Describe what field notes are and what jottings are. Then explain why jottings may be used instead of field notes during an observation. How soon after should jottings be transformed into extensive notes? Do you see any potential challenges with using the jotting technique?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Answers will vary, especially in the challenge portion. Field notes are notes that describe what has been observed, heard, or otherwise experienced in a participant observation study; these notes usually are written after analysis of data from the observational session. Jottings are brief notes that are jotted down quickly during the observation period that will be expanded into more extensive field notes. They can also be considered memory joggers. Jottings should be transformed into extensive notes within 24 hours after the observation to ensure that the researcher can remember as much as possible and be as accurate as possible. One challenge would be ensuring that the field notes would be written on time. It is also possible that using jottings and writing notes later might skew what the participant was actually doing or the meaning behind it at the time. It is possible that at the end of the day when a researcher is writing up notes based on jottings, he may insert what he thinks was his observation, but the interpretation had been transformed after thinking about it during the day.