EthnographyAn Introduction by

Michelle Tvete

Ethnography: “[A] researched study that synthesizes information about the life of a people or group.” Bonnie Stone Sunstein & Elizabeth Chiseri-Strater FieldWorking p. 4

My definition for 1302: Your study of a subculture.

Definitions

LanguageRituals

BehaviorsArtifacts

FW p. 3

Where is the Culture?

LanguageRituals

BehaviorsArtifacts

Observe these to “discover a [sub]culture’s way of being, knowing and understanding”

(FW 3).

Where is the Culture?

“[Any] self-identified group of people who share language, stories, rituals, behaviors, and values.”

FW 5 Chart with 4 columns: Group, Rituals, Insider Phrases and Behaviors

Subcultures Activity

Insider Or

Outsider?

Subcultures

Ethnography is qualitative. Consider your fixed and subjective positions to “uncover the assumptions, preconceptions, personal experiences and feelings that influence” your study.

FW 113

Perspective Activity

Recognize importance of getting multiple perspectives (interviews).

Perspective Activity

Interviews: balance closed & open questions

Ask about a cultural artifact as a way to understand the culture.

FW 222

* Students practice interviewing & recognize that everyday objects are cultural artifacts.

Artifact Activity

The Ethnography of Literacy--first essay in Ethnographic Inquiries in Writing (Ed. Tabetha Adkins)

“[S]tunning fact” is that “we do not fully know what literacy is” (4).

John F. Szwed argues that ethnography is “the only means for finding out what literacy really is and what can be validly measured” (13).

Why Ethnography?

Guide to Choosing a Fieldsite

by Christy Foreman

Choosing Fieldsites