On the use of notes and note-taking in social science

A study of private writing

Datos Bibliográficos

ID2405085
AutoresRichard Swedberg (0000-0003-0635-0581, Cornell University, autor de correspondencia)
Año2025
Volumen25
Número3
Páginas267-294
Fecha de publicación2025-08-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaJournal of Classical Sociology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1468-795X • E-ISSN: 1741-2897
EditorialSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/1468795x231219755
OpenAlexW4390052662
IdiomaEN
Referencias citadas54

This paper has two main goals: to make an exploratory study of the use of notes and note-taking in social science, with a special emphasis on sociology, and to suggest a few ways in which this practice can be improved. By note-taking is here meant the writing of notes to observe, to remember, and to work and think with. It is suggested that most forms of note-taking represent a kind of private writing , in the sense that the notes are written exclusively for the writer and not for other people to read as in public writing . The quality of being private changes the structure as well as the content of the note which is often hard to understand for others. The approach in the paper is historical as well as material. Early forms of note-taking by social scientists are discussed, and also its use today in such areas as fieldwork, participant observation and qualitative sociology. The paper concludes with a discussion of a few ways in which the note-taking practices in social science can be improved

Epistemology · Social science · Sociology · Data Analysis and Archiving · Management and Organizational Studies · Qualitative Research Methods and Ethics