Fieldworking: Reading and Writing Research

I was lucky enough to have access to this edition of the book through Brown's library and later purchased it when I discovered just how good it was. The title might be somewhat misleading because most people won't immediately think that it applies to their work. My particular use of it is as a nonfiction writer, and this book presents good ideas for how to gather information, take notes, and write about the subject. The writing assignments are helpful and more specific than others that I've seen. I like the way the book can be used by both students and teachers or individuals outside of academia. I could also see the assignments being altered slightly for other fields entirely, which is undoubtedly the reason the book is entitled Field Working rather than Field Writing or some other such name. For example, an art historian can benefit from the free writing exercises and force herself to write without self-editing in order to get out some ideas. One good point made was that so much time is spent not writing that it can become a habit. Also, note-taking is almost never taught (in high school or college unless by a tutor). There are several different methods of notetaking presented in this book, all with the awareness that the notetaker may need to review the notes months or even years later. I could have used such knowledge in my college years even for science lectures. I do think that even high schoolers could benefit from this book. If that were the case, I think it would be best if the writing samples and assignments were separated into a teacher's manual while the figures of such things as the actual fieldnotes could be left in. More aggressive marketing could probably place this book as a regular textbook in high school courses or introductory classes for Freshmen in college.

I have used this book for some time with a range of undergraduates at UC Berkeley. Several of my colleagues use it as well. It is a very helpful, practical introduction to real-world research, the most useful book we have found on the subject. It helps students and researchers understand the processes of interviewing, making field notes, and collecting and recording data. The style is very accessible. Students who have found it useful for other classes include those studying sociology, anthropology, fiction, advanced nonfiction, and ethnic studies.Read in combination with some complex books of ethnography, including Clifford Geertz, for example, it can provide the structure to help students understand the concept of fieldwork.I highly recommend taking a look at this one.