fieldnotes
Scientist's raw data
Fieldnotes are written observations recorded by researchers during direct observation—anthropologists in villages, biologists in habitats, journalists at events.
The notes capture details while fresh: what was seen, heard, said, and sensed.
Her fieldnotes from the refugee camp became the basis for the article.
Good fieldnotes balance raw description with emerging interpretations.
Also written as two words: field notes.
People providing secret intelligence
- interviewsFormal evaluative conversations
- ethnographerScholar of cultures
- qualitativeRelating to characteristics, not quantities
- subcultureGroup with alternative norms
Facts for analysis
- analysisMethodical study of parts
- methodologyFormal procedural framework
- qualitativeRelating to characteristics, not quantities
- findingsConclusions from investigation
study · hypothesis · variables · sample · coding · themes · patterns · triangulation
Writing briefly
- transcriptionWritten version of speech
- headnotesPrefatory case summaries
- marginaliaNotes in page edges
- annotationAdded explanatory comment
coding · indexing · cataloging · digitization · archiving · metadata · timestamps · shorthand
Instance of perceiving something
- sketchHasty informal drawing
- recordingCaptured audio or video
- watchingActively looking at something
- monitoringOngoing observation of something
description · detail · impression · notation · real-time · spontaneous · scene-setting · firsthand
informants
People providing secret intelligence
- interviewsFormal evaluative conversations
- ethnographerScholar of cultures
- qualitativeRelating to characteristics, not quantities
subculture · rapport · immersion · reflexivity · gatekeeper
data
Facts for analysis
- analysisMethodical study of parts
- methodologyFormal procedural framework
- qualitativeRelating to characteristics, not quantities
findings · study · hypothesis · variables · sample · coding · themes · patterns · triangulation · validity
jotting
Writing briefly
- transcriptionWritten version of speech
- headnotesPrefatory case summaries
- marginaliaNotes in page edges
annotation · coding · indexing · cataloging · digitization · archiving · metadata · timestamps · shorthand · abbreviations
sighting
Instance of perceiving something
monitoring · description · detail · impression · notation · real-time · spontaneous · scene-setting · firsthand · on-site
- anthropologyanthropology, ethnography, social anthropology, cultural anthropology, paleoanthropology
fieldnotesfinal report
Concluding written assessment
monograph · dissertation · peer-reviewed article · official report · press release
fieldnotesquantitative data
Numerically expressed information
spreadsheets · survey results · experimental data · structured data · statistical data
field, notes, notebook, fields, notepad, fieldwork, field's, fieldworker, fieldworkers