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Ethnography

Ethnography is the art and science of describing a group or culture. The ethnographer enters the field with an open mind, not with an empty head. Before asking the first question in the field, the ethnographer begins with a problem, a theory or model, a research design, specific data collection techniques, tools for analysis, and a specific writing style. A series of quality controls, such as triangulation, contextualization, and a nonjudgmental orientation, place a check on the negative influence of bias.

The ethnographer is interested in understanding and describing a social and cultural scene from the emic or insider's perspective. The ethnographer is both storyteller and scientist; the closer the readers of an ethnography come to understanding the native's point of view, the better the story and the better the science.

Fieldwork is the heart of the ethnographic research design. In the field, basic anthropological concepts, data collection methods and techniques, and analysis are the fundamental elements of “doing ethnography.” Selection and use of various pieces of equipment—including the human instrument—facilitate the work. This process becomes product through analysis at various stages in ethnographic work—in fieldnotes, memoranda, and interim reports but most dramatically in the published report, article, or book.

Concepts

The most important concepts that guide ethnographers in their fieldwork include culture, a holistic perspective, contextualization, an emic perspective and multiple realities, an etic perspective, nonjudgmental orientation, inter- and intracultural diversity, and symbol and ritual.

Culture

Culture is the broadest ethnographic concept. The classic materialist interpretation of culture is the sum of a social group's observable patterns of behavior, customs, and way of life. According to the cognitive approach, culture includes the ideas, beliefs, and knowledge that characterize a particular group of people. Ethnographers need to know about both cultural behavior and cultural knowledge to describe a culture or subculture adequately.

Many anthropologists consider cultural interpretation to be ethnography's primary contribution. Cultural interpretation involves the researcher's ability to describe what he or she has heard and seen within the framework of the social group's view of reality. A classic example of the interpretive contribution involves the wink and the blink. A mechanical difference between the two behaviors might not be evident. However, the cultural context of each movement, the relationship between individuals that each behavior suggests, and the contexts surrounding the two behaviors help to define and differentiate these two significantly different behaviors. Anyone who has ever mistaken a blink for a wink is fully aware of the significance of cultural interpretation.

Holistic Perspective and Contextualization

Ethnographers assume a holistic outlook in research to gain a comprehensive and complete picture of a social group. Ethnographers attempt to describe as much as possible about a culture or social group. This description might include the group's history, religion, politics, economy, and environment. No study can capture an entire culture or group. The holistic orientation forces fieldworkers to see beyond an immediate cultural scene or event in a classroom, hospital room, city street, or plush offices in Washington, D.C.

In a study about programs for dropouts, it was important to describe the inner-city environment in which the schools were located—an impoverished neighborhood in which pimping, prostitution, arson for hire, rape, and murder were commonplace. This helped policymakers to understand the lure of certain elements in the community that competed with the school for students' attention.

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