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In what follows, I outline the possibility of directly applying Georges Perec's An Attempt at Exhausting a Place in Paris (2010) to the practice of ethnography. Based on 2 weeks of anthropological fieldwork on the remote Shetland Island of Foula, I attempt a translation of Perec's careful observations of an urban square in Paris in the 1970s into the context of an ethnography in this remote, rural location. After outlining the connections between Perec's book and my work as an anthropologist, I provide readers with my “raw” field notes so that they might then draw out their own analysis in the same way that I believe Perec intended his work to be understood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phenotypic macroevolutionary studies provide insight into how ecological processes shape biodiversity. However, the complexity of phenotype-ecology relationships underscores the importance of also validating phenotype-based ecological inference with direct evidence of resource use. Unfortunately, macroevolutionary-scale ecological studies are often hindered by the challenges of acquiring taxonomically and spatially representative ecological data for large and widely distributed clades. The South American cichlid fish tribe Geophagini represents a continentally distributed radiation whose early locomotor morphological divergence suggests habitat as one ecological correlate of diversification, but an association between locomotor traits and habitat preference has not been corroborated. Field notes accumulated over decades of collecting across South America provide firsthand environmental records that can be mined for habitat data in support of macroevolutionary ecological research. In this study, we applied a newly developed method to transform descriptive field note information into quantitative habitat data and used it to assess habitat preference and its relationship to locomotor morphology in Geophagini. Field note–derived data shed light on geophagine habitat use patterns and reinforced habitat as an ecological correlate of locomotor morphological diversity. Our work emphasizes the rich data potential of museum collections, including often-overlooked material such as field notes, for evolutionary and ecological research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An architect and a cultural geographer meet to visit a vast industrial complex in southern Spain that was gradually abandoned between 1962 and 2012. Despite being formally designated as protected heritage, the practical absence of material intervention, historical interpretation or control of access turns the act of walking through these ruins into a highly immersive, sensorial and reflective experience. Drawing from fieldnotes and photo-documentation, this contribution broadens the generative potential of preserving-by-not-preserving, a novel heritage approach recently tackled in cultural geography literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Museum specimens have long served as foundational data sources for ecological, evolutionary, and environmental research. Continued reimagining of museum collections is now also generating new types of data associated with but beyond physical specimens, a concept known as "extended specimens." Field notes penned by generations of naturalists contain firsthand ecological observations associated with museum collections and comprise a form of extended specimens with the potential to provide novel ecological data spanning broad geographic and temporal scales. Despite their data-yielding potential, however, field notes remain underutilized in research because of their heterogeneous, unstandardized, and qualitative nature. We introduce an approach for transforming descriptive ecological notes into quantitative data suitable for statistical analysis. Tests with simulated and real-world published data show that field notes and our transformation approach retain reliable quantitative ecological information under a range of sample sizes and evolutionary scenarios. Unlocking the wealth of data contained within field records could facilitate investigations into the ecology of clades whose diversity, distribution, or other demographic features present challenges to traditional ecological studies, improve our understanding of long-term environmental and evolutionary change, and enhance predictions of future change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article describes the methodological features of conducting sociological and anthropological qualitative field research in rural areas, in particular, it covers ways of fixing data for its conservation and further analytical work. The limitations imposed on the researcher by the field also affect the nature of the data collected during interviews and observations, which forces them to adhere to certain methods of systematization in order to prepare for further analysis. The article presents the methods of organizing field notes, highlights the stages of field records — fixation, primary systematization, organization of a field diary — when collecting qualitative data on sensitive topics for the preservation of the material and its future processing.

This article examines the role of gender difference in a qualitative interview from the theoretical lenses of the sociocultural perspective of teachers' identity in a localized context of Ph.D. field research. The study blends the researcher's critical reflections during interviewing female teachers in exploring their teacher identity and existing literature on gender differences in a qualitative interview. In addition, a research diary is used as the data source to unpack the complexity of gender dynamics in a qualitative interview. To add to the discussion of gender difference in a qualitative interview, we argued that gender difference between the interviewer and the interviewee mediates and shapes the data collection in a qualitative interview. Thus, to understand the role of gender difference in a qualitative interview, it is necessary to do a comprehensive analysis of the complex dynamics of gender matching, the cultural background of the interviewee, and possible power relations between the researcher and participants. This study contributes to the dynamics in interviewing women by a man outside the Western cultural setting, particularly during a field research experience by a Ph.D. scholar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Sociologia & Antropologia is the property of Sociologia & Antropologia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The process of rapid development of the ethnological research, taking place currently, necessitated the search for new sources. Among them, of a great value are the records from expeditions of researchers of the past, which bear witness to the ethnographic realities of the respective time. From this point of view, the field notes (notebooks and journals) of Rail Gumerovich Kuzeev (1929–2005) — an outstanding Russian ethnologist, founder of the ethnographic sciences in Bashkortostan, who greatly contributed to the development of the problems of ethnogenesis and ethnic history of the Bashkirs and other Turkic peoples,— have priceless scientific value. The field records from the expeditions of the scientist in 1953–1982 to all major ethnographic and local groups of the Bashkirs are now reposited in the Scientific Archive of the Ufa Federal Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The notes are made in special notebooks issued by the Academy of Sciences of the USSR for documenting materials of expeditions. In addition to the text (narration of observations, description of ethnographic objects and phenomena, transcripts of conversations with informants, etc.), they also contain many graphic representations (drawings, plans, diagrams). The notes and drawings are made in ink and pencil; in the latest documents, with a ballpoint pen. The aim of the work is to identify their archaeographic features and source-study value (ethnographic and historical evidence, methodology of the scholar's fieldwork). The textual analysis of R.G. Kuzeyev's field notes showed that they captured unique information on the history and ethnography of the Bashkir people, concerning ethnogenesis, migration, tribal structure, ancestral symbols, genealogies, social organization, land ownership, arts and crafts, clothing and ornaments, dwelling, economic activities and trades, traditional festivals and ceremonies, and toponyms. From the source-study perspective, they are of obvious interest to the ethnologists, ethnographers, and socio-cultural anthropologists, as well as to the folklorists (they contain texts of many historical and toponymic legends and tales), archaeologists, especially those dealing with the ‘archaeology of the modern period’ (there is information about old Bashkir settlements, summer camps, abandoned cemeteries), local historians and genealogists (information about history of the settlements, generation lists), etc.

The information from the materials of the General Land Survey of the Russian Empire in the first third of the 19th century about the German colonies based on the territory of the Melitopol district of the Tauride province is analyzed in the article. The relevance of the study is due to the great interest in the resettlement policy pursued by the Russian Empire in this region at the end of the 18th — the first third of the 19th centuries, as well as in the processes of settlement and development of new territories and the participation of foreign colonists in them. The novelty of the study lies in the involvement of previously unused “Economic notes on the plans of the General survey, field notes of land surveyors and controversial cases” as sources on the history of German colonists. Based on them, the author studies the features of the economic structure of the settlements of German colonists, the structure of their land. Particular attention is paid to the dispute between the Mennonites and the Dukhobors about the boundaries of possessions, during which the true location of the Molochnaya River bed was clarified. The consideration of the case shows that disputes over the boundaries of land plots were of a fundamental nature and reached the highest authorities. Until the 1830s, there were still unresolved issues related to land management and surveying of the German-speaking colonies.

The dialogue between knowledge, pedagogies and didactic resources gives meaning to learning. This learning when integrated in a transdisciplinary environment enhances the holistic development of the child. This study is part of the Master’s Degree in Education of the 1st Cycle of Basic Education and Portuguese and History and Geography of Portugal in the 2nd Cycle of Basic Education, integrated in the IFITIC Project "Innovate with ICT in Initial Teacher Training to Promote Methodological Renewal in Pre-school Education and in the 1st Cycle of Basic Education". The purpose of this research is to verify the potential of the digital educational platform Educaplay in the 1st and 2nd Basic Education Cycles. In this sense, the qualitative methodology was used, of an interpretative and comprehensive nature, since the aim is to analyze the social, valuing the meaning of action and the role of the subjects in the social construction of reality. The data were collected by the participating observation practice and field notes, since they allow access to facts, situations and behaviors, difficult to be captured through the survey or interview. In the first stage the educational practice was understood through the integration of digital resources and in the second stage the facts and their impacts were analyzed and interpreted. The sample involved 73 children, 21 children attending 3rd grade and 52 children from two classes attending 6th grade at a school in the Porto region. The results show that this platform has promoted: a) the appropriation of contents in a transversal and interdisciplinary way and b) the development of skills, values and attitudes inherent to the profile of the XXI century student. Thus, the article presents the educational practices that have integrated tools of Educaplay by the voice of the narrator. It is hoped that this research can provide pointers for teachers and educators seeking to renew their educational practices of vertical and horizontal articulation.

While Nathaniel Hawthorne may not conventionally be seen as a nature writer, this essay argues that he is a specifically regional nature writer, responding to and describing the contents and qualities of New England landscapes not as abstractions of an idealized natural world but as concrete places that have been shaped by particularly regional patterns of human use taking place within a discrete set of environmental circumstances. That is, I argue that there is such a thing as a regionally distinct "New England nature" and that Hawthorne writes as a sort of field investigator of that natural world, an approach quite different from that taken by his Transcendentalist contemporaries like Emerson and Thoreau. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Conducting qualitative research within public health trials requires balancing timely data collection with the need to maintain data quality. Verbatim transcription of interviews is the conventional way of recording qualitative data, but is time consuming and can severely delay the availability of research findings. Expanding field notes into fair notes is a quicker alternative method, but is not usually recommended as interviewers select and interpret what they record. We used the fair note methodology in Ghana, and found that where research questions are relatively simple, and interviewers undergo sufficient training and supervision, fair notes can decrease data collection and analysis time, while still providing detailed and relevant information to the study team. Interviewers liked the method and felt it made them more reflective and analytical and improved their interview technique. The exception was focus group discussions, where the fair note approach failed to capture the interaction and richness of discussions, capturing group consensus rather than the discussions leading to this consensus.

Gaining a systematic understanding of possible ways to increase the quality and lifespan of older adults experiencing self-neglect has unique challenges. These challenges include identifying self-neglect in the community and navigating levels of cognitive, physical, and/or psychological difficulties in this population that impact recruitment, consent, and accurate data collection. Conducting quality research under some of the environmental self-neglect conditions such as squalor, animal and insect infestations and no utilities can also challenge planned study protocols and study validity. This manuscript presents details of these overarching challenges and some of the workable solutions noted and implemented by research field-team members who have enrolled over 300 adults experiencing self-neglect for various studies. Usual research methodology must overcome these barriers to work to create consciousness about the self-neglect population. The classic series of cases is still a good alternative when describing self-neglect. Considerations for conducting future self-neglect research are presented.

In this study, theoretical and practical problems that can be encountered at every stage of the research while conducting an ethnographic research are discussed and some evaluations are given on how these problems can be overcome. For this purpose, firstly, by focusing on methodological problems in an ethnographic research, by pointing out the main problem areas in the selection of data collection tools, validity and reliability, evaluations were made on how to overcome methodological dilemmas. In the second part of the study, the specific dynamics of ethical principles shaped in the field were examined by focusing on the ethical problems that may be encountered in an ethnographic research and the practices to overcome them. The third part of the study is devoted to the problems of entering the field, which is the most crucial stage of ethnography. By pointing out some of the obstacles that may be encountered in entering the field, the practices that will enable the researcher to be challenging, durable, careful and meticulous in order to enter and be accepted into the practical world of the community, to integrate with the target community, to gain the trust of the group as an outsider and to spend daily life together are emphasized. In the next section, as an important dimension of the practical problems in the field, the communication skills that the researcher should have in an ethnographic research, the necessity of paying attention to the ability of researchers to establish a communicative, trusting and sincere relationship is discussed. In this context, it is emphasized that the researcher can discover indigenous meanings with a detailed study on the cultural context and dynamics of the community she/he is in. Finally, in the textualization process, which may be considered the most important phase of an ethnographic research; The main problem areas and possible practical solutions in keeping field notes, constructing narratives and finally reporting the research are analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this ethnographic study is to analyse the collaborative work among intelligence and operative personnel from different border authorities in Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia. The aim of this article is to illustrate and discuss how transnational/inter-organisational police identities and trust come into being through officers sharing a construction of specific significant 'other' – in this case that of 'Russian spies/crooks'. Cross border collaboration among police organisations is made difficult as police officers tend to be suspicious of outsiders and colleagues that they have not yet worked with. In this study, we explore how trust among a specific group of officers was however built by contrasting themselves against not (just) criminals but an enemy that could be found among them or have an influence over their colleagues, namely Russia or Russian spies. We refer to this category as 'norm-dissolving Russian'. This category included concepts such as being a spy, a criminal and a potential military threat, and became a sort of 'Other' that reinforced their own in-group bonds. Intelligence and operative personnel present in the analysed collaborative sequences create their professional identities by contrasting themselves with these categories. Drawing on ritual theory as well as symbolic interactionism this article discusses how an in-group feeling and idea of a higher moral order was created and re-created during their collaborative work. Morality is thus created and re-created in the encounter with people that are associated with being the 'enemy', present in the situation both in physical and invisible form. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction. This paper introduces the authentic text of ”Gesr bogdyn tusk tuuji” (The Saga of Geser-bogdo) for the academic community. It was written down in Malye Derbety, Maloderbety raion, Kalmyk ASSR in 1982 by the present author; its performer was Sharlda Dordzhievich Dordzhiev (1893–1984), Baga khurul shabiner, uimguilmyd. The original text is supplemented by Russian translation made by the author of the publication and a short biography of the performer. Also, the article includes a brief description of the sample, focusing on the specifics of recording and of keeping the field notes. The article aims at introducing new material, such as the authentic text ”The Saga of Geser-bogdo”, its Russian translation, and the performer’s biographical data. Data and methods. The research is based on the manuscript from the author’s private archive; the Kalmyk text of eleven pages is written down on paper (A4, yellow paper). There are also additional materials, such as the interviews with Dordzhiev’s relatives and villagers. Results. ”The Saga of Geser-bogdo” is devoted to an interesting story of Geser-bogdo’s mission, i. e. the protagonist’s efforts to free the Earth (Middle World) from cold, as well as demons personified as Andzhlula and his wife. The narrative is based on two microstories: i) an unsuccessful attempt to getrid of cold on the Earth with the help of Khurmusta Tengri and ii) the victory over Andzhlula and his wife with the help of Sandzhi, the protagonist’s brother from heavens. The analysis shows that, in terms of its structure and content, ”The Saga of Geser-bogdo” includes a number of important segments, which are parallel to other Geser’s epic narratives. The manuscript is of relevance for studies of the Kalmyk oral tradition of Geser sagas. Conclusions. ”The Saga of Geser-bogdo”, performed by Dordzhiev in 1982, indicates that oral retellings of Geser sagas were widely circulated in Kalmykia. Also, the data pertaining to the storyteller’s life and art shows the popularity of the epic narratives in the Kalmyk milieu at the time the recording was made (late 20th c.). The epic sample maybe of interest to folklorists and epic scholars for their comparative and textological studies, as well as for the studies of storytelling tradition and of the linguistic aspect of popular oral art.

Abstract Background Field notes (FNs) are used in Family Medicine residency programs to foster reflective learning and facilitate formative assessment. Residents assess their strengths and weaknesses and develop action plans for further improvement. This study explored the use of FNs in the University of Manitoba’s Family Medicine residency program 5 years after their implementation. Methods This multi-method study examined 520 FNs from 16 recent graduates from the University of Manitoba Family Medicine residency program. Quantitative analysis (frequencies and means) enabled descriptions and comparisons between training sites. Four themes emerged from inductive content analysis highlighting common ideas reflected upon. Results Residents displayed cyclical variation in the FN generation over 2 years. Eight of the 99 Priority Topics (addressing complex psychosocial issues) were not captured in this data set. The domains of Care of First Nations, Inuit, and Metis; Care of the Vulnerable and Underserved; and Behavioural Medicine and the CanMEDS-FM roles of FM – Procedural Skill, Leader/Manager, and Professional were less frequently reflected upon. Four themes (Patient-Centered Care, Patient Safety, Achieving Balance, and Confidence) were identified from qualitative analysis of residents’ narrative notes. Conclusions Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory of Cognitive Development was proposed as a lens through which to examine factors influencing resident learning. Residents’ discomfort with certain topics may lead to avoidance in reflecting upon certain competencies in FNs, impacting skill acquisition. Further research should explore factors influencing residents’ perceptions FNs and how to best assist residents in becoming competent, confident practitioners.

Conducting qualitative research within public health trials requires balancing timely data collection with the need to maintain data quality. Verbatim transcription of interviews is the conventional way of recording qualitative data, but is time consuming and can severely delay the availability of research findings. Expanding field notes into fair notes is a quicker alternative method, but is not usually recommended as interviewers select and interpret what they record. We used the fair note methodology in Ghana, and found that where research questions are relatively simple, and interviewers undergo sufficient training and supervision, fair notes can decrease data collection and analysis time, while still providing detailed and relevant information to the study team. Interviewers liked the method and felt it made them more reflective and analytical and improved their interview technique. The exception was focus group discussions, where the fair note approach failed to capture the interaction and richness of discussions, capturing group consensus rather than the discussions leading to this consensus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For my doctoral research into adults’ informal learning through material objects in four public places in Halifax, Nova Scotia, I used sketchbooks as fieldnote journals. In contrast to objective observations, I recorded during my site visits a panoply of overheard conversations, drawings, remarks, puns, encounters, temperatures, and colours. These and other elements comprised my experiences in each site, and I wanted to represent their gist and connotations through multiple forms of expression. This approach aligns with arts-informed research methodology that celebrates complexity and shared meaning-making with engaged scholarship. I used these notes to produce for each site a written vignette, to introduce and reacquaint others with that place; two of these vignettes appear in the following report. In translating what I came to call my “feel’d,” not “field,” notes into these written pieces, I gleaned new understandings about scribbling and scrawling expressive, affective feel’d notes. I found that engagement enriched my research process, and also fostered a greater awareness of place meanings. I recognize that transformed notetaking has a bearing on understanding, research process, people/communities, and places, and offers methodological insights that carry out and further engaged scholarship knowledge.

In this Research Note, two researchers present their reflections on the ethical challenges they encountered while collecting life stories of sub-Saharan migrants in Morocco and the Disputed Territory of Western Sahara. The reflections are based on field notes and excerpts from unedited transcripts of daily debriefing sessions that the researchers undertook together. The sessions were audio-recorded and transcribed into written notes. The materials reveal their thoughts and feelings as they grappled with the ethics of keeping their research participants (“Narrators”) safe, working with community organizations on the ground, attempting to conduct interviews as humanely as possible, while also managing and concealing their own emotions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recruiting subjects for research studies can be challenging. Respondent time and burden may pose challenges when trying to recruit busy professionals as participants. Holding a focus group during a research-oriented conference session is a novel way to address recruitment barriers for such subjects. In this field note, we address recruiting participants by word of mouth and snowball sampling for a focus group study held during a research session about Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) coaching at a professional conference. We found that this novel approach yielded experienced participants, with a depth of perspective, who were already primed to think about important issues in the field and had a desire to contribute. Participants commented about the ease and convenience of engaging in a research study during a conference session while they had already set time aside from other professional obligations. This type of recruitment yields a convenience sample with both the benefits and drawbacks of a high degree of self-selection among participants. We found that participants engaged enthusiastically in our focus group study related to the emerging field of ADHD coaching. Study recruitment at a conference may be particularly suited to research on "hot topics" or an emerging field that would easily attract and engage participant interest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Nauki o Wychowaniu. Studia Interdyscyplinarne is the property of Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Lodzkiego and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background: Field notes (FNs) are used in Family Medicine residency programs to foster reflective learning and facilitate formative assessment. Residents assess their strengths and weaknesses and develop action plans for further improvement. This study explored the use of FNs in the University of Manitoba's Family Medicine residency program 5 years after their implementation. Methods: This multi-method study examined 520 FNs from 16 recent graduates from the University of Manitoba Family Medicine residency program. Quantitative analysis (frequencies and means) enabled descriptions and comparisons between training sites. Four themes emerged from inductive content analysis highlighting common ideas reflected upon. Results: Residents displayed cyclical variation in the FN generation over 2 years. Eight of the 99 Priority Topics (addressing complex psychosocial issues) were not captured in this data set. The domains of Care of First Nations, Inuit, and Metis; Care of the Vulnerable and Underserved; and Behavioural Medicine and the CanMEDS-FM roles of FM – Procedural Skill, Leader/Manager, and Professional were less frequently reflected upon. Four themes (Patient-Centered Care, Patient Safety, Achieving Balance, and Confidence) were identified from qualitative analysis of residents' narrative notes. Conclusions: Vygotsky's Sociocultural Theory of Cognitive Development was proposed as a lens through which to examine factors influencing resident learning. Residents' discomfort with certain topics may lead to avoidance in reflecting upon certain competencies in FNs, impacting skill acquisition. Further research should explore factors influencing residents' perceptions FNs and how to best assist residents in becoming competent, confident practitioners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

His first trip to the Americas in 1892 brought Max Uhle (1856-1944) to Argentina and Bolivia. This mission of the then Royal Museum of Ethnology (Königliches Museum für Völkerkunde) in Berlin had the purpose of investigating the southern border of the Inca Empire. Uhle began his research in the southern part of northwestern Argentina, specifically in the department of Tinogasta in the province of Catamarca. From there Uhle explored the surroundings and collected archaeological artifacts now at the Ethnologisches Museum in Berlin. This material reflects his deep interest in pre-Columbian chronologies, which is also documented in reports to the director of the museum in Berlin, Adolf Bastian, and in his field notebooks, which are kept at the Ibero-American Institute in Berlin. This unpublished material contains extremely valuable data for the objectives of the Chaschuil-Abaucan Archaeological Project, which under the direction of the first author has been carrying out research in the department of Tinogasta since 1994. Uhle, in some cases, provides the first description of archaeological sites in the region. His personal writings also give an idea of other aspects of a journey in an atmosphere of competition with national archaeologists and divergent scientific positions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quality, exegetical writing can be constrained when students marginalize poetic ways of thinking and replace them with carefully edited accounts that reshape the role and nature of emotional response. In the pursuit of rational, theoretically groomed accounts of practice, they can sometimes end up misrepresenting the embodied nature of their inquiries. Considering burgeoning research into poetic inquiry (PI) in the social sciences, this article employs a case study of five doctoral graduates in art and design who have articulated the role of poetic thinking in their creative practice theses. In addition to offering illustrations of how practice-led researchers use PI, the examples demonstrate ways in which poetic approaches can be employed to enhance communicative clarity beyond the constraints of conventional academic writing. Specifically, the examples demonstrate how poetic writing is used to process and articulate indigenous knowledge, enhance embodied thinking and inquiry and deepen levels of reflection and understanding. Such uses can cause a researcher to view the world differently and by extension, expand the nature of what it means to conduct research. In discussing the nature of poetic writing, the article considers three distinct profiles: exegetical writing employed when the nature of the practice is poetic; poetic writing that draws on indigenous approaches to scholarship and poetic writing used as a method for reflection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The issue of reception of field research of Savvin - Bolo Vilyuy expedition (1938) with subsequent fixation of Russian and Even folklore as well as Yakut folk songs is covered. Internal connections between Vilyuy and the subsequent folklore expeditions organized in 1930-1970 by S. I. Bolo, T. A. Shub, V. D. Lebedev and M. N. Zhirkov are defined. It is shown that within the framework of the Vilyuy expedition of 1938, approaches and principles of fixation of samples of oral folklore were developed, and then these developments were used when collecting text and musical folklore by participants of subsequent expeditions, the principles and approaches being improved. The novelty of the study is due to the fact that the value of the results of the Vilyuy expedition of 1938 to the present time has not yet been considered in science in the stated perspective of continuity. The authors dwell on the issues of formation of the expedition participants as scientists, on the peculiarities of expeditions organization, the tasks set in the framework of expeditions, on the content and composition of the material recorded in the field. The estimation of the achievements of expeditions organized by T. A. Shub, V. D. Lebedev, M. N. Zhirkov is given.

As I set out to write about my research process with forensic anthropologists in a country with a long-lasting armed conflict, I was unable to ignore the imminent role that affect and emotions play in my practice and in my relationship with this topic. I fought the urge to disregard the struggle implied in writing about my own practice. Thus, I reflect on the effects and affects that this fieldwork and its related methods have on my approach to this topic, to the people I work and share with, and to myself. My argument is twofold. First, if one is to acknowledge that affect and emotions produce knowledge and that knowledge productions have world-making effects, as researchers we need to attend to the worlds we enact through our own research and knowledge production practices. Second, writing and registration practices constitute modes of research that, in themselves, produce knowledge. I develop my argument in three steps. I reflect on the difficulties of writing this particular text; I address my own knowledge productions – that include my own registration practices, and I attend to the worlds that I help to enact. I also pay attention to others’ registration practices.

Children and adolescents who live with chronic conditions are rarely participants in research specifically focused on meeting their needs, nor in intervention planning research. There are, however, special considerations required when conducting research with children and adolescents. This article offers Interview Guidelines designed to ensure children and adolescents' control of and comfort with interviewing and to maximize the caliber of ethically co-constructed data. We developed, tested, and revised these guidelines with 80 children and adolescents aged 5 to 17 years: 27 with complex Congenital Heart Disease (CCHD) (5–17 years) and 13 with Early Onset Scoliosis (5–12 years) and 28 siblings (7–17 years). The guidelines were further tested with 12 adolescents with Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis (10–16 years) and 10 children and adolescents with CCHD (8–12 years). The children and adolescents recounted stories about their everyday life and activities through digitally recorded face-to-face interviews that were transcribed. Detailed field notes were recorded before and after the interview. Our Interview Guidelines address ethics, informed assent and consent, pre-interview planning, establishing trust, and engaging children and adolescents in research. Special attention is given to involving parents in pre-interview planning and disclosing sensitive information post interview. Involving children and adolescents as research participants to gain information from them, not only about them, will assist those in planning appropriate intervention research to meet the needs of children and adolescents living with chronic conditions and their siblings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is based on field notes from the author's first independent ethnographic research, conducted in 1989-1991 in Sudan. Reflecting on the path that led him to anthropology during the last decade of the Polish People's Republic, just before the political transformation in Poland, he revisits his first ethnographic experience in the field, during student expeditions to Africa, focusing in particular on his long doctoral fieldwork in Sudan, spanning a year and a half. Examined years later, the text reveals facts, now salient but which then seemed obvious, or, for some reason, were not to be mentioned. The goal is to provide some insights into the history of Polish ethnography during the communist period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of audio recordings has become a taken-for-granted approach to generating transcripts of in-depth interviewing and group discussions. In this paper we begin by describing circumstances where the use of a recorder is not, or may not be, possible, before sharing our comparative analysis of audio-recorded transcriptions and interview scripts made from notes taken during the interview (by experienced, well-trained interviewers). Our comparison shows that the data quality between audio-recorded transcripts and interview scripts written directly after the interview were comparable in the detail captured. The structures of the transcript and script were usually different because in the interview scripts, topics and ideas were grouped, rather than being in the more scattered order of the conversation in the transcripts. We suggest that in some circumstances not recording is the best approach, not 'second best'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herbaria are the storehouses where dried plant specimens, collected from far and wide, are preserved according to some internationally recognized system along with abundant first hand field data about plants. The origin of herbaria dates back to 15th century. Today ca. 3,000 herbaria are registered in Index Herbariorum and contain over 350 million specimens. Herbaria cover a wide range of taxonomic lineages, from plants to fungi, algae and myxomycetes. The present article provides brief historical account of herbarium, sources of materials in the herbaria and major herbaria of world and India. Functions of the herbaria has been discusses in details because herbaria are known as veritable gold mines of taxonomic, floristic and biogeographic information. They are remarkable and irreplaceable sources of information about plants and the world they inhabit. Herbarium specimens are the basis for identification and foundation for nomenclature. They provide the comparative material that is essential for studies in taxonomy, systematics, ecology, anatomy, morphology, conservation biology, biodiversity, ethnobotany and paleobiology. In addition to the uses of the herbaria in basic plant science, they play crucial role in the knowledge and preservation of biodiversity and in the improvement of species for commercial use. In this article detailed methodology for herbarium preparations. Purpose of plant collection; types of field work; specimen collection procedure; recording of field notes; pressing, drying, preservation, mounting; preparation of herbarium labels, identification of plants and process of accessioning and filing has been discussed in details. Worldwide, herbaria are facing serious financial crunch and apathy of modern biologists, hence some problem of has also been discussed. Moreover, the recent progress in analytical techniques and information technology increased the diversity of users and uses of herbaria significantly. It is suggested that modernization and updations of herbaria in tune with changing needs should be done in order to enhance their usefulness as a baseline for scientific utility. Emphasis should be given for digitizing the specimens, developing their user friendly database and making them online on website. It is also suggested that goals and practices of herbarium should be further reviewed, particularly in the light of the recent developments in the plant science in general and taxonomy in particular. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seattle Art Museum (SAM) stimulates an anthropological and ethnochoreological research project for various reasons. In addition to its permanent exhibits of Native American and African Art (with archival dance video materials) it invites dance events in which the performers are representatives of different cultures and create educational programs that incorporate movement. Observations here include dance performances – from classical Indian dance at Diwali Family Festival to modern dance in dialogue with paintings. Dance events from the past decade and a recent program (Art-and-Movement) are also reviewed. Documentary notes were taken during fieldwork at SAM between October 2019 – January 2020 and include interviews with museum employees. This investigation suggests that addition of dance and movement at SAM came in response to evolving perceptions about the museum, the human body, and performance space. In this transition from static to dynamic (opening its doors to dance and movement) imaginative programing by curators is crucial for success. Research also includes examples from Bulgaria, collected via Internet, that also address such transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]