fieldwork

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fieldwork

research method

Also known as: field work

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June 26, 2026

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Fieldwork is a research method involving direct observation and data gathering in a natural setting, rather than in a laboratory. It is essential in fields like anthropology and sociology, where researchers immerse themselves in a culture or community to gain firsthand understanding. This often involves participant-observation, where the researcher actively engages in the daily lives of the subjects while maintaining an objective stance.12

Fieldwork can also refer to practical experience gained by students through firsthand observation. In criminology, action research utilizes observations from field-workers to study and address issues like juvenile delinquency. The term can also describe temporary military fortifications.13

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anthropology
Fieldwork
The first generation of anthropologists had tended to rely on others—locally based missionaries, colonial administrators, and so on—to collect ethnographic information, often guided by questionnaires that were issued by metropolitan theorists. In the late 19th century, several ethnographic expeditions were organized, often by museums.…
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The first generation of anthropologists had tended to rely on others—locally based missionaries, colonial administrators, and so on—to collect ethnographic information, often guided by questionnaires that were issued by metropolitan theorists. In the late 19th century, several ethnographic expeditions were organized, often by museums.…
Read More

archaeology
Fieldwork
Some archaeologists call everything they do out-of-doors fieldwork, but others distinguish between fieldwork, in a narrower sense, and excavation. Fieldwork, in the narrow sense, consists of the discovery and recording of archaeological sites and their examination by methods other than the use…
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Some archaeologists call everything they do out-of-doors fieldwork, but others distinguish between fieldwork, in a narrower sense, and excavation. Fieldwork, in the narrow sense, consists of the discovery and recording of archaeological sites and their examination by methods other than the use…
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social psychology
Research methods
…leave the laboratory to perform field studies, as do those who come from sociological traditions. Field research, however, also can be experimental, and the effectiveness of each approach may be enhanced by the use of the methods of the other.
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…leave the laboratory to perform field studies, as do those who come from sociological traditions. Field research, however, also can be experimental, and the effectiveness of each approach may be enhanced by the use of the methods of the other.
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pedagogy
Visual and observational media
Similar difficulties are inherent in fieldwork—geographical, biological, archaeological, and geological. What is observed rarely gives the whole story and, in the case of archaeological and geological fieldwork, provides an incomplete picture of the past. Teachers must fill in the gaps or somehow lead their students to do so.
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Similar difficulties are inherent in fieldwork—geographical, biological, archaeological, and geological. What is observed rarely gives the whole story and, in the case of archaeological and geological fieldwork, provides an incomplete picture of the past. Teachers must fill in the gaps or somehow lead their students to do so.
Read More