Participant Observation and Fieldnotes Flashcards
What is the content of your fieldnotes?
- Basis of your findings
- Observation you turn to data
- Document observations on day-to-day basis
- Notes are for yourself
What characterises fieldnotes?
- Form of representation
- Selective
- Partial view of the world
- Reflective
- Dynamic
What makes fieldnotes selective?
You are choosing what is included and left out
-> subjective process
What makes fieldnotes dynamic?
- You go look at them at different times
- Rephrase
- Develop meanings associated to observed practices
What is the meaning of fieldnotes as “thick descriptions” (Ryle, 1949; Geertz, 1973)?
- Convey meaning
- Detailed and contextualised accounts
- Interpretation
-> why people are doing what they’re doing
What does Kirin Narayan (2012) argue in her book ‘Alive in the writing’?
- Describe the layout of a space, objects that reveal something about the life of subjects
- “Describe a place at a particular time of day and the effects of this setting on social life.”
- “Describe the emotional and bodily sensations of moving through a place”
What is important regarding data safety?
Store your data safely, in multiple locations
- use secure clouds
- use hard drives
What are the types of fieldnotes?
- Jot notes
- Expanded notes
- Meta notes
- Diary and reflection
- Field logs
What characterises jot notes?
- First thoughts
- Quick and short
- Memory aid
- Taken during or immediately after an event
- Certain times are more appropriate to write notes
What characterises expanded notes?
- Keywords
- Extensive report on conversations, explanations and interpretations
- Physical/emotional condition of the informants, their appearance, behaviour, gestures, interactions
- Recreate moments and atmospheres
-> thick descriptions, detailed accounts
-> they form the basis of your ethnography
When should you write your expanded notes?
- As soon as possible
- In privacy, to maintain anonimity
What characterises meta notes?
- Theoretical and methodological notes
- Early analysis/interpretation
- New questions and gaps
- Links to theory
- Basis for theory building
What characterises a diary and reflections?
- Personal thoughts and emotions
- Processing experiences
- Insight in your fieldwork and process
What characterises field logs?
- Overview of what happened, where, when, and with whom
- Mainly in table or list
- Include if you’re allowed to approach the person for 2nd interview
What is the purpose of drawing notes?
- Make the physical world visible
- Mapping
- Useful when words fail
- “Thick depictions”
