4.1 Making reflective fieldnotes
Writing up reflections is an important part of any researcher’s job. Fieldnotes serve three main functions. Firstly, they give anyone looking at the interview transcript an understanding of the context of the interview. Secondly, they help the researcher to remember the details of their interview and interviewee. Thirdly, once all interviews have been completed, it enables information about all interviews to be collated.
The kind of information that you might want to capture could include:
- your thoughts and reflections from the interview, things you think went well, and those that didn’t go so well
- details about the interview itself such as whether the interview was conducted via zoom, telephone, or face-to-face, and how long it lasted
- demographic details about your interviewee (providing they are willing to give this information) such as, gender, age, and ethnicity
It can be helpful to create a fieldnote proforma to complete after your interviews. Once you have completed each interview, you should record your reflective fieldnotes on the proforma document and store it securely. Treat this data in the same way you treat interview data.
Activity 6
Take a look at the Reflective Fieldnotes Proforma below. Come up with your own proforma for your research project.
Table 1: Reflective Fieldnotes Proforma
| Interviewer | Date & time | Length of interview | |
|---|---|---|---|
| How was information and consent carried out? (e.g. Zoom/face-to-face/telephone) | How was the interview conducted? (e.g. Zoom/face-to-face/telephone) | ||
| Gender of interviewee: | Ethnicity of interviewee: |
Age of interviewee: |
|
What are your reflections on the interview? (e.g. what were the main points discussed? Was there anything particularly memorable or interesting?) |
|||
| What worked well? | |||
| What didn’t work so well? | |||
| Are there any safeguarding issues or ethical concerns? | |||