Output to note

Is there any way I can get a script to write output to a note? If not, is there any other way to get a lot of collected data/logs out of a script?

No you cannot, and probably never will be able to, write to notecards.

You can have the script dump its log to chat and cut and paste it to a notecard if required.
Or email it to yourself, send via HTTP or RPC but thats about it.

What sort of data are you handling and what do you want to be able to do with it and where?

In this particular case, it'd simply be a transcription of chat data, and possibly with some metrics thrown in (e.g. how many utterances per speaker...)

and what I'd be wanting to do with it is to hand a transcript over to researchers for analysis.

email

Then I'd agree with Winter, use Email , its simple and straight forward.
Be aware of the TOS concerning recording of chat.

I want to emphasize this last point. Recording what goes on inside SL without full permission of both Linden Lab and the resident involved is prohibited.

this work is part of an approved research project. linden labs is aware of the work and all subjects will be fully aware of the recording.

That's not exactly true. Recording chat is perfectly fine (it's built into the client after all by Linden Labs). Sharing that chat with 3rd parties is prohibited without permission. Fine difference, but a difference none the less.

It is exactly true. Recording chat without the chatter's knowledge - without regard to the use of the recording - is a violation of the TOS. I've several times watched a liaison kick someone offline for having a listener planted somewhere.

If that were true then simply turning on Preferences -> Communication -> Log Chat would be a TOS violation. Clearly it is not.

There is a difference between recording conversations and spying on others.

-peekay

The difference there would be when in the presence of an av you know you're being recorded, a little invisible prim soaking up the chat is a very different thing.

The ToS is void of any restriction on this issue, other than to say that you must abide by the CS, which state:

Disclosure
Residents are entitled to a reasonable level of privacy with regard to their Second Lives. Sharing personal information about a fellow Resident --including gender, religion, age, marital status, race, sexual preference, and real-world location beyond what is provided by the Resident in the First Life page of their Resident profile is a violation of that Resident's privacy. Remotely monitoring conversations, posting conversation logs, or sharing conversation logs without consent are all prohibited in Second Life and on the Second Life Forums.

What I get from that is that a "remote" recording device would be a violation, if used without disclosure and consent, but the built in chat log in the client would not. (It isn't "remote", per se)