Russel-Research-Method-in-Anthropology

Interviewing: Unstructured and Semistructured 245
involves creating the objective results we want to see. We don’t distort results
to conform to our expectations as much as we make the expectations come
true.
Strictly speaking, then, the expectancy effect is not a response effect at all.
But for fieldworkers, it is an important effect to keep in mind. If you are studying
a small community, or a neighborhood in a city, or a hospital or clinic for
a year or more, interacting daily with a few key informants, your own behavior
can affect theirs in subtle (and not so subtle) ways, and vice versa. Don’t
be surprised if you find your own behavior changing over time in relation to
key informants.
Accuracy
Even when people tell you what they think is the absolute truth, there is still
the question of whether the information they give you is accurate.
A lot of research—ethnographic and survey research alike—is about mapping
opinions and attitudes. When people tell you that they approve of how
the chief is handling negotiations for their village’s resettlement, or when they
tell you that they prefer a particular brand of beer to some other brand, they’re
talking about internal states. You pretty much have to take their word for such
things.
But when we ask people to tell us about their actual behavior (How many
times did you take your baby to the clinic last month? How many times last
year did you visit your mother’s village?), or about their environmental circumstances
(How many hectares of land do you have in maize? How many
meters is it from your house to the well?), we can’t just assume informant
accuracy.
We see reports of behavior in our local newspapers all the time: College
students today are binge drinking more than they did 5 years ago. Americans
are going to church more often than they did a decade ago. In back of findings
like these are questions like these:
Circle one answer:
How many times last month did you consume five or more beers or other alcoholic
drinks in a single day?
Never
Once
Twice
Three times
More than three times