Beyond Data and Dashboards: Why Field Notes Matter in Behaviour Change Work

Writing notes after field visits is an everyday practice at ZealGrit

Over the last decade of grassroots work, I have learnt that good fieldwork does not end in the field. It begins there, but it survives only when it is written, revisited, and carried forward.

This is a learning we have consciously institutionalised at ZealGrit.

At ZealGrit, we work closely with communities, moving from house to house and school to school, the volume and texture of daily interactions are impossible to hold in individual memory. Simply because field realities shift quickly, contexts change between visits but what remains constant is the risk of losing nuance when learning is reduced to monthly reports or aggregated indicators.

This is where daily field notes become critical for us.

What data alone cannot capture

In behaviour change work, quantitative reporting alone struggles to capture hesitation, trust-building, fatigue, informal negotiations, or small but meaningful shifts in behaviour. Yet these are often the factors that determine whether an intervention succeeds or fails.

So, detailed field (ethnographic) notes help us a lot. When reviewed longitudinally, these notes reveal patterns that are invisible in isolated field visits. They capture incremental behavioural shifts that do not immediately translate into measurable outcomes but are essential for long-term change.

Field notes also became our safeguard against organisational amnesia. Teams change, roles shift, and programmes evolve. Without a written trail of learning, organisations risk repeating the same mistakes with renewed confidence. Our field notes ensured that learning stayed with the organisation, not just with individuals.

Most importantly, they kept ‘people’ at the centre. They reminded us that behind every indicator was a person navigating constraints we may not fully see.

What it takes to institutionalise field notes

I will be honest. Writing good field notes did not come naturally, it has to be learnt and taught.

We trained our facilitators to see field notes as part of fieldwork, not something added at the end of a long day. From the beginning, we made it clear that we were not looking for polished language or success stories. We were looking for what actually happened that day, with that person.

We focused on a few non-negotiables. Facilitators were encouraged to write what they saw and heard, even when it contradicted expectations. They were trained to notice small shifts, because in community work, small changes often signal deeper movement. Space was built in for brief reflection on what felt uncomfortable, what did not work, and what might need to change next time.

After two and a half years of consistent fieldwork, we now have longitudinal notes for over a thousand young women we work with. For any one of them, we can trace a journey over time. Take Pinki’s story, for instance. We are not relying on memory or isolated anecdotes. We have a written trail that begins with her background and family context and follows her challenges, gradual behaviour change, and the courage it took to act differently. This allows us to see people not as one-time beneficiaries, but as individuals evolving within complex realities. It also ensures continuity, even as teams change. Internally, we think of this as our living programme memory. It is where our deepest learning sits.

Credibility Built from the Ground Up

These notes are not written and forgotten. In daily debriefs, we discuss what unfolded in the field. In review meetings, we read notes together and identify follow-ups and course corrections. Over time, facilitators began to see that their observations mattered and that their writing influenced decisions. That is when field notes stopped being seen as a task and became a habit.

In a sector increasingly driven by dashboards and deliverables, daily field notes provide a necessary complement. They add depth to quantitative data and offer transparency into how programmes respond to complexity on the ground. For us, this practice has strengthened programme quality and credibility by demonstrating attentiveness to reality, willingness to adapt, and commitment to learning.

I share this experience as a practice that has kept us honest, adaptive, and accountable. For us at ZealGrit, daily field notes are how that learning stays alive.