Conducting field research for your thesis

Field research involves collecting and examining your own data. You use that data to answer your research question. For example, you could conduct interviews, a survey or make observations. In this way, you can test hypotheses or come to new conclusions about your research topic. Are you considering doing field research for your thesis? Read below about what field research is, what forms it takes and how to conduct it properly.

In field research, you will conduct research involving primary data. This is data that you have collected yourself. It is important that you do this in a natural setting. Field research is thus somewhat different from laboratory research, in which you actually control the conditions of the experiment while collecting data. Because this is not the case in field research, the data are more realistic. This also increases the validity of the results. 

Field research is often done in the form of observations, surveys or interviews. A focus group is also a possibility. 

The difference between field research and desk research is that in field research you collect your own data to answer the research question. In other words, it is primary data. In desk research, you make use of existing data (secondary data) and draw conclusions based on that data.

You can also do field research in combination with desk research. This could look like, for example, combining a literature study with data from a survey you conducted yourself. This is called a mixed method design. 

Field research is an appropriate type of research if...

• ...You want to collect new data to arrive at an answer to your research question.

• ...Little information is currently available on your research topic. 

• ...You want to supplement the available information with additional data or question previous studies.

• ...You are doing research for an organization and want to learn more about that specific organization.

• ...You conduct a case study, specifically looking at one or a few situations, and want to explore them in detail. This is inductive research. 

Field research can be appropriate for both qualitative research (e.g., in the form of extensive interviews) and quantitative research (e.g., survey research among a large sample). 

To conduct field research, proceed as follows:

1. Formulate a problem statement and research question. These summarize the essence of your research. If necessary, formulate your hypotheses if literature on your research already exists. 

2. Determine your research design. In your study design, you outline which method you are going to use to collect data and exactly how you are going to do it. For example, will you use surveys, make observations, or conduct interviews?

3. Collect the data using the chosen method. You often collect the data from a specific sample of people. 

4. Process and analyze the data. With quantitative data, you usually work with SPSS or Excel to do this. With qualitative data, it is often a matter of coding or categorizing the responses. 

5. Process the results in the results chapter and answer the research question in your conclusion chapter. 

The main benefits of field research are as follows:

• You can collect the exact data you need to answer your research question. 

• You can completely control how you approach the research, rather than depending on available information (as you would with desk research).

• You can make better statements about the reliability and validity of the study because you collected the data yourself. 

• You can be sure that the data were collected under natural conditions. After all, you have control over your data collection method.

There are also some drawbacks to field research:

• Research is often time-consuming and may cost more money.

• You have to recruit respondents yourself. This can be tricky. 

• You have less control over the circumstances of the study because you are collecting data in a natural setting. That makes it harder for other researchers to repeat the study in the same way.

• The analysis can be time-consuming, especially if you have a large amount of qualitative data and have to code it manually. 

In the methods chapter of your thesis, you explain your research design and research method. In these chapters, you also justify why you made certain choices in your study. It is important to describe in as much detail as possible what your research looked like. This way, you increase the replicability and reproducibility of your research.

Setting up your own research for your thesis can be quite challenging. Want to know how to do it right? We wrote several articles to help get you started. For example, read our articles on these topics:

• ethnographic research;

• research methods;

• research design;

• research plan;

• exploratory research;

• experimental research.