my analytical voice and the voice I need to adopt when I am writing about myself.

ı need to clarify why ı am choosing autoethnography as a methodology.
1. the work derives from my own experience: (is it enough)
2. if I keep field notes, would it make it ethhnography straigtforward?
3. which question should those field notes cover?
though it is not a respectful academic reference, there you are some instructions by ehow:
1.
Choose the location or group that you want to observe. Select based on how the group's activities help you investigate the social issue you are studying. Arrange a schedule of observation with a person in a position of authority within the group or organization.
2.
Decide whether or not you want to be open about your study with the people you are observing. Some people feel uncomfortable or act differently when they know they are being watched.
3.
Keep a notebook and pen with you at all times. Jot down noteworthy interactions and quotes when possible.
4.
Be discreet and protect your notes. Field notes are documentation of what you witness and may include conflicts or gossip. Use significant keywords that jog your memory. Refer back to keywords to develop thorough notes after you have left the field.
5.

Type up a detailed version of your notes for future analysis. Fill in the gaps of your field notes by reading the keywords and fully explaining the situation you observed. Use code names for the people you observed to protect their identities. Include an interpretation and impressions at the end of the document.
Read more: How to Write Ethnographic Field Notes | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_2081359_write-ethnographic-field-notes.html#ixzz175vsYJVm


Your objective is to create an accurate written record of your field activities, investigations, observations and thoughts. You should record date and location information in a very detailed manner so that others can know exactly when, where, and under what conditions your work was done. This will enable you or others to return to the same areas in the future to verify findings and observe changes over time.

GENERAL FORMAT

Follow this format in your field notes:

1. Field notes should be divided into two sections: Journal and Species Accounts

2. Write on one side of the paper. Leave a generous left margin as shown in the ex-
amples.

3. Write your name in the upper left-hand corner

4. Write the year in the upper right-hand corner underneath your name.

5. Write the day and month in the upper left margin.

6. Write “Journal” in the top margin of your journal pages, and the name of the species
in the top margin of your species account pages.

7. Write in complete sentences and paragraphs. You can think of field notes as a letter
to a friend or relative explaining what you saw. Or think of them as a letter to someone
visiting the area 20 years later who is unfamiliar with the area.

FOR THE JOURNAL SECTION:

1. Put a heading on the top line of each page which identifies your location. You
should include specific site, city, county and state. Underline the heading. (Joseph
Grinnell underlined his location with a wavy line.)

2. Note the purpose of the trip (Why?)

3. Note who went on the trip with you (Who?).

4. Note the time of day of each important observation (When?).

5. Information about the places you visit should be written so that someone unfamiliar
with the area can find your exact location using maps and your description. Tell where
you started and where you went. Include what road or trail you walked on, or the
general route you took if you did not follow a road. (Where?).

6. Include notes on the weather, elevation, topography, geology, soil, water, vegetation
types, plant phenology (what life stage they are in), and evidence of disturbance (fire,
grazing, cultivation, etc.) (What?).

7. Be accurate. If you have to guess about something, identify your guess as a guess. It
is appropriate to speculate about things and to ask questions. Do include your feelings,
intuitions and thoughts! Just be sure you don’t mislead a reader into thinking your
thoughts are facts!

8. Be detailed and quantify your data as much as possible. “Saw some ducks on the
pond” is not as useful as “saw 12 pintail (7 males and 5 females) on the southeast end
of Olcott Lake about 5 m from the shore.”

9. Sketches and drawings can be very useful. Rough sketches and diagrams add details
and depth to your notes.

10. You may take temporary notes on a smaller field notebook, then transcribe your
notes into your permanent journal. You should transcribe as soon as possible after you
leave the field, and always the same day as your trip.

SPECIES ACCOUNTS

1. Create a page for each species you observe. This is the place for more detailed
descriptions and observations of an individual or group of one particular species.
Include sights, sounds, smells, textures, patterns, sizes, shapes, colors, and move-
ments. Include numbers of individuals, sizes, frequencies and behaviors.

this one must be the most useful one
1. What I write in the field, the bare minimum:

Date & time

Who & where

Note where people are placed in relation to each other/main objects (i.e houses, office layout, the Ormiston Gorge Kiosk etc)

Dot point* main topics of discussion/event flows/observations

Record verbatim any key quotes

Record any questions the situation raises for you that require later clarification or follow up

Record any ideas/creative zaps/insights you have whilst in-situ (place is powerful)

*Some situations allow you to write more freely (and copiously) than others. Some research sites are used to people with note books, writing furiously. If you’re fortunate to be in such a situation, go for it. Otherwise, jotting dot points on a piece pf scrap paper or a pad that looks like a shopping list might be more appropriate. I recall a story from a PhD student who was undertaking fieldwork near a sensitive Chinese border and regularly had her notes & papers taken by authorities. There were times when she couldn’t take field notes at all. Thus, a shopping list with random points on it might be your only choice.

2. What I write afterwards, ASAP if possible.

I use my dot points to create a narrative of the situation, events etc. What do I mean by a narrative? Tell the story of what happened in detail. I do this away from the field, in private (as much as possible), without disturbances (also as much as possible).

I finish with a paragraph or two of reflection on the event/situation relating to my current thinking about my research problem/trajectory.

I also find this process creates new questions, which I also record as part of the reflection section (and highlight for follow-up along with those in the original ‘dot point’ section).

I do not code at this point.

How?

If you read my comments posted on Savage Minds, you’ll see I’m very much a pen-and-paper girl. I use a hardcover notebook, A5 size. Why A5? It fits in a backpack or handbag (for American readers: pocketbook – which incidentially is a word that means laptop computer to Australians!) easier than the clumping great A4 notebooks that others use. I now use spiral bound, hard cover note books, but for some reason I’ve never understood, when I did my PhD work I didn’t use spiral bound. Also, I take notes on sheets of paper, ‘shopping lists’ or ’to do list’ type pages if the situation requires me to be discrete.

I have used a variety of minidisc players, mini voice recorders, expensive voice recorders and even an MP3 player to record interviews – but rarely for field notes. I find them intrusive. In fact, much of my work has been done with Aboriginal people, and I’ve only used voice recording for: stories & songs when requested by the informant themselves, words (place names, site names) in language (Aboriginal languages) that people wish to teach me, formal interviews.

I use a plain old blue pen and always have a spare.

Why?

For me, why you take field notes is a personal question, related to your own research. My advice is: if you’re a PhD researcher, you can’t have too many field notes (I have 7 books of field notes from my PhD & 2 from my Honours; a good friend of mine had 12 field note books for her PhD). It’s this simple: field notes will provide a rich source of data to mine when you’re writing up/thinking about your research. They can also be used to triangulate (back up, verify) with interview/focus group/discourse analysis etc data.

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Resources:

I will post as a separate downloadable document an (edited) example of my system shortly. For now, here’s just two books of the hundreds (!) available that I’ve found useful about field notes:

Emerson, R., Fretz, R., & Shaw, L. (1995). Writing Ethnographic Field Notes. University of Chicago Press: Chicago.

The place to start, particularly if you’re extremely reflexive. Tells you how to do it, write them up, code them, turn them into data.

Sanjek, R. (ed.). (1990). Fieldnotes: The Makings of Anthropology. Cornell University Press.

I haven’t used this one personally, but it comes highly recommended.

Whyte, W.F. (1984). Learning from the field: A Guide from Experience. Sage: Newbury Park.

One of my favourite books on qualitative research methods.

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Ethnographies that give *some* insight into field note methods:

(again, this is a short list – I’ll add to it later.)

Dianne Bell. (1993). Daughters of the Dreaming.

Paul Willis. (1977). Learning to Labour.

W.F.Whyte. (1993). Street Corner Society.

Basil Sansom. (1979). The Camp at Wallaby Cross

so well, what does ethnography add up to my practice?
research as practice.
why am I chosing this methodology, whereas it is so hard for me to make myself talk about myself, or better said take the start form myself, un-anchor the thing from my position. demir almak kendimden.

Kimse dinlemiyorsa beni ya da istediğim gibi dinlemiyorsa günlük tutmaktan başka çare kalmıyor. Canım insanlar Sonunda bana bunu da yaptınız.

oğuz atay

böyle kapansın perde, ya da burdan mı açalım?