Book reviews 703

the backbone of the 3rd edition illustrating how the new science is essential for our need torespond to disasters and stop terrorism.

Wheatley’s Leadership and the New Science left more questions than offered answers (whichwas likely intentional). While some interpretations to points of confusion may have gotten lostwithin the dense metaphoric language of the book, the reader may be left with a variety ofinsightful pauses and few tangible moments of clarity. For example, Wheatley focuses a lot onthe structures and processes within organizations. However, can an organization look Newto-nian by design/structure, but be quantum by organizational culture and leadership dynamics?Also a common comment is that sometimes we have too much data in organizations and we donot know how to use it. This is where the skill of translating data into information is essential.However, if the process of organizing information is continuous as Wheatley argues, then arewe inherently bound to always make decisions based upon the best available information inthat moment? If this is the case, how can we engage in forecasting or strategic planning?

Further, Wheatley claims that chaos is necessary for change. Yet, Wheatley’s book is based onthe premise that we need to see the order in chaos. In turn, science and hierarchical structures inorganizations are founded on the principle of keeping chaos out. Therefore, is the old sciencereally that different from the new science when it comes to ushering in change? Finally,Wheatley contends that science is all around us, that science is inherent in how we think andcreate in leadership, and that the impacts of science in organizations are undeniable. However,she believes science is difficult for some to embrace. Why is science the act of a few if it isingrained in our modalities of being in the world?

Leadership and the New Science is an interesting read for students who are intrigued bytraveling down the rabbit hole of meta-physical reality and systems thinking. It is writtenin a streaming style with repetition and eye catching photos. The text would work well forundergraduate and graduate students within courses focused on the following topics: researchmethodologies and methods, scientific inquiry, public administration, business science, orga-nization theory/development/behavior, leadership and management, American government, orinternational relations. Wheatley has gifted a great service to the fields of social science byopen a space for dialogue about chaos theory, systems thinking, and quantum physics. How-ever, a space with no boundaries offers the reader few opportunities to embrace the conceptspresented. We cannot get our mental net around that which cannot be caught: the unknownquantum unknowns of change, relationships, and chaos.

Amy E. Gould ∗

The Evergreen State College, 2700 Evergreen Parkway NW, Olympia,WA 98505, USA

∗ Tel.: +1 360 867 6135; fax: +1 360 867 6794.E-mail address: goulda@evergreen.edu

doi:10.1016/j.soscij.2008.09.005

A Guide to Qualitative Field ResearchBy C.A. Bailey; 2nd Edition, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2007, 214 pp.

This book is in its second edition. It has 12 chapters and they are ordered to reflect thesteps in doing field research. The author warns that field research can be unpredictable. This

704 Book reviews

book therefore provides guidelines or suggestions to help field researchers. It provides a verycomprehensive guide as it looks into details at each step of doing field research.

Chapter 1 is an introduction to field research. The author defines field research as thesystematic study of ordinary activities in the settings in which they occur (p. 1). She advisesthat the primary reason for doing research field is to answer research questions.

Chapter 2 discusses three major ethical concerns that field researchers face: how to getinformed consent from participants, how to determine when deception is appropriate or not,and how to ensure confidentiality of participants. She reminds researchers to seek InstitutionalReview Board (IRB) approval before embarking on their field research.

Chapter 3 tells how to plan a field research project. Field researchers should consider ethicalissues such as whether the research can be completed without deception and whether promisesof confidentiality can be kept. Will any field participants be harmed? They should review theliterature to determine research questions and to determine how this current research fits intothe literature and should consider issues of practicality, such as whether there are sufficienttime and/or resources to conduct the research. Researchers should consider how to gain accessinto the research site and who their field contacts will be. Finally, they need to plan the typesof data collection to use.

Chapters 4–12 discuss the steps in doing field research. Chapter 4 advises field researchers tofind a theory that will help them develop research questions and that will guide data collection,analysis, and interpretation. The author also contrasts the positivist paradigm with the interpre-tive paradigm. The former paradigm is usually associated with scientific research. Positivistsbelieve that cumulative research will help unravel laws of social behavior, and the laws in turnwill lead to prediction and even control. Researchers who follow the interpretive paradigminstead believe in multiple realities since there can be multiple meanings given to the routineand non-routine events by research participants as well as by the researcher. Interpretations ofthe events are dependent on each individual’s feelings and values. The author advises that aresearcher should select a thesis committee carefully to ensure that the committee members arecomfortable with the interpretive paradigm that is most commonly used by field researchers.

Chapter 5 is called methodology and discusses various sampling strategies, ways to gainentrance into research sites, field relationships with key actors in the research site, and the useof triangulation (or multiple methods of data collection from different types of field partici-pants) to understand the field situation. Chapters 6 and 7 respectively describe how to do fieldobservations and how to conduct interviews. Chapter 8 explains how to take field notes andhow to decide when to leave the field or finish the field study.

Chapter 9 guides analyzing the field data. Chapters 10 and 11 provide additional tech-niques/strategies for doing so. Chapter 10 describes the use of typologies to show how similarevents or activities or objects can be separated into different categories based on key features thatseparate them, the use of taxonomies to show hierarchical relationships among categories andsub-categories, the use of visual representations (such as charts/maps/diagrams/flowcharts),and the use of recurring themes.

Chapter 11 explains the use of story to organize the data. The author found that using story is“the single best way to teach the analysis of field data. Students who use this technique tend towrite manuscripts that are more detailed and conceptually stronger than when employing otherstrategies” (p. 171). Field research stories are based on the field data that have been collected.

Book reviews 705

In Chapter 12, the author advises that the research manuscript should be written in a stylethat is consistent with the discipline of the researcher. She discusses how to handle the validity,reliability, and generalizability of the research work.

This book gives the reader an appreciation for the complexity of field research. It is especiallyuseful to people who want to learn about field research or who are going to do such researchfor the first time. For those who have already done field research, this book is still a usefulguide as it provides detailed practical advice for each step of the field research process. Theauthor believes that even Masters students can conduct field research if they use her book as aguide.

The author includes many examples of field studies to illustrate her points. Most of thefield studies that she refers to are published books, although she also refers to a few that areunpublished doctoral dissertations. Field research can be a big endeavor in terms of time andeffort. Other than just getting a Masters thesis or doctoral dissertation as the outcome of thefield study, one could get a journal publication. The author therefore might have included achapter of advice on how to achieve a journal piece since not many Masters or doctoral studentsmay be able to publish a book.

I highly recommend this book as it a wonderful guide for Masters or doctoral students andeven seasoned researchers who want to know about or embark on field research as their researchmethod.

Kim Tan ∗

Department of Accounting and Finance, California State University,Stanislaus One University Circle, Turlock, CA 95382, United States

∗ Tel.: +1 209 667 3573; fax: +1 209 667 3042.E-mail address: KTan@csustan.edu

doi:10.1016/j.soscij.2008.09.002

Lawn People: How Grasses,Weeds, and Chemicals Make Us WhoWe Are By PaulRobbins, 2007 Paul Robbins; Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2007, 208 pp.

I assume there are readers who might not see this book of any interest given the title but whoshould. So, I will put the end of the review in the beginning: this book is highly recommended forany undergraduate or graduate class in politics, economics, geography, urban studies, sociology,or the environment. Its theses and substance work at the foundations of political economy,political theory, and political ecology, and its writing style and nuance will make effectivelessons and discussion for any of the above categories of instruction. I have already adoptedthis course for my undergraduate “Urban Environmental Policy” course. I had been teaching,using an article from Robbins in this course prior, and while I usually warn against replacinga concise article for a book, in this case it is fully worth the exposition that the larger materialpresent.

I am forced to confess that, after reading this book I am a “lawn person.” I am not happyabout this; and, odds are if you are a lawn person there is a good chance you do not like theformulation any more than I do. But, you and I remain—the country remains and is transforming