Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
ability to write to different audiences will determine the effectiveness of
the work.
Writing good field notes is very different from writing a solid and illumi-
nating ethnography or ethnographically informed report. Note taking is the
rawest kind of writing.The note taker typically has an audience of one.Thus,
although clarity, concision, and completeness are vital in note taking, style is
not a primary consideration (see Emerson, Fretz, & Shaw, 1995).
Writing for an audience, however, means writing to that audience. Reports
for academics, government bureaucrats, private and public industry officials,
medical professionals, and various educational program sponsors require dif-
ferent formats, languages, and levels of abstraction.The brevity and emphasis
on findings in a report written for a program-level audience might raise some
academics' eyebrows and cause them to question the project's intellectual
effort. Similarly, a refereed scholarly publication would frustrate program per-
sonnel,whowouldlikelyfeelthattheresearcheriswastinghisorhertimewith
irrelevant concerns, time that is needed to take care of business. In essence,
both parties feel that the researcher is simply not in touch with their reality.
These two audiences are both interested in the fieldwork and the researcher's
conclusions, but have different needs and concerns. Good ethnographic work
can usually produce information that is relevant to both parties.
This is possible when performance writing is used to guide ethnographic
writing. Performance writing involves writing for an audience, caring about
them, and hoping that your work will make a difference to them (Madison,
2005, p. 192). It is not unnecessarily complicated. It is relational in that it
treatsreaderslikeagyroscopeorcompass,inwhichthewriter'swordsrevolve
around them. The skillful ethnographer will communicate effectively with all
audiences—in part because the ethnographer cares about each audience—
using the right smoke signals for the right tribe. However, it is not simply a
matter of language. (See Fetterman, 1987b, for a discussion of the ethnogra-
pher as rhetorician. See alsoYin, 2008, for a discussion of differing audiences
in the presentation of a case study.)
Blogs and Web pages provide a powerful medium for writing progress
reports, posting videos of key events, and capturing the spirit of the commu-
nityyouworkwith.Theyaretoolstofacilitatereciprocity,byprovidingaplace
to post reports, tools, and information the community values. Blogs and Web
pages are also easily customized to multiple audiences, including scholarly
audiences, program staff, and members of the community. These Web-based
documents also are highly accessible. They provide an immediacy and trans-
parency to ethnographic insights and understandings. They help solidify a
sense of community between ethnographers and the people they work with.
Blogs andWeb pages can be informal or scholarly; however, they are typically
