Fieldnotes

Here are some exercises I've found useful with MA level students: This document includes two checklists - one useful prior to entering the field, the other useful during data collection Here is an ultra concise list of references I have found particularly useful re: fieldnotes. I am a huge fan of Bourgois and Schonberg's photoethnography, //Righteous Dopefiends.// The text offers multiple, complex opportunities to discuss representation of fieldnotes, thick description, and analysis.
 * When teaching introductory qualitative methods, how do we avoid the risk of taking fieldnotes for granted?**
 * What tools/strategies illustrate the complexity and critical value of effective fieldnotes?**

**Summary of ASHE presentation** In qualitative research, fieldnotes have long held a significant role in data collection and analysis. Seldom, however, are fieldnotes the focus of research methods sections or “how to” guides. Often, students are required to go into the field and collect fieldnotes without purposeful training. Lederman (1990), highlighting the difficulty of categorizing fieldnotes, writes,

It is no wonder that fieldnotes are hard to think and write about: they are a bizarre genre. Simultaneously part of the “doing” of fieldwork and of the “writing” of ethnography, fieldnotes are shaped by two movements: a turning away from academic discourse to join conversations in unfamiliar settings, and a turning back again (p. 72).

The caliber of fieldnotes has significant implications for data analysis and presentation. This paper considers how professors might cultivate in their students an awareness of the role fieldnotes can play in improving the trustworthiness of data (Guba, 1981; Lincoln & Guba, 1985; Sanjek, 1990) and limit misunderstanding from the text (Wolcott, 1990). Member checks and triangulation are two strategies that the researcher can use to improve the rigor of research. Ethnographic fieldnotes provide a helpful tool for member checks. By sharing fieldnotes and seeking input from informants about how data collected represents their experiences, fieldnotes can ensure more accurate data collection and analysis by the researcher (LeCompte & Goetz, 1982). Fieldnotes also allow for triangulation with alternative data sources, like interviews and document analysis, in order to reduce researcher bias and improve credibility (Guba, 1981). In relation to creating a useful archive of data—what Lincoln and Guba (1985) refer to as a research audit—fieldnotes fulfill a vital role, along with research diaries, memorandums, and interview transcripts. Lastly, descriptive fieldnotes minimize the chances that readers will misinterpret the text (Wolcott, 1990) and maximize the transferability—analogous to the quantitative concept of generalizability—of the research (Guba, 1981). Fieldnotes, whether quoted or summarized in the final product, allow for thick description (Geertz, 1973) in a text and permit the reader to vicariously experience the research setting. The paper explores how through presenting rich data, the researcher enables the reader to make an informed decision about whether or not the research is trustworthy. Concrete examples of classroom activities are included to provide suggestions for how to teach students the art of collecting effective fieldnotes and subsequent analysis.