ABSTRACT
Fieldwork is the basis of ethnographic research. If computers are to become an important tool for anthropological research, the use of the computer must begin during fieldwork. Otherwise, as Davis suggests, ‘striking savings in time and accuracy are achieved only after a high initial cost in preparation’ (Davis 1984b: 308). So long as data is recorded in one form, only to be transcribed to another, then preparing field data for computers competes with other tasks such as indexing notes, transcribing audio tapes and deciphering genealogies, and can potentially be the most time consuming of these tasks. But, ‘[the costs of preparation] diminish as you plan and as you use the machine for more jobs’ (ibid.: 309). The larger tasks might be the initial incentive for computer use, but the benefits emerge from the multitude of smaller jobs which would not themselves have justified the cost in time and money. One of the ways to diminish the barrier of preparation is to use computers throughout the research process.
