Ethnographic Research Essay

Culture is defined as the traditions, customs, norms, beliefs, values and thought patterning passed down from generation to generation (Jandt 2010). The world consists of many different cultures. In this Ethnographic Interview, I was given the opportunity to explore and learn more about a culture different from my own. Through observation I’ve have seen how people of different cultures differ from mines. For example, the type of foods a person

For my ethnographic fieldwork, I decided to do my research on the Jewish culture. I interviewed a friend of mine at her house, which is the field site I decided to work in. To protect her identity I changed her name to Rebecca. As soon as I got to her house I notice there was a small piece of metal on the side of her doorpost with hebrew text written on it. I enter the house and she greeted me and took me to her living room.In her living room I noticed she had a tray of bite size cookies for us and a Snapple drink. The cookies were sweet and they did not have strong odor. My friend wore black slacks a white blouse and a star necklace around her neck. After a while, her brother and father came in and I noticed they had a little cap on the top of their heads. I asked her questions about her religion and culture.

I set out to find a place to begin my observations, not knowing what to fully expect, what I may find. So I decided to look around at what is close to my home that isn’t a place I frequent or have even visited at all. Then it came to me, the Starbucks that is only about a mile away is a perfect place for me to observe subjects that I would consider different from myself, seeing as how I consider such obscene prices for coffee ridiculous. Starbucks is a very popular chain of coffee vendors that describe their product as more about quality than what Americans are used to in typical coffee joints.

James P. Spradley (1979) described the insider approach to understanding culture as "a quiet revolution" among the social sciences (p. iii). Cultural anthropologists, however, have long emphasized the importance of the ethnographic method, an approach to understanding a different culture through participation, observation, the use of key informants, and interviews. Cultural anthropologists have employed the ethnographic method in an attempt to surmount several formidable cultural questions: How can one understand another's culture? How can culture be qualitatively and quantitatively assessed? What aspects of a culture make it unique and which connect it to other cultures? If

While conducting my ethnography I have interviewed five All-Girl members, and four Coed members of the Spirit program. By interviewing one more All-Girl members I hope to even out my biases due to being a part of the Coed team. Yet, before defining the differences found between the two teams, I will share the apparent similarities. Both teams show strong linguistic accommodations which I have observed at numerous appearances, such as changing the way one would speak due to their audience. When present at an appearance all members of the Spirit program are expected to intermingle and socialize with attendees. During the course of this exchange it became apparent that accommodating for the age of audience drastically changed the way the team members spoke. For example, when Jules Wazny was speaking to an elderly man she reduced the tempo at which she spoke and asked questions about the game and respectfully shook his hand; yet when she was speaking to a child she spoke in a higher pitch tone, offered the child her poms to play with, and asked questions such as how old the child was. These actions represent convergence, changing ones language to better fit the style of the recipient, which was not only found with All-Girl Cheerleader Jules Wazny, but also throughout the program. An example from a Coed member was Vivi Benbrook changing how she spoke with a middle age male, in a calm and respectful manor asking questions of the game such as where his seats where, and if he thought we were going to win. Contrast this to when she spoke to an elderly women, she used a higher pitch when asking if she was excited, and telling her to stay warm in this cold weather. All members, once wearing affiliated attire, whether it is practice gear,

Compare and contrast the following qualitative research methods: case study, phenomenological, and grounded theory. Synthesize the findings and determine which is best suited to a study on your potential dissertation topic. Analyze the issues associated with sample selection, validity, and bias in such a study.

This is my first time that I come to New York, so I am curious about many things in this new place, such as the famous resorts, and the people here. As we know, the Times Square is very famous in New York. When I was in China, I hope I can visit Times Square, because I saw Times Square was very great in some of the opening of American series. Now, I am in New York, and I have enough chances to visit Times Square whenever I want. In there, it gives me a new horizon to understand the culture that is different from China.

Imagine a trip to one of the most beautiful mountain sceneries in the world. Now imagine that this scenic trip also includes sporting entertainment and historic landmarks. Welcome to the mountains of the Pyrenees. There is absolutely nothing to lose and possibly everything to gain by booking a summer vacation to this realm of marvelous and beautiful land. The Pyrenees is an exquisite range of mountains located in southwestern Europe. This intensely beautiful mountain range is the barrier dividing Spain and France. It is approximately 21,380 square miles and contains parts of twelve French and Spanish provinces. Discover the beautiful significance of the Pyrenees National Park. Witness the historical thrilling events of the Tour de France as it passes through the Pyrenees route.

Anthropologists then, write ethnographies which are first hand detailed description of a living culture. Often anthropologists will find individuals within the society who are willing to become informants. Even though informants can be very helpfully, they often hold bias views about their culture. Some anthropologist must learn new and sometimes unwritten languages and this may require extra training. An anthropologist's class, race, gender, language, dress, religion, and age, all effect how he/she will be interpreted by the local people.(Cultural Anthropology pg31). Each step in anthropological research brings about dilemmas common to any human interaction, engagement versus detachment, subjectivity versus objectivity, particularization versus generalization, induction versus deduction(Fieldwork, Ethnography and Ethics in Anthropology). On many occasion's, the anthropologist will leave their projects, with a new found respect and begin to question their own cultures.

As I entered the home to conduct my interview, I was immediately greeted by very soft spoken female. She’s a 42 yrs old African American female, who’s married with two children. She migrated from the south 30 years ago along with her mother and sister. She’s currently working for the Department of Education as a substitute teacher with aspiration of becoming a child psychologist. The subject was eager to be interviewed. She thought it would be great to sure her views and perspectives of her culture. Culture is defined by Webster’s Dictionary as , the total of the inherited ideas, beliefs, values, and knowledge, which constitute the shared bases of social action. To me culture is rich and fascinating filled with family, traditions, memories, and many dialects.

The first topic I will talk about is the background or history of how the culture formed and

The study finds out how a culture fits in to the society and how the society

While others claim that photography captures the inner soul of a person, or deliberately defines it as painting or writing with light, but in my case, it is just simply a newfound love hobby. I undeniably adore and look up to expert photographers I encounter down the road may it face-to-face or the other way around. In my heart, I silently desire that someday, with hard work, determination, and perseverance, I will become professional and famous as they are. Since my husband bought a Digital Single-Lens Reflex (DSLR) as an anniversary gift, my penchant for photography commenced and ignited. Let me detail the essential truths behind my passion over photography.

Anthropology is field where research plays the biggest part in dissecting and understanding a topic. Surveys and questionnaires, are not as effective in this field as it would have been in engineering is because, anthropology deals with people. According to me people would not be slight bit interested divulging the details of their life with a stranger, whom they just met on a piece of flimsy paper. Even if they are willing to do that, they may only give a vague sketch of their life or the worst case scenario, where the participants are illiterate. Thus Field work regardless how excruciatingly long and hard it is, it is very important because it gives the holistic view on a topic as an outsider as well as an insider.

There are various fieldwork techniques such as Cultural Relativism and Ethnocentrism, Gaining Rapport, Ethical Issues & other problems in fieldwork, and the nature of participant observation, that help study human life in other societies. When watching the second video, Ethnocentrism and cultural relativism ingroup and outgroup, I comprehended the terms better. When one judges another culture because it is very different from the culture one was raised in, it means that their way of thinking is ethnocentric (believing your culture is superior). As for Cultural Relativism, one acknowledges the cultures practice and sees no wrong in them. Gaining Rapport from the Yanomamo was very challenging for Chagnon. He gained their trust because of the trade goods he will offer them (machetes, and knives), when he wouldn’t give them anything, the Yanomamo would not collaborate with any information.