About Ethnographic Studies
Human society is subdivided into a seemingly endless set of unique cultures, from a nomadic South African tribe to the business elite in Manhattan, New York. Without ethnographic studies, many of these fascinating cultures would go unobserved, and small pieces of the larger human experience would be lost.
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The Facts
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Ethnographic studies, or ethnography, is defined as the study of cultural processes, social phenomena and communities through fieldwork. Ethnography is associated with the cultural branch of anthropology, which in turn makes up one of the four branches of anthropology. Its goal is to provide an understanding of the inner workings of human culture.
Method
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Ethnographers go about understanding their chosen culture by immersing themselves fully within it. Oftentimes, they will live within a specific group for upwards of a year or much longer, performing participant observation, which means they will try and participate in the culture as fully as possible to understand the motivations of the culture. All their observations of the culture are painstakingly recorded in a journal for use later. To attain a better understanding of the culture, ethnographers also use informants, people well placed in the culture to provide insight into the cultural process.
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Use
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When ethnographers have spent an appropriate amount of time within a culture, they write of their findings so as to provide the rest of the world with the benefit of their experience. This benefit can be used by people to better understand the larger human experience or for a more specific reason. For example, a business can use ethnographers and their ethnographies to better understand the wants and needs of a customer base.
Skills
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A good ethnographer, above all, must have a good attention to details. The best ethnographies are written when every detail, no matter how seemingly unimportant, is recorded, since it allows a fuller picture of that culture to be formed in retrospect. In addition, a good ethnographer need to have the ability to learn languages quickly and have strong writing skills for their journal and later ethnography.
Misconceptions
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People may confuse cultural anthropology and ethnography as being the same thing, but ethnography is one part of cultural anthropology, albeit an important one. In addition, ethnography may be perceived as only being interested in obscure or less advanced cultures, but any group of people are game to be studied. Ethnographies have even been written on criminals in New York and housewives in upscale neighborhoods.
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