Critical Ethnography

Critical ethnography involves a cultural problem to be solved. Be looking for this problematic aspect of your topic as you search for articles for your literature review. Although it may seem unlikely at first, all topics can be linked to social/economic problems or inequalities. See me if you are having trouble making these connections.

Critical ethnography requires “subjects” (people) to be studied. Observation and questioning of “informants” are central parts of the process. Your subjects will be 10 of your classmates and maybe others if appropriate.

Critical Ethnography

1. First Step: Ethnographic Paper Topic --Write a short paragraph describing what your paper may cover:

    • Begin with reading about your topic on Wikipedia or another online encyclopedia. If you can't find your topic on Wikipedia, ask me about it.

    • Statement and explanation of general topic

    • Pose your topic as ONE question to be answered and ONE problem to be solved

    • Email as Word doc (not pdf) to me by class time

    • DO NOT USE A PAPER/TOPIC YOU HAVE WRITTEN OR ARE WRITING FOR ANOTHER CLASS!

2. Literature Review--Find four scholarly articles (written in the last 5 years) on your topic from cultural studies, anthropology or sociology journals. Best place to search is Falvey Library search page. If you have trouble finding these, see me. Rarely, newspaper coverage is all that is available on a topic.

Falvey Links: Video--on how to use Falvey Web Page

Link to Falvey Webpage

          • Email four article abstracts to Dr. Hollis as Word doc-- Include the following:

          • The central question you will try to answer in your critical ethnography

          • The abstract of the article--If the article doesn't include an abstract, summarize the article briefly.

          • Citation Information about each abstract--Use MLA Citation format

          • IMPORTANT--Do not omit the name of the journal, date, and page numbers where the article is found.

3. Read all four articles so that you will have a better idea of what to put in your survey questions.

4. Survey Questions--Include the the problem to be solved, the location/s where you plan to observe and also list 5 yes/no and why questions for each informant.

  • Here’s the procedure for creating and sending out your survey questions:

      • Open the sample KLH survey.

      • Click on 3 dots in upper right of page

      • Click Make a Copy of the survey

      • Erase my questions and put in your own (saving is automatic and the survey is now in YOUR Google drive)

      • Then at the top of the survey, in the upper right hand corner area, click on the Send icon—looks like this >

      • Paste in a classmate’s email--or perhaps all 10 classmate emails.

      • Hit SEND at bottom far right of page

      • When a classmate responds to your survey, you will see the number of responses listed at the top of the survey page. Be sure to refresh to get the latest total.

  • Title Your Survey appropriately

  • Under the title, add a short second paragraph which describes the problem you are address in your survey

  • Blank Surveys Due to Dr Hollis: Wed Nov 3

5. Send out your survey to 10 informants from our class; compile pie charts of the responses will be automatically generated -- Send out surveys after OK from KLH: Nov 8

  • I will email you an alphabetical list of the email addresses of everyone in the class. Find your email in the list and then send your survey to the following 10 classmates who come after you on the list.

6. Survey responses due back to authors--Nov 10-15--very important. Please do the surveys ASAP!!

7. Ethnography Paper Components: Be sure to use subheadings to indicate these sections of your paper.

    • Introduction--

        • History of your area of research and present day situation.

        • State what problem you will be examining and trying to solve.

        • 1 page

    • Literature Review -- Summarize the 4 articles you've selected. What have others written and discovered about this topic? --

        • 2 pages

    • Standpoint theory (reflexive self presentation)--

        • Your own gender, race, class, ability, etc. biases

        • 1 page

    • Observations and thick descriptions--Write up observations and tallies. You should include the pie charts generated by the survey forms and after each, explain your findings

        • 4 pages

    • Critical commentary describing intersectionality of gender, race, class, age, ability related to your topic and research; Also, how do these areas seem to shape the results of your survey responses and your research? Finally, what economic or materialistic motivators are involved in this problem?

        • 2 pages

  • Theoretical Section--Apply two theories that we've studied in class to your observations and topic.

      • How do the theories help in explaining the observed behavior? (Saussure, Marx, Althusser, Foucault, Butler, Postmodernism, postcolonialism, Habermas, Baudrillard)

      • 2 pages

  • Conclusion -- Proposed structural solutions to problems discovered.

      • 1 page

Total Length -- 13 pages +