Unit IV: Field work settings (8 LH)

What is fieldwork?
Field work is a peer supervises of learning process a qualitative study, quantitative data or information.
Knowledge synthesizes and integrates knowledge what is learning in the class room or in laboratory
(human services). Fieldwork is an integral part of qualitative research. Originating in anthropology and
sociology, fieldwork has become a recognized method in health sciences in recent years. Fieldwork
involves going into a natural setting to understand people within that context i.e. understanding people in
their everyday natural setting. A field worker is comparable to a child who learns by observing and
engaging in the activities within their environment.
Fieldwork can be used to gain an understanding of people's experiences within a context, how a culture
works/influences health care practices and the multifaceted relationships within the work environment.
For example, if you want to research how care is delivered and received in a secure mental health unit, the
most reliable way to do this is to observe the environment itself and the experiences of individuals within
it.
Fieldwork is not itself a research methodology, rather there several research methodologies and methods
in qualitative research that utilize fieldwork. These include, but not limited to ethnography, discourse
analysis and conversation analysis. This resource will focus predominately on ethnography and
observations, but many of the principles of fieldwork are universal to the other methodologies too.

Fieldwork education is any practical work, teaching, study or research activity required by post -
secondary education providers as an integral part of a course. Fieldwork is also known as practicum,
professional experience, internship, or experimental placement. Fieldwork allows trainee (students) to
learn through direct implementation of their future professional roles in real workplace settings. It
prepares trainee (students) for meaningful and productive participation in industry, the workforce
and the community. The fieldwork discipline (education) partner is an agent, contractor,
collaborating agency, facility, industry, organization, school, site or placement provider that
provides structured and supervised practical experience for students for the purposes of a
qualification.

What are the three types of field work?

The methods of field research include: direct observation, participant observation, and qualitative
interviews.
What are the principles of field work?
The main principles for fieldwork to promote “equity, reciprocity (mutuality), access, benefit-sharing
and safety”: We embrace the fieldwork practices with our field teams, partners, and the communities
with whom we work.

The stages of fieldwork practice

o Stage 1: Introduction and planning.
o Stage 2: Fieldwork techniques and methods.
o Stage 3: Data Processing and presenting.
o Stage 4: Analyzing and Interpreting data.
o Stage 5: Conclusions/Evaluation.

A. Government Organization:
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, often a state. In the
case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive,
and judiciary. Government is a means by which organizational policies are enforced, as well as a
mechanism for determining policy. Each government has a kind of constitution, a statement of its
governing principles and philosophy. Typically the philosophy chosen is some balance between the
principle of individual freedom and the idea of absolute state authority. Since the last democratic election
held in November 2017, Nepal consists of 753 local governments, 7 provincial governments, and one
federal/central government.

What are the roles of government organization?

Government organizations are responsible for providing services that individuals cannot effectively
provide for themselves, such as military defense, fire and police departments, roads, education, social
services, and environmental protection. The context of Nepal Federal Government is composed of three
distinct branches: legislative, executive, and judicial, whose powers are vested by the state Constitution
in the parliament, the priminister, and the Federal chief minister, respectively. A government is
responsible for creating and enforcing the rules of a society, defense, foreign affairs, the economy,
and public services.

Functions of Social Workers in Government Agencies

Social workers perform a variety of professional tasks and functions for the government agencies, ranging
from clinical practice to program management/administration. Functions vary from agency to agency but
essentially include:
 Case management;
 Individual and group therapy;
 Psycho-social assessments;
 Treatment and discharge planning;
 Substance use counseling and treatment; and
 Administration
Social workers are also integrated into federal (governmental) programs that address health care,
behavioral health, criminal justice, social services, and child welfare issues. Additionally, social workers
play a significant role in formulating policies, and developing program standards and guidance for federal
(governmental) programs. Social workers who practice in a government agency are usually integrated into
a broader continuum of services along with other disciplines such as physicians, nurses, and substance
abuse counselors.
 B. Non-government, International non-government organizations (International non-
government organizations, Non-government organizations I/NGO)
Non-government organizations I/NGO): -
A non-governmental organization (NGO) is any non-profit, voluntary citizens' group which is organized
on a local, national or international level. Task-oriented and driven by people with a common interest,
NGOs perform a variety of service and humanitarian functions, bring citizen concerns to Governments,
advocate and monitor policies and encourage political participation through provision of information.
Some are organized around specific issues, such as human rights, environment or health. They provide
analysis and expertise, serve as early warning mechanisms and help monitor and implement international
agreements. Their relationship with offices and agencies of the United Nations system differs depending
on their goals, their venue and the mandate of a particular institution.
Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are an organization that generally is formed independent
from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active
in humanitarianism or the social sciences; they can also include clubs and associations that provide
services to their members and others. Surveys indicate that NGOs have a high degree of public trust,
which can make them a useful proxy for the concerns of society and stakeholders. However, NGOs can
also be lobby groups for corporations, such as the World Economic Forum. NGOs are distinguished
from international and intergovernmental organizations in that the latter are more directly involved with
sovereign states and their governments.
NGOs further the social goals of their members (or founders): improving the natural environment,
encouraging the observance of human rights, improving the welfare of the disadvantaged, or representing
a corporate agenda. Their goals cover a wide range of issues. They may fund local NGOs, institutions and
projects, and implement projects.
The number of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working in Nepal has grown significantly since
the 1990s due to a range of factors. A total of 39,759 NGOs and 189 international non-governmental
organizations were registered in Nepal between 1977 to till in various sectors, including health,
agriculture, poverty alleviation, and good governance. Despite thousands of NGOs and significant
amounts of foreign aid, Nepal remains one of the poorest countries in South Asia. The case of Nepal
indicates that aid and donor support alone are insufficient for sustained development.

Which types of work are done by NGO?

NGO activities include, but are not limited to, environmental, social, advocacy and human rights
work. They can work to promote social or political change on a broad scale or very locally. NGOs play a
critical part in developing society, improving communities, and promoting citizen participation.

Types of NGOs
Different classifications of the NGOs are mentioned in literature. The classification of NGOs retrieved
from different sources is as under:
Charitable orientation:
It often involves a top – down paternalistic effort with little participation by the “beneficiaries”. It
includes NGOs with activities like food, clothing, and housing of needy. Such NGOs may also undertake
relief activities during a natural or manmade disaster.
Service orientation:
It includes NGOs with activities such as the provision of health, family planning or education service in
which the program is designed by the NGO and people are expected to participate in its implementation
and in receiving the service.
Participatory orientation:
It includes NGOs with participation of local people in organizations activities. It is characterized by self –
help projects where local people are involved particularly in the implementation of project by contributing
cash, tools, land, materials, labor, etc.
Empowering orientation:
It is where the aim is to help poor people develop a clearer understanding of the social, political and
economic factors affecting their lives, and to strengthen their awareness of their own potential power to
control their lives.

Characteristics of NGOs
Though NGOs vary in different aspects like nature, structure and ideology but they have some
characteristics which make them fall into a category of non-government organizations. In general,
following are the common characteristics of NGOs:
 The NGOs are not created for profit making; they are non–profit making organizations. The profit
generated, if any is used for working of organizations programs and is not distributed among its
members.
 NGOs are independent of government.
 The NGOs are formed on voluntary basis and possess spirit of voluntarism.
 The NGOs have legal status/ identity. They need to be registered under appropriate Act (e.g.
Trust Act, Organization Registration Act or Companies Act). For obtaining foreign funding, they
need to be registered under Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) with Ministry of Home
Affairs, Government of Nepal and affiliation of SWC.
 All NGOs are formed to serve a common purpose of benefit and development of community.
They aim towards helping the needy.

International non-government organizations (INGOs):

An international non-governmental organization (INGO) extends the concept of an international non-
governmental organization (I/NGO) to an international scope and discipline. I/NGOs are independent of
governments and can be seen as two types, advocacy I/NGOs, which aim to influence governments with a
specific goal, and operational I/NGOs, which provide services. Examples of I/NGO mandates are
environmental preservation, human rights promotions or the advancement of child & women. I/NGOs are
typically not-for-profit, but receive funding from companies or membership fees. Many large INGOs
have components of operational projects and advocacy initiatives working together within individual
countries.
The technical term "international organizations" describes intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) and
include groups such as the United Nations or the International Labor Organization (ILO), which are
formed by treaties among sovereign states. In contrast, INGOs are defined as "any internationally
operating organization which is not established by inter-governmental agreement".
An I/NGO may be founded by private philanthropy, such as the Carnegie, Rockefeller, Gates and Ford
Foundations, or as an adjunct to existing international organizations, such as the Catholic or Lutheran
churches. A surge in I/NGOs for economic development occurred during World War II, some of which
would later become large organizations like SOS Children's Villages, Oxfam, CARE
International and Lutheran World Relief. The number of INGOs grew from 6,000 in 1990 to 26,000 in
1999, and a 2013 report estimated about 40,000 in worldwide.

The main activities/focus of INGOs is to provide relief and developmental aid to developing countries.
Health-related projects such as HIV/AIDS awareness, prevention and treatment, clean water, and malaria
prevention and education-related projects such as schools for girls and providing books help to provide
the social services that the country's government does not provide. International non-governmental
organizations are some of the first responders to natural disasters, like hurricanes and floods, or crises that
need emergency relief. Other organizations, like the International Justice Mission, are working to make
judicial systems more effective and legitimate. Still others, such as those promoting micro-finance and
education, directly impact citizens and communities by developing skills and human capital while
encouraging citizen empowerment and community involvement. NGOs, in general, account for over 15%
of total international development aid, which is linked to economic development. As of 2007, aid (partly
contributed to by INGOs) over the past thirty years is estimated to have increased the annual growth rate
of the bottom billion by one percent.

What are the aims of the international non-governmental organizations?

The main focus of INGOs is to provide relief and developmental aid to developing countries.

How does international non-government Organization work in the country?

Non-governmental organizations bring material and human resources to a country. There is
expectation that these resources can help public institutions and contribute to social development and
poverty alleviation.

C. Community based organization:

Community organization or Community Based Organization refers to organization aimed at making
desired improvements to a community's social health, well-being, and overall functioning. Community
organization occurs in geographically, psychosocially, culturally, spiritually, and digitally bounded
communities. Community organization includes community work, community projects, community
development, community empowerment, community building, and community mobilization. It is a
commonly used model for organizing community within community projects, neighborhoods,
organizations, voluntary associations, localities, and social networks, which may operate as ways to
mobilize around geography, shared space, shared experience, interest, need, and/or concern.
Community organization is differentiated from conflict-oriented community organizing, which focuses on
short-term change through appeals to authority (i.e., pressuring established power structures for desired
change), by focusing on long-term and short-term change through direct action and the organizing of
community (i.e., the creation of alternative systems outside of established power structures). This often
includes inclusive networking, interpersonal organizing, listening, reflexivity, non-violent
communication, cooperation, mutual aid and social care, prefiguration, popular education, and direct
participation (democracy).
According to Murray G. Ross (1967), defined community based organization as a process by which a
community identifies needs or objectives, takes action, and through this process, develops cooperative
and collaborative attitudes and practices within a community.

Principles of Community based organization, they are:

1. Participation (democracy) and social welfare;
2. Community roots for community programs;
3. Citizen understanding, support, and participation and professional service;
4. Co-operation;
5. Social Welfare Programs;
6. Adequacy, distribution, and organization of social welfare services; and
7. Prevention.