Field Report Paper Guidelines
Description:
The field report is a write-up of your visits to your field site. If culture is the whole way of life of a group and the patterns that constitute that life, your work in the field report is to observe that life and convey, to some extent, a sense of the whole.
In your interview, you focused on one-on-one encounter(s) with one or more individuals. In the field report, you will include encounters with individuals, but you will also describe the physical space and its relationships to surrounding spaces; interactions between individuals; and the patterns of behavior, belief, opinion, language, etc., that you find there. Record the dates and times of your observations.
Essentially, you need to visit your field site with open mind, open eyes, and open ears; see what you find.
You will use the tools of narration, description, and analysis to write up what you find at your field site. The focus of the essay will be on presentation of findings, but you also need to address questions of method (what your method is and how you justify or provide reasons for it) in the introduction.
The field report does not need to draw on outside sources or include a fully-developed discussion section. Rather, use the conclusion to summarize your observations and your reaction to them.
Due Dates:
– Rough Draft: 11/5/19
– Final Draft: 11/7/19
Format:
– Typed, paper copy
– Double-spaced
– 12 pt, Times New Roman font
– One-inch margins
Organization:
Although the field report needs a distinct introduction (in which you discuss method and purpose), body (for observations), and conclusion (for summary of observations), your organization of the content is otherwise up to you. You may use either a narrative (story) or thematic (topic-by-topic) structure; you may also use a combination of these. Let the contentyour experiencesdetermine what kind of organization you choose.
Style: Although it is appropriate to use I or first-person point of view, its important to emphasize the field site/culture and keep yourself in the background. If you use jargon or specialized vocabulary, be sure to define it; if you draw on outside sources, cite them using APA style.
Length: A minimum of 3-4 full pages, or 750-1000 words.
