God bless Frances Ward!  I have just read her chapter in Congregtional Studies in the UK and have found in it a voice of encouragemnet for all first time researchers.  She talks about her project (which, assuming it is part of her PhD work, ended up with a very grand sounding title) with great honesty and openness, and a humility that is at once endearing and helpful.

Her original plan was to look to at corporate identity within three congregations of different denominations somewhere in northern England.  She soon discovered that the Anglican rector was about to leave, so changed to focussing only on that congregation.  Then as the interregnum began, her emphasis shifted from identity to power, and then again to questions of racism.

In her reflection on the work (she used ethnographic methods) she shares the struggles and frustrations, the negatives and inconsistencies as well as the bits that worked (noting that Hopewell and others present a rather rosy image of the process and outcome).  The gender thing (that sometimes irrritates me, I have to confess) led her to think about who was refusing to participate and why - the importance of silences is a helpful corrective to the loud voices of others.

When she talks about writing up, she is keenly aware of partiality (both senses) and particularity.  She even shares something of the negative responses people gave to her protrayal of them!

At the end of the process she had a nice title for the research project she could/should have set out to complete, given where she ended up - and notes the benefits of hindsight.

For those of us blundering around in the dark or wading through treacle trying to establish 'square 1' (how's that for mixed metaphors?!) and finding our questions shifting, changing and devleoping as we go, this short essay is a real blessing.  Thank you Frances for sharing.