert, Joe with Brooke Hessler. 2018. Digital Storytelling: Capturing Lives, Creating Community, 5th edition. New York: Routledge
Lawless, Elaine J. 1992. “I Was Afraid Someone like You… an Outsider… Would Misunderstand”:
Negotiating Interpretive Differences between Ethnographers and Subjects. The Journal of
American Folklore 105 (417): 302-314.
Long, Lucy M. Meaning-Centered Research. In Research Methods for the Anthropological Study of Food and Nutrition, Vol.II. Eds.John Brett and Janet Chrzan. Berghahn Books, 2017, pp. 204-217.
McNeill, Lynne. Folklore Rules: A Quick, Fun, and Useful Introduction to the Field of Academic Folklore Studies. Utah State University Press, 2013.
Oring, Elliott, ed. Folk Groups and Folklore Genres. Utah State University Press, 1989.
Schoemaker, George. H. (ed.) The Emergence of Folklore in Everyday Life. Bloomington, IN: Trickster Press, 1990.
Sims, Martha and Martine Stephens. Living Folklore: An Introduction to the Study of People and Their Traditions. Utah State University Press, 2011.
Underberg, Natalie M. 2006. Virtual and Reciprocal Ethnography on the Internet: The East Mims Oral History Project Website. Journal of American Folklore 119 (473): 301-11.
FOLKLORE–Online resources
Folklife and Fieldwork: An Introduction to Field Techniques (revised 2002). Spanish version also available: La Tradición Popular y la Investicación de Campo . By Stephen Winick and Peter Bartis, 4th edition 2016, (https://www.loc.gov/folklife/fieldwork/index.html)
Includes links to resources on fieldwork: https://www.loc.gov/folklife/fieldwork/internetlinks.html
American Folklife Center, Library of Congress. Newsletter Folklife Today. On Remote Fieldwork and “Shifting Gears,” by Michelle Stefano, May 15, 2020.
(https://blogs.loc.gov/folklife/2020/05/on-remote-fieldwork-and-shifting-gears/)
American Folklife Center, Library of Congress. Newsletter Folklife Today. “Remote fieldwork: tech considerations,” by John Fenn, May 22, 2020
Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, Smithsonian Institution. (https://folklife.si.edu)
Vermont Folklife Center. “Listening in Place” https://www.vermontfolklifecenter.org
Storycorps: https://storycorps.org/participate/
- Oral History Resources
Introductions to Oral History
Oral History Association, About
https://www.oralhistory.org/about/.
Alessandro Portelli, A Dialogical Relationship: An Approach to Oral History
http://www.swaraj.org/shikshantar/expressions_portelli.pdf
General Interviewing Guidelines
UC Berkley Bancroft Library, Oral History Tips
https://www.lib.berkeley.edu/libraries/bancroft-library/oral-history-center/oral-history-tips
Baylor University, The Heart of Oral History: How to Interview
https://www.baylor.edu/oralhistory/index.php?id=931753
The Fundamentals of Oral History, Texas Historical Commission, Fundamentals of Oral History Texas Preservation Guidelines
https://www.thc.texas.gov/public/upload/publications/OralHistory.pdf.
Remote Oral History Tech Tips
Bowdoin University, Bowdoin & COVID-19 Oral Histories – Tips
Oral History Resources for Covid-19 Interviewing:
Transom, Recording During The Coronavirus Pandemic
https://transom.org/2020/recording-during-the-coronavirus-pandemic/
following up on Columbia workshop on Oral History of Disasters and Pandemics, April 16, 2020)
Recording of the workshop
- Readings from Mary Marshall Clark, on which much of her presentation was based, including a newly-released working guide to oral history after catastrophe and a one page basic oral history resource sheet.
- List of oral history projects related to Covid-19 and much more complete list of documentation projects around the world (feel free to add to these)
- Additional online training workshops May 9, including Oral History 101 with Amy Starecheski (registration required, capacity limited)
Resources on online interviewing:
- May 9 Workshop via OHMA, with Doug Boyd (registration required, capacity limited)
- Transom’s Zencastr review
- VT Folklife Center suggestions
- Oral History Society, UK guidelines
- Baylor University recorded webinar
- Archives Interest Group, OHA (ongoing brainstorming on Google doc)
Resources on interviewing after or in the midst of disaster:
- Listening on the Edge: Oral History in the Aftermath of Crisis. Edited by Mark Cave and Stephen M. Sloan
- Documenting and Interpreting Conflict through Oral History: A Working Guide, Columbia Center for Oral History
III. Public History Resources
(All see additional website page on Oral History and Public History)
Introduction to Public History
National Council on Public History, How Do We Define Public History?
https://ncph.org/what-is-public-history/about-the-field/
Important Concepts in the Field
Social History
https://history.uchicago.edu/content/social-history
Sources and Silences
http://faculty.webster.edu/corbetre/haiti/bookreviews/trouillot.htm
- Sociology Resources during COVID
Arregui, Anibal Garcia. 2020. “Viralscapes. The Bodies of Others after COVID-19.” Allegra Lab. March 31.
- COVID-19 is transforming the relationship between people and their environment
- Other problems are still occurring during this outbreak, like an outbreak of a swine-flu in China
- Thinking of this event as an issue of hygiene does not paint the full picture
Pacheco-Vega, Raul. 2020. “Fieldwork in the Time of COVID-19: Doing Ethnography During a Pandemic.” March 17.
- Direct fieldwork is harmful to both the researcher and the subjects
- Irresponsible to pose any risk to the populations we study
Parry, Marc. 2020. “As Coronavirus Spreads, Universities Stall Their Research to Keep Human Subjects Safe.” March 18.
- Benefit vs risk analysis for in person studies
- Little to no benefit? Don’t do the research in-person
- Can’t do it via distance? Don’t do it
- Disaster is a good time to study how populations are unequally treated
- Little to no benefit? Don’t do the research in-person
https://items.ssrc.org/covid-19-and-the-social-sciences/society-after-pandemic/
- Now is the time to prepare for research to understand life AFTER COVID-19
- How will the exposed social flaws be understood and worked on?
- Be cautious of the body language that may be lost when doing distance interviews
https://revisesociology.com/2016/01/23/interviews-in-social-research-advantages-and-disadvantages/
- A compiled list of pros and cons in different social research methodologies
- Public Health Resources
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/hcp/clinical-criteria.html
- Priorities are people with symptoms, and protecting at risk people and people living in population dense settings
- Researchers should always use PPE for any patient that may have COVID, and follow standard biosafety guidelines
- As much symptom screening should be done via distance as possible
- All patients and visitors should wear masks, and must perform hand hygiene if they need to touch or adjust mask
- Operations unrelated to COVID-19 should be rescheduled if COVID symptoms develop
- Provide alcohol based hand rubs and physical barriers
- Research should not impede emergency response efforts
- All methods should be adjusted for the emergency at hand, vulnerable populations should absolutely be excluded from any research that exposes them to any level of risk
- Cultural and linguistic differences in understanding the disease may pose a challenge for consent, be sure all parties clearly understand the research procedures and risks