Il taccuino dell’antropologia. La stesura delle note di campo durante un’etnografia dell’ospedale

Abstract

Within anthropology, data collection is not a standardized process. Therefore, documentation praxis on the field is deeply subjective. The very conceptual definition of “fieldnotes” is highly variable among researchers and their construction, content, the extent of the subsequent re-writing process, objectives do not meet univocal or universal criteria. However, taking notes is essential for the gaining of ethnographic knowledge. In this article, I focus on some potentially problematic methodological aspects of the writing of fieldnotes. Social actors might find the note-taking disturbing and suspicious and they might react to it with hostility or apprehension. Under certain circumstances or in certain settings it may be inappropriate to take notes. It is necessary to continuously adapt the need to jot with both the contingent situations and the behavior of the bystanders. Here, as an example I describe the background and its adaptations to the context of the methodology for writing fieldnotes that I applied during research I conducted in a hospital ward. I also illustrate my re-writing of fieldnotes procedures during and after the fieldwork.