Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
allowing us to visualize how the pieces fit together as we built a picture of the
program we were studying.
Database software programs set the stage for pattern identification simply
by organizing the data so that you know what you have, where it is, and how
you are categorizing it—all at a glance. In addition, it helps make explicit what
ethnographers do in their heads all the time: sorting, comparing, searching for
patterns, and building models. In some ways, the software helps demystify pat-
tern identification and analysis by clearly articulating the coding, searching,
and sorting process. It is similar to creating an index for a topic. Certain pat-
terns emerge and are documented by the frequency of page citations for each
idea or author. Data entry and coding are no less time-consuming than index
cards or the creation of an index. Manual sorting, however, is time-consuming
and labor-intensive. With database programs, data, once entered, can be sorted
frequently and effortlessly. Database software also provide a systematic form of
triangulation, helping keep the ethnographer honest by providing direct access
to the raw data in context and noting the frequently of the item almost instantly.
A computer screen snapshot of an Atlas.ti data sort is presented in Figure 5.1.
This software helps the researcher manage a large database with visual clarity
and track the categories that emerge during this phase and throughout the
project.
KEY EVENTS
Key or focal events that the fieldworker can use to analyze an entire culture
occur in every social group. Geertz (1973) eloquently used the cockfight to
understand and portray Balinese life. Key events come in all shapes and sizes.
Some tell more about a culture than others, but all provide a focus for analy-
sis (see also Atkinson, 2002; Geertz, 1957).
Key events, like digital photographs or Quicktime videos, concretely con-
vey a wealth of information. Some images are clear representations of social
activity; others provide a tremendous amount of embedded meaning. Once
the event is recorded, the ethnographer can enlarge or reduce any portion of
the picture. A rudimentary knowledge of the social situation will enable the
ethnographer to infer a great deal from key events. In many cases, the event
is a metaphor for a way of life or a specific social value. Key events provide
lenses through which to view a culture. They range from the ritual obser-
vance of the sabbath to the emergency response to a burning building in a
small kibbutz. The sabbath is a ritualized key event that occurs every week.
Ceremonial garb (or lack thereof), the orchestration of prayers, and the
