Reading notes

"The ultimate goal is to produce a coherent, focused analysis of some aspect of the social life that has been observed and recorded, an analysis that is comprehensible to readers who are not directly acquainted with the social world at issue" (Emerson, Fretz, Shaw, 142).

• I have to admit that I was a little bit daunted by the technique of coding when I first heard about it. However, when I read on, it started to make more sense and I'm hoping that I will be able to follow the guidelines in a useful manner. Once again I'm pretty grateful for technology - what a difference that can make in one's college career...I admire all of those past ethnographers who cut up copies of their field-notes, sorted, and arranged them by hand!
  

• I liked the "Asking questions of fieldnotes" section - I found their sorts of questions to be useful bullet points. I also liked this quote: "These procedures keep the ethnographer aware of the complexities involved in pursuing members' meanings...they remind the ethnographer that there is no 'pure' way to capture what is important to members, their meanings or points of view" (Emerson, Fretz, Shaw, 147).

• While I will not have too many months of field-notes to look over, it will be interesting to see how my perspective changes/shifts/grows/etc. over this study..