(2) Preparation is the guarantee to ensure the smooth field investigation;
(3) Down-to-earth investigation is the best way for people to obtain treasures;
1. Learn with an open mind. Learning with an open mind is to abandon one's original prejudice or even identity on some issues and position oneself as a student seeking advice. Because even a person with rich cultural accumulation can hardly surpass the local residents who have lived there for hundreds or even thousands of years in life perception, and their culture has been integrated into gestures. Therefore, in the field investigation, investigators can only observe, listen and think silently, and then observe, listen and think. Sometimes every piece of information, big or small, needs to be recorded and captured. For example, in Guizhou, eight scholars from the Tatsumi Folk Culture Investigation Team worked together for more than ten days. I was deeply impressed by these Japanese scholars' fearless, rigorous and serious attitude and good style of finding problems. Many of these Japanese scholars are over 60 years old, and sometimes they have to listen to 10 stories for more than hours a day, but they are always meticulous and carefully record them, even if they don't understand foreign languages and Chinese. In the field investigation, each of them has his own special object and content, and always takes pains to look up some details found. The delegation included a 63-year-old Ms. Fan Yuan Xing Zi. She always carries a ruler with her. She wants to measure and record all the artists' musical instruments, rice-smashing stone mortar, even the wooden sticks for cloth-beating and the spindles for spinning, and verify them one by one by comparing the related narratives involved in folk story works at night. The next day, she will ask the commentator some questions. These practices may be exactly what many researchers today lack.
2. Pay attention to interview methods and skills. On-the-spot investigation is inseparable from interviews with interviewees. There are two common types of interviews. One is questionnaire interview, which is divided into two forms: answer type and selective answer type. Among them, the question-and-answer type requires investigators to ask some roughly the same or similar questions to a certain number of respondents according to the survey outline, so as to expand the breadth of survey questions; Selective questionnaire is a form in which respondents list several different answers to the questions they want to know, and respondents can choose freely. Which form should be taken varies from place to place and from person to person. It is best to make two preparations and adjust the questionnaire method at any time according to the actual situation. The other is a non-questionnaire interview. This form does not need to set up a form in advance, nor does it need to ask specific questions. On the contrary, investigators can talk freely and flexibly with interviewees on certain issues on the spot, and get information in the conversation. No matter what kind of interview, there are advantages and disadvantages. Investigators should adopt their own methods in combination with previous field experience, so as not to waste valuable investigation time and make the problem a mere formality.
The investigation process should also pay attention to investigation skills. These skills include many factors, such as asking questions, communicating feelings, eliciting and inducing, capturing information, finding problems and so on. When the author interviewed the local Lahu myths in the shanzhai of Lancang Lahu Autonomous County, Yunnan Province, some interviewees knew their myths very well, but they didn't know what myths were, and it was difficult for them to express their myths clearly in their own language. In this case, the interviewees should be gradually inspired to tell the stories of their ancient ancestors, how some local gods are often worshipped, stories about gods, and so on, so that local artists can begin to tell them. Especially when it comes to things that artists are more taboo, it is more necessary to create conditions, look for opportunities, inspire and induce narrators, and not regard themselves as the subject of discourse, which leads to putting the cart before the horse in the investigation.
3. Make efforts to make on-site records. On-the-spot record is the most basic data in field investigation and the most direct basis for forming investigation report. On-site records include notes, audio recordings, video recordings and other forms. The comprehensive application of these means is very helpful to restore the field scene in the future. Generally speaking, field notes must be quick-thinking and sharp-eyed, and can record as much fleeting information as possible to form enough audio-visual annotation materials. Most investigators have the habit of keeping field diaries every day, but while recording field notes, they should also record, think and sort out, and actively find out the omissions and deficiencies in the investigation, so as to find opportunities to supplement and solve them in time in the local area. Especially when it comes to the typicality and accuracy of data, it needs to be verified repeatedly. For those questions that are in doubt or have different opinions from different interviewers, it is best to get confirmation from most people. Otherwise, once you leave the investigation area, these materials will become unsolved cases that cannot be used. If various forms of investigation materials are formed in one day, we must strive for time, sort out or mark them in time, such as interview recordings and investigation videos, and catalogue them with the recordings to avoid that many materials will not be properly seated and become investigation garbage after a period of time.
(d) A comprehensive and detailed investigation report is the final crystallization of field investigation.