About

EthNote is an open-source and easy-to-use application created by and for social scientists needing to collect, store, share and process ethnographic data (text, images, and sound) seamlessly, securely, and systematically. By allowing individuals and teams to write field notes and log metadata using shared templates and annotation markdowns it strikes an optimal balance between flexibility and structure. By facilitating the easy export of data into computationally-friendly database formats like .csv or .xlsx, it also opens up for integration with other social data formats such as survey data and sensor data, as well as for quantitative processing, visualization and analyses of qualitative data.

Mission

EthNote is not just a software application but a catalyst for innovation and collaboration in ethnographic research.   Its user-centric design, commitment to data security, and versatility position it as a valuable asset for researchers seeking to break down traditional barriers and explore the boundless potential of qualitative data analysis. EthNote invites researchers to embrace a new era of ethnography, one marked by flexibility, collaboration, and accessibility, with the ambition and the promise of reshaping the future landscape of qualitative research.

History of EthNote

EthNote grew out of interdisciplinary research project on political attention based at the Copenhagen Center for Social Data Science (LINK). An early pilot was tested by a teams of 10-15 ethnographers at a Danish political festival in 2021 and 2022, which demonstrated its utility as a fieldnote-gathering tool and for leveraging mixed digital methods data processing and analysis. (LINKS to Astrupgaard and Lohse et al Astrupgaard and Gregersen et al.). An alpha version of EthNote was tested by seven SODAS ethnographers at a science festival in Copenhagen in May 2023, and a beta version was subsequently tested by XXX ethnographers from the XXX at the famous Roskilde music festival in June 2023. Targeting 60 anthropology students doing in a methods course with a team-based three weeks fieldwork exercise, the final test encompassed pre- and post lecture and workshops, as well as written and oral feedback including a focus group comprising XX students.

Values

• Collaborating Teams
• Protecting Data
• Best Ethical Practice
• Opening Science
• Mixing Methods

Team

• August Lohse is a Ph.D fellow in social data science at the ERC funded DISTRACT project at the Copenhagen Center for Social Data Science (SODAS) at the University of Copenhagen. [Photo]

• Emilie Munch Gregersen is a research assistant at the Copenhagen Center for Social Data Science (SODAS) at the University of Copenhagen. She primarily works with EthNote, where she oversees its development process and testing [Photo]

• Morten Axel Pedersen is Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Copenhagen Center for Social Data Science (SODAS) at the University of Copenhagen. He is also principal investigator of the three research projects from which EthNote is an offshoot [Photo]

Special thanks to Carlsbergfondet, University of Copenhagen, and … for supporting the development of Ethnote. (Tilføj logoer)

Contact

app@ethnote.org