52 a EARLY STEPS IN ANALYSIS

• Valore should the tield•worker place most energy during the next contact, and what kinds of information ingerid be sought?

Making the form. The questions should be arranged on a single sheet of papar (using more than both sides of one sheet defeats the purpose), with space for the field-worker's answers. Identifying information on the case, the pmakular contact, the field-worker, and the date should be indicated as well.

Entering the data. A contact summary sheet is usually best filiad out as soon as written-up field notes have been re-viewed and corrected. At that point you have a perspective that combines immediacy with a reflective overview of what went on in the contact. You can include your own reflective remarks (sea Box 4.2), as well as questions to be answered during the next contact.

Waiting until a contact has been coded thoroughly and fully is probably too late. In addition, the process of coding usually adds so many subsequent thoughts about the con-tact that summarizing what was originally in the notes may get buried or distorted.

'Die data on a contact summary sheet are essentialty phrases or sentences that the field-worker comiden to be an answer to the form's questions after the complete write-up of the contact has been reviewed. It is helpful to take notes while the write-up is being reviewed.

Figure 4.1 shows excerpts from an example. Note that the second and fourth questions of this form indicate that the field-worker started with a focused set of "target ques-tions." Those are useful when your time is limitad. Infor-mation on each question ís summarízed, and new target questions are posad for the next visit. Some of these ques-tions come from the background researchque,stions ("How do users really perceive the innovation?"), and sorne are provoked by data corrected during the visit (e.g., English teacher Reilly's "fati from the chairmaraship"),

Using the resulte. The fiiIed-out sheet can be usad in sev-era! ways: (a) to golde planning for the next contad., (b) to suggest new or revisad °ocies (sea sections B, C, and D, following). (c) to help with coordination when more than one field-worker is involved in the study, (d) to reorient yourself to the contad when returning to the write-up, and (e) tu help with further data analysis (the summary sheets for a number of contacto can themselves be coded and analyzed). Alt of diese uses are easier if the forms have been enterad finto a computer database.

It is helpful to attach a copy of the surrarnary form to the top paga of the write-up, so it's close to the data it summa rizes. If you're working alone, it is very useful to sisare

copies of the filled-out form with your critican friend and to build a case file including alt contad summary forms for that case. Here, too, a computerized approach makes life easier.

Varia tions

Contad summary sheets, as just notad, can be usad in a more Systematic way by applying codeo to thent An ex-cerpted illustration appears in Figure 4.2. Here the analyst had a list of codeo (callad "themes" or"aspects") that were applied to the "salient points" selected from the write-up. New codas were also generated.

We have experimentad with doing a "first impressions" contad summary iminediately after the contad arad before the write-up, but we do not recommend it. There are risks of (a) being overimpressed with vivid incidents and (b) putting off the write-up, with the consequence of distortion of memory. Like Lofland and Lofland (1984), we encour-age doing write-ups no lates than the day after a field con-tad. It's a good rule, which we aren't always able to re-speet.

Advice

The contact summary form looks rather simpleminded. That is because it is. It's a rapid, practical way to do first-run data reduction without losing any of die basic informa-tion (the write-up) to which it ratera. It captures thoughtful impressions and reflections. It pullo together the data in the "soft cornputer"—the field-worker' s mind—and makes them available for further reflection and analysis not only by the field-worker but siso by others.

Keep contad summary forms simple. Focas on the pri-mary concepts, questions, and issues. You need an instru-ment that makes it easy todo a rapid retrieval asad synthesis of what the contad was all about.

During the first uses of the roma, it's a good idea to have someone else read the basic write-up and independently fin out a summary form. In that way you can surface bias or selectivity. You need to be elite to rely on suma-raerles, to be reasonably sure they are a good capsule of the write•up,

Time Required

Hiling out a good contact swnsnary involves reading and reviewing the write-up (typically, 3 or 4 minutes per single-spaced page), plus leso than an hour to fill in the form. If more time is needed, the form is probably too complex or demanding.