WHY ETHNOGRAPHY?
Ethnography is a labor-intensive research method that requires the practitioner to go and spend a duration of time in the community of people they wish to study. Why do we go to such length to “immerse” ourselves when you can email hundreds of survey questionnaires with a click,which is more efficient -- Right?
The answer: efficiency does not equal quality.
There is nothing fundamentally wrong with the pursuit of efficiency. However, we need to be aware that there are trade-offs. At best, quantitative analysis of survey data can miss a lot of nuance, and in the worst case scenario, it can misguide our understanding of human action entirely.
Ethnography’s unique strength comes from its insistence to observe and interpret human actions in their own context. It also combines a variety of information-gathering techniques (of which surveys can be part), so there’s built-in checks and balances for the reliability of information we are gathering. As a result the quality of information is unsurpassed by more “efficient” forms of research.
Why "Think Ethnography"?
While ethnography offers a great deal of advantage in understanding human actions, a full-brown ethnographic research project is not for everyone. At the same time, everyone can learn to apply an ethnographic way of thinking to what they experience and observe everyday, wherever they might be - while commuting, at the amusement park, even in the back alley of your neighborhood.
Ideas and materials in this site make this way of thinking more accessible and applicable to everyone interested. French theorist Roland Barth once wrote, "intellectual's work is never done." Once you learn to "think ethnography," you'll start to see the world around you in new light.
Why Teach/Learn Ethnography?
Full-scale ethnographic research will take a substantial amount of training to plan and many years (even decades!) to complete -- not possible for just about anyone but full-time academics.
By contrast, ethnography as a way of thinking can be learned through reading assignments and small experiential exercises infused into a variety of learning situations.
Ethnographic thinking allows us to see what’s behind things that seem too mundane, too ordinary, to take notice of details of human actions and their meanings. Even if you are not intending to become an ethnographer, learning to see the world like an ethnographer gives you a new analytical lens and makes you a more insightful, empathetic human being.
Here’s an example. You can easily find images of Japan from the internet but how do you find the story behind these images? Ethnographic thinking will take you far beyond kimono-clad geishas and futuristic anime, down to the real life of real people: how they feel about the daily grind of commuting, what they make of a Hello Kitty family at the play park with a frowning dad and sulking daughter; or how they co-exist with stray cats all over their cities.