The Ongoing Process of Getting Started with Fieldwork

I am mid-way through the second year of my PhD, and thoroughly enjoying being immersed within my fieldwork. I have conducted a number of workshops and just started the interviews. In this post, I’d like to reflect upon the earlier stages of fieldwork and in particular, the lengthy process involved with getting the fieldwork underway.

I passed my upgrade exam and was awarded ethical approval by the University of Leeds in Summer 2018. Both of these were huge milestones in the project, giving me the go-ahead to start fieldwork. After a couple of much-needed weeks away from University, and on the most part, from my PhD, I begin contacting organisations across the North-West and Midlands. I contacted a wide range of organisations including those specific to particular identity-groups, such as disability, LGBT, and religion. I also contacted community-based and arts-based organisations. I chose to email in the first instance, providing a clear outline of the PhD project, and a call for any support that they could provide. Specifically, I asked for support in recruiting members of their organisations to the project, and the possible provision of a safe and accessible space to conduct the fieldwork.

As expected, this was, and still is, a tricky and at times frustrating process. Many organisations didn’t respond to my call for support, while others gave appreciation to the project but politely declined the offer of being involved. A number of organisations showed interest, but the difficulty of aligning schedules has meant that workshops are yet to be confirmed. Recruitment, therefore, is still very much in process. I am still in conversation with a small number of organisations, with the hope of conducting additional workshops in the upcoming months.

Working with organisations in this way carries particular challenges relating to time. It takes time to engage organisations with the project, and to then recruit members through these organisations.  Often, these relationships require a compromise between the needs and systems of the organisations, and that of the researcher. The time restrictions that are imposed by a 3-year PhD programme can exacerbate these challenges. At the same time, however, these relationships have the potential to foster useful means of collaboration that offer benefits for all involved.

It is to this point that I should point out the fantastic support I have received from Cerebral Palsy Midlands, Leep1, and People First Merseyside. I have conducted five workshops to date, all of which I will reflect upon in upcoming posts. All three of these organisations have allowed me to conduct workshops within the parameters of their organisation, and shown true enthusiasm for the project. Moreover, they have not only demonstrated an interest in the research, but acknowledged the benefits of this project for those members who are involved. They have recognised the need for more conversations around hate crime, and noted the value of participating in the project for members. This has been echoed by many of the participants I have been working with. I am truly grateful for their commitment and passion towards this research, and will share some of their reflections in more detail in a later post.

I recently said to colleagues that I am enjoying being in a space of ‘not knowing.’ This is undoubtedly true. By this, I mean the ‘not knowing’ what participants are going to say, and what directions their experiences and reflections are going to take me. By temporarily moving away from academic discussion and immersing myself within the stories of participants, I have been forced to rethink, to challenge, and to reflect upon my own assumptions that I have brought into this project. While at times, this can be unsettling, it has enabled me to learn from the individuals that I am working with. In this way, I am embracing ‘not knowing.’

What is worrying, is ‘not knowing’ if I will be able to work with enough organisations and if I have the time to generate enough data. While I am now, technically, mid-way through the fieldwork for my project, the feeling of ‘getting started with fieldwork’ remains. I am still ‘getting started’ in the sense that I continue to contact organisations, chase potential fieldwork dates, and am still attempting to navigate the ‘gatekeeper’ relationship. The looming submission deadline of September 2020 makes the ongoing process of ‘getting started’ actually quite terrifying.