Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
caninacomputerdatabase.Thedatabaseapproachgreatlyfacilitatesanalysis,
however,aswasdiscussedinChapters4and5,andreducesthetimeneededto
write an ethnography. (See Wolcott, 2008b, concerning the amount of time
typically required to write an ethnography; see also Levine, 1985, for a dis-
cussion of organizational strategies—specifically, the principles of data stor-
age and retrieval.)
Speculations, cues, lists, and personal diary-type comments should remain
in a separate category from observation notes. Such notes are working docu-
mentsthathelpguidetheethnographer'swork.Theyserveasaremindertofol-
low up on a long list of topics and tasks. Written on the back of an envelope
or on a computer with an automatic reminder program, these notes also docu-
ment part of the ethnographic process. Using them, the ethnographer can
retrace steps to identify the strategy that helped uncover a specific layer of
meaning during the research.A personal diary can be both an effective coping
strategy during particularly difficult and dangerous fieldwork and a means of
quality control. Notes about the researcher's mood, attitude, and judgments
during a specific stage of the research endeavor can provide a context from
which to view primary field notes at that stage. Maintaining these separate
files thus becomes a quality control on data collection and analysis. (See
Schwandt & Halpern, 1988, concerning auditing field notes; see also Bogdan
& Biklen, 1982, for an additional discussion of writing field notes.)
BOX 6 . 1
Organization of Field Notes
A variety of useful ways of organizing field notes are available. I have found that one
approach in particular ensures an efficient and effective fieldwork experience and,
in the process, greatly facilitates the process of writing.
Field notes can be organized in a virtual (or real) loose-leaf folder, with tabs
to identify each section. The first section consists of a running index, which can
be used to help find specific topic areas or passages. The second section consists
of the proposal or contract. The third section holds the time and budget records
necessary to administer the effort properly. The fourth section holds all corre-
spondence, and the fifth section contains preliminary notes used during the early
survey phase of the research effort. (Field notes in this section of the notebook
are used to develop the proposal and to delimit further the ethnographer's scope
during the early stages of fieldwork.) The remaining sections are all subsets of the
proposal. The proposal identifies the major categories for study, with each section
containing a research topic.
