Field research The term "field research", is used by many industries as a generic reference to collecting or creating new information outside of a laboratory or typical workplace. Biologists prefer fieldwork to captive studies because it gives them a chance to let the animals interact with items in their environments.

Field research is less technically known as Fieldwork, a term originating in farm and plantation manual labor, and a term sometimes used to refer to the temporary fortifications constructed prior to battle. Fieldwork, which is conducted in situ, can be contrasted with laboratory or experimental research which is conducted in a quasi-controlled environment. In survey research, fieldwork refers to face-to-face or telephone interviewing. Fieldwork can also include methods such as sociometry.

The interviewing or observation of people to learn their languages, folklore, and social structures constitutes fieldwork. Especially when humans themselves are the subject of study, protocols must be devised to reduce the risk of observer bias and the acquisition of too theoretical or idealized explanations of the actual workings of a culture. Participant observation, data collection, and survey research are examples of field research, in contrast to what is often called experimental or lab research.