fieldwork

IPA/ˈfiːldwɜːk/
KK[fˈildwˌɚk]IPA/ˈfiːldwɜːrk/

fieldwork — noun

1. Academic or scientific research that involves going to the actual place where so

1.nounB2
Definition

Academic or scientific research that involves going to the actual place where something happens — a forest, a village, a factory, or a mine, for example — to collect data, samples, or observations directly, rather than working in a classroom or a laboratory.

Example

Geology student Aiko spent three months doing fieldwork on active volcanoes in Indonesia.

collocation: do fieldwork on [topic]

The anthropology department expects each graduate student to complete at least one season of fieldwork.

Common collocations
  • do fieldwork
  • conduct fieldwork
  • carry out fieldwork
  • fieldwork on [a topic]
  • fieldwork in [a location]
  • a season of fieldwork
  • fieldwork experience
  • fieldwork trip
Synonyms
  • field research

    more formal-sounding, often used in academic writing; fieldwork is the broader everyday term

  • field study

    often refers to a specific, time-limited project rather than an ongoing method

  • survey

    a type of fieldwork focused on questionnaires or measurements; not all fieldwork involves surveys

Antonyms
  • lab work

    research done in a controlled laboratory environment

  • desk research

    analysis of existing data, documents, or literature without leaving an office

Grammar Patterns

do fieldwork on [topic]

conduct fieldwork in [location]

Usage Note

Fieldwork is an uncountable noun and never takes an article or plural form. Common verbs used with it are 'do', 'conduct', 'carry out', and 'undertake'. The preposition 'on' introduces the research topic; 'in' or 'among' introduces the location or community.

Common Mistakes

She completed several fieldworks in South America.
She completed several periods of fieldwork in South America.
fieldwork has no plural form.
I am doing a fieldwork on bird migration.
I am doing fieldwork on bird migration.
fieldwork is uncountable and does not take 'a'.

Word family

  • fieldworker
    nounC1
  • field
    nounA2
  • field-based
    adjectiveC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

"Fieldwork" is the general, everyday term for practical research conducted in a real-world setting. "Field research" is largely synonymous but sounds more formal and is preferred in grant proposals and academic papers. A "field study" implies a bounded, shorter-term project — a scientist might say "I did a field study on nesting turtles" but "my fieldwork covers three years of data." "Survey" is narrower: it refers specifically to collecting data through questionnaires, measurements, or systematic counting (e.g., a bird survey or a household survey). "Observation" is a technique used during fieldwork, not a synonym for it. In practice, an anthropologist doing fieldwork might conduct surveys and make observations as part of the process; these are tools within fieldwork, not replacements for it.

field researchfield studysurvey ↗observation ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • anthropology fieldwork
  • geology fieldwork
  • archaeological fieldwork
  • sociological fieldwork

Phrases

  • a season of fieldwork
  • a period of fieldwork
  • fieldwork experience
  • fieldwork trip

Prepositions

  • in [location]
  • on [topic]
  • among [group]

Etymology

Old EnglishEnglish

A compound of 'field' (from Old English 'feld', meaning an open area of land) and 'work' (from Old English 'weorc', meaning activity or effort). The term was first used in military contexts in the 1600s to describe fortifications built in the field. Its modern academic sense — research conducted outside a laboratory or classroom — emerged in the early 1900s with the rise of anthropology and field biology.