how that situation works and how people understand what is going on. You are able to understand cultures, social situations, practices and relationships from the perspective of the people you are researching, yet at the same time you are able to maintain enough objectivity to record the details of any situation and use them to inform your research. This understanding has been called thick or rich description (see Geertz 1975). Geertz gives a simple example: in observing a social interaction, can you tell the difference between a blink and a wink . A blink is simply a physical movement (one eye quickly closing and opening). However, a wink might be a signal from one person to another, indicating complicity between them, a humorous comment on the situation, sharing of secret knowledge, a desire to make contact, a flirtation, and so on. To understand a wink, and to interpret it as the participants do, you need to understand the local culture, the social situation, and the people involved in it.
5.3 Field Notes Field notes are the backbone of ethnographic action research. From the very first day of research, you should always carry a notebook in which you take notes while things are happening, or very soon afterwards. Write it all down, everyday. Don t You should also get into the habit save notes for weekends-Any time from the start of sitting down each is field notes time. evening with your notebook and writing out your observations more fully (usually a minimum of three or four pages per day), either in your notebook or preferably on computer. When we refer to field notes in this handbook, we mean the fully fleshed-out notes that you make at the end of the day. Field notes have to be written every day. They are your most important record of all that you observe, talk about and think about your project and community. Over time, your field notes will build into a rich and invaluable archive of your research. The aim in writing field notes is to record everything, and in detail. As we said earlier, field notes are not reports or
54