Fieldwork

Research

Data collection conducted directly at the site, with the people, or in the situation being studied, rather than from existing records.

Sources

1. Merriam-Webster — fieldwork merriam-webster.com accessed 23 September 2026

Merriam-Webster gives the research sense directly: “the gathering of anthropological or sociological data through the interviewing and observation of subjects in the field”, alongside the broader sense of work done in natural settings to gain practical knowledge — and, first of all, a military one: “a temporary fortification thrown up by an army in the field”, which is where the word comes from. First recorded 1686. “The field” was literally a battlefield before it was a research site.

Merriam-Webster is cited as the dictionary of record. The research usage above is this lexicon’s own.

Related terms

• Abbreviation
• Abstract
• Abstraction
• Academic Database
• Analysis
• Annotation

From the AJG lexicon archive (July 2026).