Learning How to Look

 Learning How To Look: "Deep Observation" and "Thick Description":


  • Beginner's Mind (assume you know nothing and look at everything with fresh eyes)
  • Take your time (hang out at your block at all different times of the day, weather, etc.)
  • Look for the unusual in the usual
  • Describe everything in as much detail as possible, you never know what will be important later.
  • look everywhere: up, down, sideways.

Click here for a great article on looking by a photographer and writer.


What to Jot about:
                                                                 Notes
  • observations
  • impressions
  • personal feelings
  • tentative explanations
  • behaviors
  • body language
  • sketches of places
  • words (vocabulary)
  • scents, sounds
Students need to make a distinction between what they OBSERVE and how they INTERPRET what they observe (keep them separate---the whats and the whys)

                                                                       Updated Notes

How to do it:
  • be flexible, what you planned on taking notes on may be less interesting than what is in front of you
  • be sensitive to people 
    • include informants in jottings/interact
    • frame what you are doing in a positive and non intrusive way 
    • be selective about when to take notes
  • Ethics
    • ensure confidentiality (pseudonym or coding) and omit sensitive information
    • be upfront about what you are doing
What to write
  • terse, evocative phrases
  • short quotes or phrases hat seem important (note time on recording)
  • maps and sketches
  • gestures, flavors, shouts, whispers, and all first impressions
  • distinguish between WHAT you saw and tasted and heard (objective) and HOW you interpreted these things (subjective).
  • do not impute MOTIVE (describe what you see and hear instead)
  • do not make guesses or judgments
  • describe observed behavior in as much detail as possible (don't use vague descriptions of mental states or attitudes).
                                                          More Notes

Writing Up Your Fieldnotes
  • write up your notes ASAP so you do not forget things
  • headnotes (fill in the jottings)
  • keep a separate journal of your emotional responses (optional)
Interviews

  • Session 1: get comfortable with each other and establish rapport
    • get comfortable
    • no right answers
    • answer questions and explain project
    • demonstrate a non-judgmental attitude and establish trust
  • Sessions which follow: subsequent sessions give informant a chance to reflect
    • do not read off a list of questions
    • avoid directed questions, let informant speak until they are finished
    • remember it is your interviewee's story (not the projects)
  • ethics:
    •  ensure anonymity that is important to informant
    • be prepared to leave out information which is damaging
  • Neutral Topic
    • start interviews with neutral (easy) topics
    • avoid ASSUMPTIONS and EXPECTATIONS
  • Cultural differences and miscommunication
    • Do not take the meaning of words, phrases or gestures for granted-even if you know them!
  • Process
    • develop rapport
      • apprehension (emphasize the importance of THEIR story)
      • explanation (restate what the informant says for confirmation)
      • cooperation (equal partners)
      • participation (interviewee as teacher)
    • Breaks in Interview
    • avoid leading questions

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