This report explores the field research experience of the Documentation and Technical Assistance Project, an activity of the Center for New Schools in Chicago, Illinois. Using ethnography as a major research tool, DTA studied nine school sites, documented information on how the schools solved problems to bring about school improvement; and provided technical assistance in developing improvement strategies for other schools, based on information from nine sites. Chapter 1 of the report discusses the evolution of the project, and focuses on developments in research organization; research design preparation; hiring, training, and directing of site researchers; delineation of the site researcher's job; and relationships between researchers and the research sites. Chapter 2 examines constraints on the DTA research efforts, which might explain why the project evolved as it did. Among the constraints examined are: (1) the project's nonacademic context; (2) conditions of the research contract; (3) problems that arose from the project's collaborative arrangements; (4) the project ideology; (5) geographical dispersion of the project; and (6) problems in implementing the data management system. Chapter 3 analyzes emergent problems in the DTA field experience, which might be encountered in doing other field research. Appendices, which describe the role and responsibilities of site researchers, are included. (MJL)