fieldsubject

Fieldsubject is a term used in discussions of field research and data collection to denote the primary object of study in a field setting. It can refer to a person, a phenomenon, a location, or an object that researchers observe or measure.

In social science contexts such as ethnography and sociology, the fieldsubject often means the participant or actor whose behavior, experiences, or outcomes are documented. In biological or environmental fieldwork, the fieldsubject may be a species, a habitat, or a site under observation. In data management and information systems, fieldsubject can function as a generic label for the core entity described by a data field, and may appear in data dictionaries or survey templates as the key subject of a dataset.

Origin and usage: The term fieldsubject is not a standardized term across disciplines. It tends to appear in informal notes or project-specific documentation rather than in formal methodological manuals. Definitions are therefore pragmatic and defined by context, with researchers clarifying who or what the fieldsubject represents in their study.

Examples: “The fieldsubject was followed over a six-week period to document seasonal changes.” “In the data schema, fieldsubject identifies the principal unit of analysis for each record.” Related concepts include unit of analysis, case, subject, and field notes.