The “Half-Baked” Concept of “Raw” Data in Ethnographic Observation

Oct 15, 2026

Article examines how ethnographic fieldnotes do more than record events: they also construct worldviews through prior perceptions and interpretations. It argues that cultural respect does not require removing vivid, descriptive, and connotative language, but demands researchers become self-conscious about word and text choices. The discussion reviews fieldnote-writing debates, including Sanjek’s compilation and earlier arguments about how language and narrative structure shape researchers’ assumptions and the meanings later readers infer.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages20

Reading Time50 min

AccessFree to download

The “Half-Baked” Concept of “Raw” Data in Ethnographic Observation

Fieldnotes as Worldview Construction

Cultural Respect and Linguistic Self-Consciousness

Review of Fieldnote Text-Creation Advice

Language, Representation, and Meaning

The“Half-Baked” Concept of“Raw” Data in Ethnographic Observation Sandra Kouritzin In this article I argue that, when researchers record fieldnotes, they also create worldviews based on a priori perceptions and interpretations. To be culturally respectful, researchers in the field need to be concerned with both the cultural artifacts they create and with their inability to “accurately” record everything they see. It may not be necessary, or even desirable, for researchers to purge fieldnotes of their colourful, descriptive, and connotative language. Rather, they need to become self-conscious about word and text choices when writing fieldnotes. Keywords: qualitative research, fieldnotes, discourse analysis, educational ethnography Dans cet article,jefais valoir que, lorsque des chercheurs prennentdes notes sur le terrain, ils créent aussi des visions du monde basées sur des perceptions et des interprétations a priori. Pour respecter la culture, les chercheurs sur le terrain doivent tenir compte des artefacts culturels qu’ils créentet de leur inaptitude à noter « avec précision » tout ce qu’ils voient. Il n’est peut-être pas nécessaire, ni même indiqué, que les chercheurs expurgent les notes prises sur le terrain de tout langage coloré, descriptif et connotatif. Ils doivent plutôtprendre conscience deleur choix de motset de textes lorsqu’ils rédigent de telles notes. Mots clés : recherche qualtitative, notes sur le terrain, analysedu discours, ethnographie del’éducation The idea that word choice and narrative structure are important considerations in the writing of ethnographic fieldnotes is not new (e.g., Davies, 1999; Lather, 1991, 1995; Wolcott, 2001) . Especially since the publication of Sanjek’s (1990b) book on fieldnotes, field researchers and theorists have argued that such choices reflect a priori assumptions. Yet few, if any, authors have followed this argument to its logical conclusion by examining fieldnotes. In this article, I have contributed to the ongoing conversation about how researchers might be respectful for those about whom they write. It is not my intention to simplify respect by reducing respectful representation to literary and linguistic choices, but rather to complicate one aspect of respectful representation by suggesting that researchers become selfconscious about word and text choices when writing fieldnotes. CANADIAN JOURNAL OF EDUCATION 27, 1 (2002): 119–138 A REVIEW OF FIELDNOTE TEXT-CREATION ADVICE Sanjek (1990b) reported an address by James Clifford during the 1984 American Anthropological Association meeting. Sanjek noted Clifford’s comment: “in all the recent discussion about writing ethnography and about ethnographies as writing, no one [has] addressed what anthropologists write before they write ethnographies—fieldnotes” (p. xi) . This comment eventually led to a panel on that topic atthe 1985 annual meeting, and the subsequent publication of Sanjek’s (1990b) aptly titled book Fieldnotes: The Makings of Anthropology. Perhaps reflective of the absence of earlier fieldnote discussions, many contributors to Sanjek’s volume seemed more concerned with how researchers use fieldnotes, in what anthropological state(s) they create them, and what items qualify as fieldnotes, than with the textual properties of fieldnotes (e.g., Clifford, 1990; Jackson, 1990; Johnson & Johnson, 1990; Obbo, 1990; Sanjek, 1990c, 1990a; see also Geertz, 1973; Rose, 1990; Van Maanen, 1988; Wolf 1992) . Most distinctions in fieldnote definition are essentially researcher-bound: fieldnotes are field memories, written down1 or otherwise recorded, produced or commissioned by the ethnographer, arranged chronologically rather than thematically, representing the cultural maturation of the anthropologist in a given setting (Ottenberg, 1990; Plath, 1990), and therefore heavily imbued with personal meaning. Although recent scholars have written several volumes (e.g., Amit, 2000; Emerson, Fretz, & Shaw, 1995),

FAQs

What does the article argue fieldnotes accomplish beyond recording observations?

Fieldnotes also create worldviews based on prior perceptions and interpretations, meaning they are interpretive representations rather than neutral records.

Does the article recommend purging fieldnotes of colorful descriptive language?

No. It argues it may not be necessary or desirable to purge fieldnotes of vivid, descriptive, and connotative language; researchers should instead be self-conscious about word and text choices.

How does the article connect word choice and narrative structure to ethnographic assumptions?

It notes that authors have argued such choices reflect priori assumptions, yet few have examined fieldnotes directly to see how this plays out in practice.

Oct 15, 2026

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