Historically, ethnographers set themselves apart from other social scientists by insisting on long-term immersive fieldwork. A minimum of one-year residency in the community where they wished to study; learning the local language; developing social ties and participating in the daily activities are all part of this “immersion.” Also, the jarring effects of isolation far away from home was considered essential.

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It is worth noting that anthropology had a distinct male bias in its early history. Despite - or perhaps because of - imposed limitations, many women pioneered new and innovative ways of doing and writing ethnography: Margaret Mead, Zora Neale Hurston and Ruth Benedict, just to name a few.

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Ethnographic practice began to change slowly in the 1980s to be more flexible and adaptable in different situations. My own dissertation fieldwork in the 1990s was considered somewhat risky because my “community” was highly mobile and not geographically bounded. It has become commonplace since to use ethnographic method for the study of migrant groups, fluid social scenes and groups defined by activities and identities but not by residency.

Even though ethnographic method originated in the study of "exotic" cultures, ethnographic thinking can be applied to what you see or do everyday, everywhere you go! Check out additional resources below for examples of how this works.