Fieldnotes Carnet de terrain

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Definition

The fieldwork notebook is a canonical tool of ethnographic research. It is the place where events observed during fieldwork are transcribed in writing, in all their sensitive, informative, and interpretive dimensions. Fieldnotes are gathered over the course of the research process, in a site-specific manner. Thus, they provide an account of the research being done, as it is taking place. Fieldnotes are oftentimes accompanied by other supporting mediums (images, sounds, documents). Finally, they provide a raw and subjective source material from which to proceed with the analysis of the fieldwork.

Cite: “Fieldnotes”, Performascope: Interdisciplinary Lexicon of Performance and Research-Creation, Grenoble: Université Grenoble Alpes, 2021, [online]: http://performascope.univ-grenoble-alpes.fr/en/detail/177601

Perspective

No perspectives

Quotation

« In fieldnotes, qualitative researchers record in-depth descriptive details of people (including themselves), places, things, and events, as well as reflections on data, patterns, and the process of research. These details form the context and quality control that shape multiple qualitative data points into articulated, meaningful, and integrated research findings. »

Phillip Vannini, « Fieldnotes », in The SAGE Encyclopedia of Qualitative Research Methods, Volums 1&2, Lisa M.Given dir., Londres : SAGE, 2008, p.341


« Le journal de terrain est l’outil principal de l’ethnographe, souvent ignoré du sociologue . C’est un journal de bord sur lequel sont notés, jour après jour, dans un style télégraphique, les événements de l’enquête et la progression de la recherche [ ....] Ce journal de terrain vous permet d’effectuer un travail sur vous-même et un premier travail de défrichage sur le terrain . »

Stéphane Beaud, Florence Weber, Guide de l’enquête de terrain, Paris : La Découverte, 2003, pp.95-96

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Bibliography

Bronisław Malinowski, A diary in the strict sense of the term, Stanford : Stanford University Press, 1967

Gérard Noiriel, « Journal de terrain, journal de recherche et auto-analyse. Entretien avec Florence Weber », Genèses. Sciences sociales et histoire, 2, 1990, pp.138-147, [en ligne] https://www.persee.fr/doc/genes_1155-3219_1990_num_2_1_1035 (06/05/21)

Nigel Rapport, « Writing Fieldnotes: The Conventionalities of Note-Taking and Taking Note in the Field », Anthropology Today, 7, 1, 1991, pp.10-13

Roger Sanjek, Fieldnotes: The Makings of Anthropology, Ithaca : Cornell University Press, 1990

Thierry Sanjuan, Carnets de terrain. Pratiques Géographies et aires culturelles, Paris : L’Harmattan, 2008