11.27 Ethnography

We started class with a discussion of the short analysis projects.  You are on target in terms of forming research questions, and most of you are moving in the right direction in terms of using an analytic process to "show" your answer to that question.  I have posted your classmates' sample analysis essays (to the right) for you to think about as models. We reviewed the components of an introduction (state the research problem, connect to what others have written in a general way, state the problem's importance => set up what you will do in your essay), and we talked  about the difference between the lit-crit papers you have written for humanities course and the more "sciencey" genre of writing studies research.  This is not to say that some writing studies essays do not look very close to lit-crit essays.  In fact, many are written in the same forms as literature analysis.  I have focused on teaching the social-sciencey kind of analysis because you already have a strong basis in analyzing literature.  

The rest of tonight's class focused on ethnographic research.  We used ideas and practices from Robert Emerson's Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes as a basis for our discussion, and then took a look at the sample ethnographic writing and field notes (jottings) I presented as handouts.

Emerson set up his piece by noting that participation, observation, and writing are each components of ethnographic research - and that in practice these three components are essentially inseparable.  He notes that choices about how and what to observe will shape (and are shaped by) how we choose to participate, and that the writing necessary to put our observations in to language will influence both the experience of participating and of observing. 

We looked at the three examples of ethnographic description from Emerson's essay and noted his characterization of them as (respectively) focused on:

• physical descriptions of environment/elements of the experience
• moment by moment accounts of what happens (chronological)
• a shifting perspective that "spotlights" characters or scenes

These three different perspectives (and the many possible other perspectives that we began to list on the board) for turning experience into writing select for certain kinds of information and "reduce" or leave out other information.  Because experience is so rich and messy - it is inevitable that much will be left out.  The ethnographer's job is to document as much is as possible (or as is relevant to his/her purpose) from multiple perspectives so as to create a "thick description" of the cultural meanings associated with the people s/he is studying.  These perspectives will necessarily include the ethnographer's reflections on his or her feelings, assumptions, values, and beliefs and how those feelings etc influenced his/her observations & participation.

Emerson stressed that his definition of ethnography  and how it worked had 4 important implications for ethnographers.

1. What is observed is inseparable from assumptions about what is important and the way the world works
2. Fieldnotes should pay deep attention to the values and meanings of the people studied
3. On-the-spot fieldnotes are essential
4. Fieldnotes should detail interactional processes

We then looked at the sample write-up of an event by a student ethnographer in light of questions raised by Emerson's discussion of ethnography.

• which perspectives/approaches to observation did this ethnographer step into? 
• what did she document?  what did she leave out?
• what were her assumptions associated with this event - and how did those assumptions shape what she included/left out of her write up?

While this student ethnographer did an excellent job writing up her experience, our reflections on it revealed features of her perspective (assumptions about senior citizens, race - or maybe urban areas) that  shaped her perceptions.  She was aware of some of her assumptions - but only partially aware or even unaware of others, and as we talked we saw how her observations and participation and her writing = all three elements of ethnography, were interactively shaped by her perspective.  As ethnographers become more experienced - they dig deep into their perspectives and those of others - and part of ethnography is theorizing/thinking about how meanings are made across the gaps between self and other and between insiders and outsiders to any given culture. 

On the spot fieldnotes.  The rest of the class focused on taking field notes. We talked about how choices about what kind of event, and positioning within the event set you up to for different kinds of note taking experiences.  Observing a classroom taught by a teacher who does not require you to interact will result in notes that differ from what you can produce when you are a student in the class - and expected to have a larger participatory role.

We also talked about issues associated with how your participants might feel about you taking notes, whether and how to ask for permission, and how the note-taking process can be influenced by the level of "sharing" you establish with your community.

I directed you to Emerson's 5 recommendations for "how" to take jottings - and we looked at sample notes taken during a participatory event.  We noted the difference between what the note-taker wrote down during the event - and what she wrote after the note => her "headnotes."  Adding to your notes immediately after your experience - and writing them up as soon as possible after your observation contributes to strong documentation. Your at-the- time-of-the-event impressions are key to creating an accurate representation of the experience - and in some ways they are only available to you while you are "there." 

For next week:

Conduct your interview + create your transcript.  Bring your transcript to class so we can work on analyzing your data.  For this paper - you will not know what your essay is saying until you have spent some time working with your data.  

Email me your transcript as soon as it is available so I can be prepared to work with you.

During class we will talk through methods for analyzing transcripts - and you will work on exploring answers to your research question through analyzing your data.