Field Notes
Immediately after the interview has been conducted, field notes should be written to provide context for the interview. Field notes should be typed and included at the beginning of the transcript and elsewhere if necessary.
Descriptive Field Notes
Interviewers should try to write descriptive field notes of all their observations during an interview. These notes could include observations of:
- the setting of the interview itself
- the circumstances of the interview, including all details of how the interview came about
- previous contact with the respondent which clarifies aspects of the interview
- the interviewer's own feelings towards the respondent, including reactions to what the respondent says
Analytical Notes
In addition, analytical notes (memos) may be included in the interview. These are the interviewer's initial interpretive comments. They may be rough impressions about what is going on. Field notes and analytical notes are distinguished from the main text of the interview by placing them in square brackets.