Ethnography Essentials

Preface xi

The Author xiii

Part 1 The Why and what of ethnography 1

1 What Is Ethnography? 3

Ethnography: The Engaged, Firsthand Study of Society and Culture in Action 4

A Brief History 4

How Ethnography Has Changed: Doing Contemporary Ethnography 8

Ethnography as Firsthand Research 11

Ethnographer as Research Instrument 13

Collaboration as Research Model: Ethnographer as Student 15

2 Choosing an Ethnographic Topic 19

Where to Look for Possible Topics 22

Ethnographic Topics: Studying Places, People, or Events 23

The Benefits of a Relatively Specific Focus 23

Thinking About the Nonobvious as Discoverable 27

Cultural Knowledge and Behavior in Action as Research Objects 29

Practical Concerns 30

Considering Ethics from the Start: Your Obligations to Potential Informants 33

Topics You Might Want to Avoid 34

3 Research Design 37

Turning an idea or Topic into a Research Question 38

Linking Questions to Methods 40

Key Methods to Consider for the Ethnographic Project 41

What Is Practical or Feasible? Time, Availability, and Ethics 46

4 Writing a Proposal 50

Identifying and Reviewing Appropriate Literature 51

Statement of the Problem 54

A Clear Research Plan 55

Identifying Your Project's Larger Relevance 57

Human Subjects Review and Approval 58

5 Collaborative Ethnography 62

Working in Ethnographic Teams 63

Implementing a Research Team 65

Strategies for Collaborating with Research Participants 69

Part 2 Ethnography in The Field: Collecting Data 75

6 A Guide to Collecting Data and Taking Notes 77

The Fleeting Nature of Ethnographic Data 79

"Should I Write It Down Immediately?" 80

The Importance of Detail in the Ethnographic Record 81

Writing Notes Versus Using Recorders 82

The Prospects of Transcription 83

What Is Important and What Is Superfluous: "What Do I Need to Write Down?" 85

The Ethics of Collecting Information 87

7 Participant- Observation 90

The Apparent Paradox: Participation and Observation 92

Balancing Participation and Observation 93

The Importance of Time 95

Depending on Informants as Teachers and Guides 96

Getting Started 98

Regular Versus Extraordinary Behavior and Conversations 100

8 Interviews 105

Starting with Informal Interviews and Conversations 106

Informal Conversation as an Avenue to "Real" Culture 109

A Good Interviewer Is a Good Listener 111

Contents ix

How to Record Interview Data 111

Using an Interview Schedule 112

How to Start an Interview 113

Good Versus Bad Interview Questions 115

When to Conduct Formal Interviews 118

9 Analyzing Along the Way 121

Identifying Key Themes and Questions: Paying Attention to Your Data 122

How to Organize Your Notes 123

What Have You Learned? 124

What Do You Still Need to Do? 125

Has the Research Question Changed? 126

Tweaking the Research Design 126

Getting Feedback from Your Informants 127

Writing at the Midway Point 129

10 Ethnographic Maps 132

Space and Movement as Key Components of Culture 133

The Importance of Space, Shape, and Distance 138

Large- and Small- Scale Geographic Maps 139

Mapping Interior Spaces 141

Cognitive or Conceptual Maps 143

Representing Movement and Behavior on a Map 145

11 Tables and Charts 147

Ethnographic Tables 148

Interpersonal Relationships as a Manifestation of Culture 148

Kinship as an Organizing Principle 150

Other Organizational Charts 153

12 Archives and Secondary Data 158

Cultural Artifacts as Sources of Information 159

Making Ethnographic Use of Archives 162

Contemporary Cultural Artifacts 164

Evaluating and Analyzing Cultural Artifacts 166

Analytical Sources Versus Popular or Primary Sources 167

Part 3 Analyzing and Writing 171

13 Sorting and Coding Data 173

Writing from Your Research Data 174

Identifying Key Themes and Questions 175

Identifying Important Research Moments and Experiences 176

Coding and Sorting the Ethnographic Record 178

Dealing with Apparent Contradictions: The Messiness of Ethnographic Data 180

14 Answering Questions and Building Models 183

Fitting the Pieces Together 184

Moving from Data to Theory: The Inductive Process 189

Remembering the Big Picture and the Big Questions 190

Infusing Theory in Ethnography 191

15 Choosing the Appropriate Presentation Style 194

Common Ethnographic Conventions 195

The Importance of Ethnographic Detail 201

Matching Style to Audience, Subject, and Analysis 202

A Formal to Informal Continuum of Style 205

16 Putting the Whole Ethnography Together 208

The Hourglass Shape as a Model 209

Alternative Models for Organizing an Ethnography 210

Incorporating Relevant Literature 211

Incorporating Maps, Charts, and Photographs 212

Demonstrating the Project's Relevance 213

Evaluating and Revising Ethnography 214

Sharing the Ethnography 215

Incorporating Responses and Critiques 217

Glossary 220

References 226

Index 229