II. FINDING & USING THE NECESSARY RESEARCH TOOLS
A. Think Globally
1. What do you want to be the “final product” of your field research?
2. What do you want to have learned by the time your field research project is completed?
3. Which of these goals are the most important to you, and which are less important? How would you rank them in relative priority?
4. What are some good overall strategies for achieving each of these goals?
5. What conditions and/or resources are vital to the success of this field research project? How can you ensure that each of these conditions are met and these resources available?
6. What are possible pitfalls that might occur to make the project get off track? How can they be avoided or minimized?
B. Plan Locally
1. What specific steps will need to be taken to achieve each of the goals you listed in A.3?
2. Who in your group will be responsible for doing each of these steps?
3. What kinds of resources will you need to achieve each of these steps (including human resources)?
4. Where and how will you find these resources?
C. Stay On Task
1. What kinds of rights do the group members have with respect to each other?
2. Who will track the progress toward the goals you have set? How will this person keep the group and Instructor informed of the group’s progress?
3. How will the members of the research group help each other stay on task?
4. How will each members of the research group be held accountable to the others? If necessary, what sanctions will the group impose on someone who violates members’ rights or reneges on his/her responsibilities?
D. Assessment
1. What specific expectations will each member of the group need to meet?
2. What criteria will your group use to assess the success of this project?
3. What criteria will your group use to determine which goals (from A.3) have been met?
4. For the project learning goals that you (as a group) think have been met, what kinds of evidence will you present to support this claim?
5. What criteria do you think the Instructor should use to assess your group’s performance on this project?
6. How will your field research project grade be allocated?