Fieldwork in the City

Richard Dorson spent some time in the Calumet Region of Indiana performing research on the folklore of the region. He began the research by specifically focusing on the the steel mills, the white flight taking place, crime, and decline of the downtown. This article hit close to home for me, because I have family from East Chicago and am pretty familiar with the area.

Doing fieldwork in an urban environment is much different than in a small town. There is obviously many more people, and many more groups and sub-groups to consider. The most important way to begin is to find, what Dorson refers to as bridge contacts. These are people that are willing to work with you and are able to put you in contact with other people to aid you in your research. Dorson found these contacts through a class he taught at the local university, and in a local restaurant where he befriended the owner. His other method was to check the newspaper for local community events. Public events are a great way to get an insiders view of a certain group of people.

In the field, it is necessary to have the proper equipment in order to record the stories and actions of whatever group you are studying. Dorson suggests to always have a tape recorder with you and pen and paper to capture what is going on. In the case of a large church service, or musical performance, this may not be enough. He saved the fliers for these types of events, recorded as much as possible, and wrote a sort of diary to encapsulate the event as much as possible. I think that the key to urban fieldwork is finding the right contacts, and recording as much as possible.