Abstract
Intended for a student audience, this book articulates its goal as discussing, analyzing, and teaching the often ‘hidden and mysterious’ process of writing ethnographic fieldnotes. In contrast to those who view fieldnotes as too personal or intuitive as to warrant formal instruction, the authors assert that writing fieldnotes requires a skill-set that is both reflexive and deliberate, and can be sharpened with intention and time. Thus, this book is an attempt to help students develop and hone their attentions, insights, and writing such that they produce more full and rich fieldnotes from which to draw out analyses, while also more fully understanding the roles, goals, and processes of ethnographic methods.
Clearly positioned within an interpretive and interactionist epistemology, the authors emphasize the reflexivity and self-awareness required of ethnographers as they strive to capture local values and meanings. In order to do so, they argue that paying more attention to the decisions made in constructing fieldnotes is critical. By being more aware of writing choices in the field, the authors argue that researchers will also develop more enhanced reflexivity in their analysis and observation, thus becoming more aware of their own values, interpretations and meanings as well as those of the population they are studying. Moreover, they will also develop a richer dataset, as they will be more attuned to features of talk and action in the field, more aware of details, and less likely to confuse their own points of view with the points of view of others.
First published in 1995, the second edition of Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes retains the detailed description and accessible style of the first edition, while incorporating a more nuanced and in-depth coverage of point of view, and issues of race, class, and gender. The new edition also brings more attention to the importance of early analysis in writing fieldnotes. As in the earlier edition, the authors primarily use unedited student fieldnotes as illustrations for discussion and analysis throughout the text. This is an insightful choice, as it not only makes the work accessible, but also helps highlight common confusions, dilemmas, and oversteps that both novice and seasoned ethnographers may encounter while conducting fieldwork.
Highly detailed, the work moves from broad discussions of how to pay attention in the field to the detailed processes of note-taking, memo-writing, coding, and narrative writing. Specifically, the authors discuss styles of observation, organizational and descriptive settings, procedures for writing up fieldnotes, the use of dialogue and characterization, asides and audiences, interpretation and positionality, points of view and time perspectives, the interpretation of meaning, and selecting themes. The final two substantive chapters move beyond the construction of fieldnotes to issues of coding, selecting themes, and understanding fieldnotes as a dataset, followed by suggestions and practical approaches to writing finished ethnography. Focused on how to artfully weave analytic propositions with local meanings and, the authors discuss how to develop thematic narratives using fieldnotes as a central feature within text.
While centrally concerned with how all areas of inquiry relate to the specific goal of writing fieldnotes, the authors also treat ethnography and its methodology, goals, and processes in some detail. However, the intention of the book is not to serve as an overview to ethnography and as such it does not treat the theoretical groundings behind or traditions of ethnography, or the details of carrying out fieldwork projects. Thus, while students will find this text does not suffice as a thorough exploration of ethnographic methods, it does provide a cursory overview of participant observation, interpretations, ethics, and other issues central to understanding ethnographic work.
The text is rarely explicitly prescriptive and tends to consider multiple options and strategies. As a result, at times the book has the tone of a beginner ‘how-to’ manual, going into exhaustive detail about logistic choices, which feels both unnecessary and repetitive. On the whole, however, the text provides an excellent level of coverage, sacrificing neither depth nor accessibility, and pointing out critical areas for reflection. Even for those who more clearly understand fieldnotes as best learned through trial and error, or as a personal process that does not easily lend itself to codification, this text offers valuable comments, and brings up essential points of inquiry. Though clearly best as an introduction for ethnographers prior to beginning their work in the field, with a wide scope and insights at all levels of the ethnographic process, students at any stage of their ethnographic or interpretive work will find this book a helpful tool. The text is also more broadly useful for qualitative researchers, those who teach writing, and anyone doing interpretive work on culture.