ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the concept and practice of fieldwork, identify its key characteristics and describe different types of fieldwork that researchers may choose to adopt. It suggests that thorough planning of practical matters aids and supports the artistry of fieldwork and is an essential component of most qualitative studies. The chapter describes some of the practical issues associated with doing fieldwork, such as specific issues to bear in mind while visiting the research site. Broadly speaking, fieldwork emerged from the work of early ethnographers, who moved away from being ‘armchair’ anthropologists to becoming researchers who spent significant amounts of time in cultural settings in order to understand them. Fieldwork at a fundamental level is the process of collecting raw data from natural settings. Fieldwork often is taken up by qualitative researchers because of its wide capacity for letting them capture information about the ways in which individuals inhabit and experience their social worlds.
