Cross-cultural Field Studies & Adaptive Research

Ethnography | Interviews | Data Analysis | International Research

Target & Timeline

• 150+ participants across 6 countries in Asia and the Middle East

• 18-32 years old (aviation industry workers, aspiring, current, and former flight attendants, customer service

• 18 months of official field study in Asia (+3 months of preliminary field studies in the Middle East)

Methods & “Answer”

I came to my research project iteratively. At first, I was interested in young Korean men who left the country to work in countries like the United Arab Emirates in companies like Samsung. Korean men I met described a familiar story of getting rich abroad to “come back home rich.” However, through informal networking, community event participation, and “snowball” sampling, I encountered an unlikely group that better answered my flexible research questions: the understudied migrant group of premier airline flight attendants.

To address Q1) & Q2) I conducted preliminary research over two summers (one in Seoul and one in Dubai). I tried to discover the broadest range of participants in terms of nationality, race, gender, sexuality, class, religion, and age. I wanted to understand participants’ behaviors, needs, and attitudes in their real-life contexts. So, I employed multiple methods like context methods, field studies, interviews, and focus groups. I also built a small local field team of volunteer and paid assistants to aid me with translations in Korean (and sometimes Arabic). In total, I conducted participant observation, contextual inquiries, surveys, and focus groups on over 150 participants across 6 countries in South Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Malaysia, the U.S. and the UAE.

Using an ethnographic approach that holistically examined the details of participants’ behavior and attitudes, I took detailed notes (in English and Korean) with relevant anecdotes, observations, and quotations. I analyzed data by coding raw data around terms like “favorite job” and “work experiences” to identify common themes. I also used Qualitative Analysis Software like Nvivo to analyze broader quantitative trends like “How many Korean women worked as flight attendants for over a year?” (less than a third continued working for over a year despite months to years preparing to be hired).

Finally, to tackle Q3), I explored the broad parameters of the research topic. I conducted relevant literature reviews on the Middle East and its relationship with South Korea. Additionally, I participated in regular ideation meetings with organizational stakeholders (dissertation mentors, guest professors, and colleagues). After presenting my initial research topic proposals, the team would initiate the research design ideation process of brainstorming, brainwriting, problem-solving, and provocation. For example, team members frequently challenged me about the value and feasibility of any proposed ideas. Once a research topic was selected, I refined it through further consultation with and scrutiny from external stakeholders. The prestigious research funding agency, Social Science Research Council, supported the project’s value with a pre-dissertation grant ($5,000) and international ideation workshops in France and the U.S.. To meet the expectations of stakeholders, I managed a research plan with timelined goals, budgets, and research summaries. Finally, to ensure ethical standards for human subjects (i.e., worker “users”), I completed Institutional Review Board protocols and procedures.

Key Findings

In terms of findings on the users themselves, I uncovered unexpected behavior and attitudes in shaping career choices. For them, the rare glamour and social prestige (in Asia) of becoming a flight attendant was less a stepping stone to a “better” career than a worthy end in itself. My training in anthropology and ethnographic methods enabled me to overcome cultural biases that might initially have overseen the valuable experiences and opinions of my unique participants. Likewise, I was able to obtain these hidden field insights by continually relying on my cultural sensitivities as an anthropologist—almost always in foreign and bilingual environments.

The success of this self-directed but collaborative endeavor revealed users’ broader lifestyle behaviors, motivations, and pain points. Over several years, I both followed and adapted rigorous research plans. In turn, the project secured $40,000 in grant value. Research results were widely promoted to and discussed at 20+ national and international conferences and 20+ evaluative workshops. I demonstrated my the impact of my research through 3 peer-reviewed publications (two journal articles and one book chapter). Consequently, I was able to fulfill multiple stakeholder needs while still boosting my and the university’s brand value.