Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes (Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing)

Drawing on years of teaching and field research experience, the authors develop a series of guidelines, suggestions, and practical advice about how to write useful fieldnotes in a variety of settings, both cultural and institutional. Using actual unfinished, "working" notes as examples, they illustrate options for composing, reviewing, and working fieldnotes into finished texts. They discuss different organizational and descriptive strategies, including evocation of sensory detail, synthesis of complete scenes, the value of partial versus omniscient perspectives, and of first person versus third person accounts. Of particular interest is the author's discussion of notetaking as a mindset. They show how transforming direct observations into vivid descriptions results not simply from good memory but more crucially from learning to envision scenes as written. A good ethnographer, they demonstrate, must learn to remember dialogue and movement like an actor, to see colors and shapes like a painter, and to sense moods and rhythms like a poet.

The authors also emphasize the ethnographer's core interest in presenting the perceptions and meanings which the people studied attach to their own actions. They demonstrate the subtle ways that writers can make the voices of people heard in the texts they produce. Finally, they analyze the "processing" of fieldnotes--the practice of coding notes to identify themes and methods for selecting and weaving together fieldnote excerpts to write a polished ethnography.

This book, however, is more than a "how-to" manual. The authors examine writing fieldnotes as an interactive and interpretive process in which the researcher's own commitments and relationships with those in the field inevitably shape the character and content of those fieldnotes. They explore the conscious and unconscious writing choices that produce fieldnote accounts. And they show how the character and content of these fieldnotes inevitably influence the arguments and analyses the ethnographer can make in the final ethnographic tale.

This book shows that note-taking is a craft that can be taught. Along with Tales of the Field and George Marcus and Michael Fisher's Anthropology as Cultural Criticism, Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes is an essential tool for students and social scientists alike.

True teachers, Emerson, Shaw and Fretz (UCLA faculty) show just as much of the process as they tell. Step by step, readers are walked through the process of turning initial chicken scratches jotted down on scrap paper to publishable ethnographic documents. Rarely will you find more than a page between excerpts from real fieldnotes.

The authors recognize that every field situation is different and ethnographers rarely, if ever, find themselves in ideal situations for writing. Thus, they explain the tensions that constantly pull at ethnographers and also what things will become much easier as ethnographers gain experience. They discuss how to balance observing with writing, and demonstrate that how you write fieldnotes (what you emphasize, point-of-view used, quality of description, representing community members' voices) is just as important as what you write.

Redundancy might be a weak point, but overall the re-explaining of things in two or three different ways serves only to make the reader experience and assimilate the process of writing fieldnotes. Readers can then naturally employ the procedures rather than constantly referring to the book as a "checklist" when doing fieldwork.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone seeking to understand the worldview and customs of another culture, or doing social research within their own culture. Even if your goal is not to do anthropology or to publish ethnographic documents, turning your experiences and observations into written text helps you to process things. Writing also helps you gain insights about the community you are working with by increasing your observational skills. You will not regret taking time to read Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes.


An Excellent Resource   July 21, 2006
Grant H. Potts (Austin, TX)
8 out of 8 found this review helpful

Emerson, Fretz, and Shaw have put together not only an excellent handbook for writing ethnographic fieldnotes, but an insightful study of the practical issues confronting anyone doing interpretative writing about culture.

The book's primary focus is on how to effectively take and maintain fieldnotes. They appropriately begin at the ground by discussing how to take jottings and other quick notes, providing memory cues for the later write up of complete fieldnotes. Always keeping the focus on the task of writing, while balancing that with the task of honest and rigorous reporting, they give excellent advice for how to create a clear record of your field experience. While their focus is primarily on an ethnographic style of careful observation of interactions, their ideas remain useful to those with other theoretical concerns. Because they are always keeping an eye toward the end product of a finished, written document, this book also provides and excellent resource for how to use your fieldnotes in order to write a finished ethnography.

But this is not just an excellent book for ethnographic fieldworkers. Reading the book not only gave me solid ideas for my fieldwork, but also for the task of reading and note-taking around text-based and image-based culture. Additionally, I see this as an invaluable tool for someone engaged in more journalistic research, and for those of us who teach and tutor writing.


Noteworthy Resource   March 4, 2008
grasshopper4 (Arkansas)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

It's interesting that books on fieldwork tend to exclude extended discussions of note-taking as a part of fieldwork. The focus of many guides on fieldwork methods usually is on completing audio or video interviews and on the use of photography in fieldwork. This book fills this gap in research methodology. The writers show good, practical techniques for taking notes during ethnographic and oral history field research. More importantly, they convincingly demonstrate how creating good fieldnotes is essential to completing good ethnographic studies. Each section of the book blends practical ideas with theoretical generalizations in ways that not only show readers how to complete field research, but the discussion also reveals why these techniques are useful. The chapter that provides ways to turn fieldnotes into written ethnographies is an especially helpful discussion of a challenging task. In this particular chapter, and in the book in general, readers can find ideas that can also be applied to the use of other field-generated resources such as structured audio/video interviews and photo sessions. This book is also valuable as a resource for understanding and examining various written ethnographic studies. In this respect, the insights offered by Emerson, Fretz, and Shaw give readers good ideas for evaluating written ethnographies and useful perspectives for understanding the process of completing ethnographically-grounded research and how ethnographic study contributes to the representation of culture.



Not just for anthropologists   March 21, 2009
E. M. Van Court (Honolulu, Hawai'i, USA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

I'm fully prepared for outrage from people in the social sciences, but... The title caught my eye for two reasons. First, I recently read a protracted rant by an anthropologist, and was interested in gaining a better understanding of his context. Second, I am a fan of Kipling's "Kim", and wanted a clearer understanding of an occult (to me) discipline practiced in colonial India of the Victorian era; ethnography. I was impressed by the depth of the writing and the broad utility of the concepts presented, and I achieved my primary goals of a better understanding of cultural anthropology and ethnography.

The structure of the book follows the process of writing an ethnography. Go to the field, listen, interview, and take notes. Several categories of notes are addressed, from the hasty single word memory aids to the detailed write-ups at the end of each reseach day. The multi-stage process from fragmentary notations to a structured final product is carefully described with an excellent balance between the needs of prose, the scholarly and analytical needs, and the ethical considerations towards the groups and individuals being researched. Although not specifically about the field work of observation, casual questioning, and interviews, considerable knowledge can be gleaned from a careful reading of this book.

Critical thinking, in the broadest sense, is encouraged throughout this book as is the precursor to critical thinking, meticulous and unjudgemental observation. The authors continually exort the reader to refrain from framing information within a conventional conceptual construct and to avoid categorization of people and activities.

Stylistic advice is clear and well thought out. Whether to write from first, third, or an omniscient perspective are all given due consideration and appropriate circumstances for each are discussed. Organizaton and themes are also carefully considered.

I whole-heartedly recommend this book for anyone in any discipline that involves observation of people, interviews, documentation of this fieldwork, and production of a report or publication.

E. M. Van Court


Perfect for master's level studies   December 28, 2007
Kate Robinson (near Boston, MA)
The text is exactly as described and promised. A very practical tool for the bachelor's or master's student.