Interview with Professor Dexter Dunphy

Master’s Series on Field Research
Interview with Professor Dexter Dunphy
Distinguished Professor, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia

Introduction

Peter Blanck interviews Dexter Dunphy about his work as a field researcher. Dunphy discusses his groundbreaking Master’s field research with adolescent peer groups, the difficulties for a researcher trying to be accepted into a adolescent group, the things a researcher can offer adolescents in exchange for their time, and the need to recognize and compensate for the unavoidable bias the researcher brings to the research. Dunphy describes his findings with the adolescent groups, his development and use of multiple methods of data collection, the need to sample the power structure of an organization, and the use of feedback in action research. Dunphy ends the interview giving a little advice about the role of field researchers, issues of confidentiality, and how he kept notes in the field.

Transcript File

Interview with Professor Dexter Dunphy | Transcript (Text file)