What is Ethnography?

Ethnos, Greek word meaning folk/people, graphia meaning writing.

Ethnography is a scientific research strategy often used in the field of social sciences, particularly in
anthropology and in some branches of sociology, also known as part of historical science that studies
people, ethnic groups and other ethnic formations, their ethnogenesis, composition, resettlement, social
welfare characteristics, as well as their material and spiritual culture.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnography

Ethnography is two things: (1) the fundamental research method of cultural anthropology,
and (2) the written text produced to report ethnographic research results.

Ethnography as method seeks to answer central anthropological questions concerning the ways
of life of living human beings. Ethnographic questions generally concern the link between
culture and behavior and/or how cultural processes develop over time. The data base for
ethnographies is usually extensive description of the details of social life or cultural phenomena
in a small number of cases.

Participant observation is based on living among the people under study for a lengthy period, usually a
year, and gathering data through continuous involvement in their lives and activities. The ethnographer
begins systematic observation and keeps daily field notes, in which the significant events of each day are
recorded along with informants' interpretations. Initial observations focus on general, open ended data
gathering derived from learning the most basic cultural rules and usually the local language as well. This
initial orientation process is important not only for providing a background for more narrowly focused
investigation but also helps the anthropologist to gain rapport with his/her informants, avoid breaches
of etiquette, and test out whether the original research objectives are meaningful and practical in the
local situation.

Key informant selection is known as judgment sampling and is particularly important for the
kind of qualitative research that characterizes ethnography. Anthropologists will very frequently
also need to carry out quantitative research from which statistically validated inferences can be
drawn. Accordingly they must construct a either larger random sample or a total population
census for more narrowly focused interviewing according to a closed questionnaire design. Other
important quantitative data might include direct measurement of such items as farm size, crop
yield, daily caloric or protein intake, or even blood pressure or other medical data, depending on
the anthropologist's research focus. Aside from written observation and records, researchers will
often provide ethnographic representations in other forms, such as collected artifacts,
photographs, tape recordings, films, and videos.

To illustrate the range of research techniques that anthropologists regularly employ, I can
enumerate 5 systematic data gathering procedures that I used to study a Ghanaian marketing
system:
 1. Intensive open-ended repeated interviews among market traders about their trading practices and
their wider social and economic activities.
(Data was collected from a judgement sample of 50 informants)
2. A brief survey of all the traders in the market places in the study area.
(Data was collected from a random sample of 500)
3. A periodic census of all the trucks leaving the market at the end of the day to determine the type,
quantity, and destination of all agricultural goods.
(Total population of 200)
4. A census of two neighborhoods in the central market town to determine basic population
characteristics including occupational and migration information.
(Total population of 1,000)
5. Interviews with the elders of each market settlement about the history of the establishment,
development, and administration of the market and other community institutions.
(Judgment sample of 20)

Source: Penn Anthropology. http://www.sas.upenn.edu/anthro/anthro/whatisethnography

How to be an ethnographer?

1. Select your group: One of the ways to become an ethnographer is to "go native." That
means immersing yourself in the culture. Eat, drink and sleep within the culture. This
may sound exotic to you, but the reality is, you can do ethnography for your own
neighborhood. You can live with baseball players, pediatricians or IV drug users

2. Keep a journal. Record the events of each day. Remember what people say and how
people talk. A modern ethnology often involves digital recording and audio, which allows
the ethnographer to capture people in their own words. The public radio show "This
American Life" is a good example.

3. Once you've spent time recording daily events, shape your work into a story. Provide as
many details as possible. Try not to alter events for literary effect. That includes your
own actions and reactions. You are participating in the story, but you're not the hero, so
don't try to make yourself sound perfect. Be honest about your actions and reactions.

4. Narrate the story for others. This means making the connections readers need to make.
You'll have to decide what moments should receive the most attention. Many times we
find ourselves too close to our stories to make sense out of them, but if you step back to
consider your characters and their voices and actions, the significance of their stories will
become clear. Your unique reflection will become part of the ethnography.

See examples of other ethnographers' work.

Source: http://www.ehow.com/how_5130059_ethnographer.html