 Field research, field research, field studies, or field work is the collection of raw data outside a laboratory, library, or workplace setting. The approaches and methods used in field research vary across disciplines. For example, biologists who conduct field research may simply observe animals interacting with their environments, whereas social scientists conducting field research may interview or observe people in their natural environments to learn their languages, folklore, and social structures. Field research involves a range of well-defined, although variable, methods, informal interviews, public observation, participation in the life of the group, collective discussions, analyses of personal documents produced within the group, self-analysis, results from activities undertaken off, or online, and life histories. Although the method generally is characterized as qualitative research, it may and often does include quantitative dimensions.