Evan Perreault
Article Annotation 5
1. Emerson, Robert M. "Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes." University of Chicago Press (1995):
1-8. Web. 2 Oct. 2012.
<http://www.pacificdiscovery.org/credit/SEAreadings/Robert%20et.al.%20%20Writing%20Ethnographic%20Fieldnotes.pdf>.
2. Robert Emerson has a powerful background in his field and has demonstrated his versatility
and knowledge through various published works. He began his studies at Harvard College,
where he earned his Bachelor of Arts of History. Shortly thereafter, he went on to earn his
Masters’ and Ph.D. in Sociology from Brandeis University. During his doctorate studies and
during his post-doctorate, he worked at several universities and Sociological Programs. Emerson
is currently a Professor within the Department of Sociology at UCLA after receiving tenure from
Associate Professor in 1983. Some of his notable written works include his book Contemporary
Field Research and paper Fieldwork Encounters and Discoveries.
3. The primary topics of this piece include coding, memoing, and theoretical analysis of
fieldnotes. These three, in this order are a very important in the overall process of field work and
come together to turn a lived experience into a textual work that can advance the knowledge of
the science and humanity fields. Both coding and memoing deal with analyzing fieldnotes and
data collect at a very fine level, and work to draw out themes, patterns, causes, and outcomes.
These two techniques are not scientifically designated or outlined, and can be different for each
ethnographer and how they interpret the notes and the experience. The procedure of sifting and
sorting fieldnotes ultimately leads to the creation of theory based on the observed behavior and a
greater understanding of the project is gathered.
4. The manner in which Emerson goes about defending his position on these practices is in
somewhat of a reverse order from the way that they were outlined in the chapter. He argues that
finding/pulling out themes from the field experience and the subsequent notes is crucial, as they
provide the foundation for continued analysis. Once the theme(s) have been chosen, it is then
possible to group the coded fieldnotes into different categories to focus and develop that
particular theme within the umbrella of the overall project. Although the codings can be going
off in many different directions, it is encouraged to stay that way, because as further
categorization occurs, the codings on the grouped notes allow for the development of subtopics
and support for the bigger picture.
5. Open coding, integral memoing, and interrogative analysis of the fieldnotes themselves are the
ways that Emerson backs his argument. It is important to understand that both memoing and
coding are multistep processes and that they are intentionally carried out at different stages of the
analysis because of the implications they can have to the theme and direction that the field notes
take. And despite its questionable basis, asking questions of the fieldnotes is another way the he
describes a thorough study of the notes when looking for themes within them. All of these ways
support his idea of structured fieldnotes for the sake of using a loosely interpreted analysis
method to identify very detailed ideas and themes within a very large collection of data and notes
from the field.
6. “The process is thus one of reflexive or dialectical interplay between theory and data whereby
theory enters in at every point, shaping not only analysis but how social events come to be
perceived and written up as data in the first place.”
“In writing integrating memos, the ethnographer seeks to explore relationships between coded
fieldnotes and to provide a more sustained examination of a theme or issue by linking together a
variety of discrete observations.”
“Coding is indeed uncertain, since it is a matter not simply of “discovering” what is in the data
but more creatively of linking up specific events and observations to more general analytic
categories and issues.”
7. What kind of volume of field notes could someone expect from a field researcher who was in
the field for one year?
How is theory essentially “created” from the analysis of fieldnotes?
If coding is supposed to be seemingly directionless at first, how would one funnel coding
towards a particular theme while maintaining that “first-round” viewpoint on a set of fieldnotes?
8. Theory derived from fieldnotes
Volume and expanse of example fieldnotes
Methods of interpreting and analyzing fieldnotes as data, written reports, etc