Star formation is a process that spans a range of scales. It includes galactic-wide mechanisms that regulate the production rate of newborn stars within the disk of galaxies. It also considers the dynamics within molecular clouds that spawn the high density proto-stellar and proto-cluster cores from which new stars directly condense. Magnetic fields and turbulent phenomena may play significant roles in these events. Our understanding of the star formation rests on accurate theoretical and observational descriptions of these roles.

I will review observations and techniques that have improved our perspective of cloud structure and kinematics as these relate to star formation process. The summary will include:
1) the derived spatial statistics of column density images
2) quantitative constraints to the velocity spectrum of turbulence and the spatial scale, if any, at which turbulent motions are stirred.
3) indirect (non-Zeeman) measures of the magnetic field strength within molecular regions.