10 Fieldwork Tips That Will Make Your Life So Much Easier

A selection of tips to help you with your fieldwork, no matter what discipline you're in, and allow you to sail through your time in the field, easy peasy.

Via flickr.com

Note: Ryan Smith also deserves a great deal of credit for inspiring this list.

Going to the field can be quite the thing, regardless of whether you're a young or more experienced researcher. You're out of your element for a long time, it might be hot (or cold), and some funding agency or university probably gave you a big pile of money (absolutely no way this happened) to go do work for a year. So stress levels are high and, as a result, field researchers are always looking for ways to make their experience just a little bit easier. Here's a list of ten quick tips to help make your time in the field less of a supreme pain in the ass.

1. Don't go to any war zones

Via flickr.com

I know, I know. You're sitting there reading this right now and thinking "But, war zones are where all the action is! Where the real fieldwork is! Is it even fieldwork if I'm not in mortal danger? Answer: Hell no." And you're right, because as the academy has probably made it quite clear, it's not fieldwork unless you're hanging out with the Other in some far flung location nowhere near New York City, Palo Alto, or whatever city you're a student in.

However, consider doing fieldwork in a location that comes with less of a risk of you getting shot in your face. Perhaps Omaha, Edinburgh, or somewhere in Indiana could be a live option? That eliminates more guess work for you and greatly reduces the chance that you will end up getting killed while trying to finish your PhD.*

*Note: Omaha and Indiana are probably only safe options for straight white American male researchers. If you are a person of color, don't identity as strictly heterosexual, or have a gender identity other than "man" you are basically running a risk no matter where you are in the United States.

2. Choose a field site in a location where bidets are very common

Via flickr.com

There's a lot of planning that goes into fieldwork, and there's a ton of logistical stuff that needs to be navigated to make it all come together well. One way you can cut some of that down is to choose a field site where the bidet is a common fixture in every bathroom. You won't need to worry about finding or purchasing toilet paper, so that's a plus. Also, doing so alleviates the need for you to wipe your ass for the duration of your time in the field. There's no downside here.

3. Meet some bros, engage in activities with them, talk about stuff, and interrupt at the right moments to clarify meaning

Via brocode.com

Fieldwork is hard and knowing what's actually important to your research is even harder. That's probably the case because absolutely everything we do is important as hell. One way you can simplify what's crucial to your work is to start hanging out with a group of bros, wherever you are, because bros know what the hell is up. Just chill with those bros, talk about shit with them, and over time you're going to figure out what's fuckin important and you'll learn to interject at just the right moments to get those little nuggets of bro knowledge on lock.

4. Wash all your clothes in the shower

Paul, who washed their clothes in the shower. / Via images.travelpod.com

Going to the field is supposed to be like roughin it, right? You're damn right it is, because it wouldn't be the stereotypical white-academic notion of fieldwork if it wasn't like that. As a result, it's quite common to not have a good, convenient, energy-star rated way of doing laundry while you're in the field.

One tip that can save you a lot of hassle is to just take all your clothes right into the shower with you. Grab a bar of soap and scrub the piss out of them while you're scrubbin yourself. Before you know it, you'll be clean and your clothes will probably still smell like butt sweat but there will be a hint of $.25 bar soap scent in there too.

5. Take all your least favorite clothes with you

Model: Kris Di Benedetto, Photo: Bill Cotter

When you're in the field for a long time, it can be pretty hard to stay up with fashion trends. In addition, you're probably going to end up wearing the same thing every day (see note above on how to keep that one outfit clean by washing it in the shower). One way to deal with this is to take your least favorite articles of clothing with you to the field.

This seems counter-intuitive because it means you'll have to wear your least favorite clothes all the time. But doing this makes two things possible: 1. It makes you less of a whiny baby about what you wear, and 2. when your fieldwork comes to an end and you never want to see those clothes again you can either donate them, throw them off a cliff, or place them all in a pile and light them on fire in some kind of ritualistic event.

6. What the hell is a fieldnote, really?

Field Notes brand / Via dg6xfr3y1xvv2.cloudfront.net

One of the big things you learn about before going to the field is the importance of documenting what you're experiencing. This typically manifests in a collection of field notes that you probably hate writing but the academy has told you that it's important to your work. So you've been begrudgingly writing crap down for 18 months.

One way to get around the monotony of writing all of that often mundane shit down is to throw away those field notebooks and instead, get with the times! You can just tweet it all! The internet recently came up with this trippy thing:

Twitter

It allows you to post tiny little snippets of text and pictures of your lunch. So, just use that. It's like the cliff notes version of your field experience and you also get twitter famous at the same time.

7. Take sufficient media for your field experience

Third Eye Blind / Elektra / Via ecx.images-amazon.com

If your fieldwork involves going someplace without high speed internet and Netflix, well you are basically screwed. However, you can make due without losing your mind by bringing some of that media gold with you to the field. The key to successfully maintaining your connection to Western media while in the field is to take more than two movies and one record with you on your fancy ass Macbook Pro that you definitely bought just for this fieldwork trip.

Tremors and The Lost World are sick, and the self titled Third Eye Blind record is a classic. But, if that's all you have with you then you're going to be watching and listening to it every day for months on end. Because, we all know that you have zero interest in engaging with local forms of media or entertainment. So, make sure you stock up before you leave for the field.

8. Stay fit

Gone Wild Safari / Via gonewildsafari.com

Keeping healthy while in the field can be a real challenge, especially when you spend most of your day's shoving hummus, falafel, and sweets into your mouth as part of your field experience. So, putting on weight while in the field can be a common problem. One way you can avoid this though to is utilize your environment as a natural gym!

See that big ass hill over there? Leg day.

Looking to tone your arms? Carrying ten gallons of water back to your apartment will help with that.

Cardio? Run from those soldiers coming at you or that big wild animal.

Another weight loss tip for field researchers: immediately drink the water, wherever you are. There's a good chance you'll get sick which will make you crap your brains out and really helps to slim down.

9. Simplify your equipment needs

Brando / Via shop.brando.com

Academics doing fieldwork are constantly getting new technology that they "need" to take with them to the field to do their work. But really, do you need that $1,400 recording unit? Is that $600 wireless pack really necessary? The answer is probably no.

One way you can really cut down on the amount of equipment you need to carry is to streamline the entire tech side of your field experience. Just buy an iPhone 6 Plus! Have you seen those things? You can make your recordings, take videos, get your field notes taken care of (see #6 above), and also spend ample time on Facebook while you're abroad. That way, you can do your work without ever missing a single post from any of your white heteronormative friends at home who simply don't "understand" why you're in the field.

10. Just go with the flow

Huffington Post / Via i.huffpost.com

One thing young researchers often hear before heading to the field is that they're going to need to stay flexible while doing their fieldwork. Because, let's be real, shit often just goes horribly horribly awry in the field. So, one way to make your life easier is basically to just throw whatever research plan you had right out the window when you get to the field. You know why, because Y.O.L.O, that's why.

Just chill with those bros you met (see #3), get your hangs on, and it'll all come together.