Week 6 - Ethnographic fieldwork project, part 2
Due: 1pm, Thursday, October 4; must be uploaded to dropbox
Having chosen a community of practice, your next assignment is to observe and record your observations.
Observing is hard but it is one of the key components of the ethnographic method. For this assignment, please do not ask anyone any specific questions. Rather than saying, "What are you doing there when you do X?" watch what people are doing. Pay attention to details.
Please spend thirty minutes in your location and do your best to observe what you see. There are no particular questions you are required to answer, but here are a few questions that might help you start thinking about what to write down.
What time do you arrive at the location?
Does anyone greet you?
Who is there? How old are they? What are they wearing and what are they doing?
How are people communicating with each other? How are they communicating with you?
How do people move through the location?
How are people in this community practice similar to each other? How are they different?
What patterns did you notice? Did you participate in any of those patterns?
How did you leave? How did other people react to your leaving?
You are welcome to write jotted notes on paper, but you must retype them.
Here is an example of strong fieldnotes from a former student in this course. I share them with you with his permission and knowledge.
