Observation, Ethnography, and Communication

1. OBSERVATION ESSAY
ESSAY 3

2. THE ASSIGNMENT
Determine a group of people you would like to study, based
on class discussion and exercises and your own personal
preference. The focus of your essay should be on how this
group communicates, who they communicate with, and what
information they communicate. You will engage in
qualitative and quantitative research, observing your
subject/s in order to present a reliable snapshot of your
group of choice.

3. THE ASSIGNMENT
Carefully observe this group on at least two occasions, and
follow up with group members as necessary. You will pay
close attention to all details, including locations,
appearances, sounds, and spoken words. Record
conversations if necessary/allowed. Your final essay will
present a detailed picture of this group, and evaluate the
effectiveness of its methods of communication.

4. LENGTH AND DUE DATES
•Length Requirement: 5-7 pages (between 2,000
– 2,500 words)
•1st Draft Posted to Blackboard Group: Nov 20
•Final Draft Uploaded to Blackboard: Dec 11

5. OBSERVATION ESSAYS
A Brief Overview:
Note date, location, time, number in attendance, details of your
surroundings, weather conditions (if applicable)
Setting: Be specific. Don’t say “It’s hard to see in the club”; rather,
“The club is lit by about half a dozen dim red bulbs, making it
impossible to see the far side of the room clearly.”
People: If the setting is crowded, choose a particular group (or
groups) or focus on random participants.

6. OBSERVATION ESSAYS
A Brief Overview:
Dialogue: If the setting is more intimate, you may be able to capture
some key dialogue. Do so only if you can hear it clearly, it’s simple or
memorable, and you don’t have to guess what was said. Don’t try to
write everything you hear verbatim. If you like, and with permission,
you may record audio to transcribe later.
Write down what you see, not your interpretation of it. Avoid
general descriptions. Take quantitative notes when possible.

7. OBSERVATION ESSAYS
A Brief Overview:
Interpretation: Your goal isn’t just to record
observations in a public space but also to interpret
them with respect to communication patterns and
processes. Differentiate between your “literal”
description of actions/behaviors and your
interpretation of them—first describe, then interpret.

8. OBSERVER/PARTICIPANT
Because you are experimenting for the first time with
these methods, your may study a community to
which you already belong. The problem with studying
such a community is that you are less able to be
passive and objective when you gather data. In a
sense, what you think about the community and the
people in it may control what you perceive.

9. OBSERVER/PARTICIPANT
Rather than trying to discover why and how people
behave as they do, your membership and history
with the culture may blind you to new insights.
Instead of going into a community with an open mind
and systematically examining behavior, you may end
up merely writing what you already believe, which
undercuts our current goal—to conduct research.

10. ETHNOGRAP
HY

11. WHAT IS ETHNOGRAPHIC RESEARCH?
“Ethnography, simply stated, is the
study of people in their own
environment through the use of
methods such as participant
observation and face-to-face
interviewing.

12. WHAT IS ETHNOGRAPHIC RESEARCH?
Traditionally those engaging in
ethnographic research spend
years in the place of study, also
known as the ‘field.’

13. WHAT IS ETHNOGRAPHIC RESEARCH?
Contemporary ethnographic research looks at what
may be considered ordinary or mundane to those
living within a community, for example shopping
malls, corporations, towns, cities, cyberspace,
garbage dumps, libraries, parks, etc. Contemporary
ethnographic research also differs from classic
ethnographic research in that researchers may have
limited amounts of time in which to conduct
research.

14. WHAT IS ETHNOGRAPHIC RESEARCH?
Before going to the actual place of study, those engaging
in ethnographic studies conduct library and other
archival research to learn some of what is already known
about the place and people they are interested in so as
not to enter the “field” unprepared. The researcher then
spends time with the group of people under study to get
a sense of how they live, their beliefs and rituals, and
their interactions with each other and those around
them.”

15. Select a Culture
Identify a culture to study. Some
ethnographers begin their research with a
central question that guides their
exploration. Others prefer to find their
research question after they've been in the
community for a while, or even after
they've left the community.

16. Select a Culture
An ethnographic approach can be
particularly appropriate for short-term
projects like the ones assigned in a
relatively brief college course. Even though
some professional ethnographies last for
years, studies with a limited scope can be
conducted in a matter of weeks.

17. LEARN ABOUT THE
CULTURE
“ENHANCE YOUR INTERPRETIVE SKILLS BY LEARNING
ABOUT THE CULTURE BEFORE VISITING, PERHAPS BY
READING OTHER RESEARCHERS' ETHNOGRAPHIC
ACCOUNTS OF THE CULTURE. ETHNOGRAPHERS
VEHEMENTLY DISAGREE ABOUT THE DEGREE TO WHICH
LIBRARY RESEARCH MUST SUPPORT FIELD STUDY. MANY
WELL-RESPECTED ANTHROPOLOGISTS HAVE WRITTEN
ETHNOGRAPHIES THAT CONTAIN FEW IF ANY
REFERENCES TO SECONDARY SOURCES.

18. Research the Community First
Familiarizing yourself with the culture before
entering it can provide you with the
information you need to know to participate
without being too obtrusive. For example, if
you are going to study the local chess club,
you need to learn the rules of chess and play
a few games.

19. Research the Community First
If you want to study an engineering fraternity, you
need to learn the engineering terms that people in the
community will use. By learning the language and by
knowing what other ethnographers and researchers
have to say about the culture, you will know what
questions to ask, what behaviors to look for, and even
how to dress.

20. Research the Community First
For example, if you wanted to research how
cancer patients interact with each other in a
support group, spend some time in the library
reading about how people typically respond to
potentially terminal diseases. You would be wise
to see if any case studies or ethnographies have
already been done with cancer patients.

21. Research the Community First
Adequate preparation for your entrance into the
community is crucial if you are to blend into the
background and subsequently understand the values,
expectations, roles, and ceremonies of the community.
Conducting extensive library research before entering
the community will help you understand the subjects'
thoughts, feelings, and actions.

22. QUESTIONS
ASKING THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS CAN HELP YOU
NARROW THE SCOPE OF YOUR RESEARCH.
WHAT SPECIFIC CULTURE OR COMMUNITY WILL YOU
STUDY? WHY IS THE CULTURE WORTH STUDYING?
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE ENVIRONMENT OF
THE CULTURE? WHAT RELATIONSHIPS CAN YOU
DEFINE BETWEEN THE CULTURE YOU ARE STUDYING
AND THE DOMINANT CULTURE?

23. QUESTIONS
WHAT LITERATURE ABOUT THE CULTURE IS
AVAILABLE? DO YOU KNOW ANY PEOPLE
WHO USED TO BE MEMBERS OF THE
CULTURE WHOM YOU COULD INTERVIEW
TO HELP DEVELOP A SENSE OF WHAT TO
LOOK FOR ONCE YOU ENTER THE
COMMUNITY?

24. QUESTIONS
DO YOU HAVE A VIABLE WAY OF ENTERING THE
CULTURE?
DO YOU HAVE ACCESS TO INSIDE WRITTEN
DOCUMENTS — SUCH AS INTEROFFICE
MEMORANDUM, RESEARCH STUDIES, OR
GENERAL ESSAYS—THAT CAN PROVIDE YOU
WITH INFORMATION ABOUT PROGRAM GOALS,
PROBLEMS, AND POWER RELATIONS?

25. QUESTIONS
WHAT METHODS WILL YOU USE TO GATHER
FACTS? WILL YOU, FOR EXAMPLE, USE ANY
QUESTIONNAIRES OR INTERVIEWS?
WHAT SCHEDULE DO YOU PLAN TO FOLLOW?
HOW MUCH TIME DO YOU ALLOW FOR DATA
COLLECTION OR FOR DATA INTERPRETATION?

26. Communication
AND OBSERVATION

27. Types of Communication
1) Verbal Communication.
2) Non-verbal/Interpersonal communication.
3) Written Communications.
4) Formal & Informal.
5) Visual Communication.

28. Consider:
Speed
Direction
Shape
Parts of Body
Types of Motion (wave, kick, spiral,
jump, etc.)
Comparisons (What does a move
remind you of?)