The practice of writing ethnographic fieldnotes

Abstract

Fieldnotes are central to ethnographic practice, yet there is surprisingly little written about how fieldnotes are constructed. This article reports the results of some interviews with four well-known ethnographers of education who were questioned about their practice. It is designed to be a resource for those new (and, maybe not so new) to ethnography.

Keywords:

• fieldnotes
• writing
• ethnography

Acknowledgements

I am very grateful indeed to the four ethnographers who willingly gave time not only to be interviewed, but also to read and correct a transcript of the interview. Thanks are also due to Nick Hopwood who skilfully transcribed the interviews.