Читать книгу Practical Field Ecology - C. Philip Wheater - Страница 48

Use a field notebook to write down data, ideas, observations, tentative conclusions, and hypotheses as you do your fieldwork to create an immediate and faithful history of your research. Produce comprehensive, clearly organised notes as a reference and so that you can reconstruct the research timeline and follow the development of your thoughts and ideas. Although you may use other collection sheets (e.g. pre‐printed data collection forms to ensure data are collected consistently in different locations and at different times), your field notebook should provide the context for data collection and help resolve ambiguities or inconsistencies when preparing for analysis. After data analysis, reference to your notebook may generate further hypotheses and suggest further lines of enquiry.

Select an A5 or A6 hardback notebook with a spiral binding and wide‐ruled lines, ideally on waterproof paper. Use a clutch‐type propelling pencil with a moderately soft lead (HB or B). If you do not use waterproof paper, then encase your notebook in a plastic bag large enough to cover your hand and the notebook when writing. In very wet conditions, write on an A4 sheet of white plastic with a thick soft pencil (use kitchen cleaner to erase your notes after transcription).