Environmental Engineering Reference
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throughout the study. As discussed, the ethnographer is interested in under-
standing and describing a social and cultural scene from the emic, or insider's,
perspective. The ethnographer is both storyteller and scientist; the closer the
readerofanethnographycomestounderstandingthenative'spointofview,the
better the story and the better the science.
OVERVIEW
This chapter presents an overview of the steps involved in ethnographic work.
Thefollowingchapterselaboratethesestepsindetail.Theprocessbeginswhen
the ethnographer selects a problem or topic and a theory or model to guide the
study. The ethnographer simultaneously chooses whether to follow a basic or
appliedresearchapproachtodelineateandshapetheeffort.Theresearchdesign
then provides a basic set of instructions about what to do and where to go dur-
ing the study. Fieldwork is the heart of the ethnographic research design. In the
field, basic anthropological concepts, data collection methods and techniques,
and analysis are the fundamental elements of “doing ethnography.” Selection
and use of various pieces of equipment—including the human instrument—
facilitate the work. This process becomes product through analysis at various
stages in ethnographic work—in field notes, memoranda, interim reports, and,
most dramatically, in the published report, article, or book.
Thefollowingchapterspresentthesestepsinalogicalorder,usingconcrete
case examples throughout to illustrate each step. This step-by-step approach
also highlights the utility of planning and organization in ethnographic work.
The more organized the ethnographer, the easier is his or her task of making
sense of the mountains of data collected in the field. Sifting through notepads
filledwithillegiblescrawl,listeningtohoursofdigitalvoicerecordings,label-
ing and organizing digital photos and video, and conducting cross-tabs and
variousdatasortsinonlinesurveysaremuchlessdauntingtotheethnographer
who has taken an organized, carefully planned approach.
The reality, however, is that ethnographic work is not always orderly. It
involves serendipity, creativity, being in the right place at the right or wrong
time, a lot of hard work, and old-fashioned luck. Thus, although this discus-
sion proceeds within the confines of an orderly structure, I have made a con-
certed effort to ensure that it also conveys as well the unplanned, sometimes
chaotic, and always intriguing character of ethnographic research.
Whereas in most research, analysis follows data collection, in ethnographic
research, analysis precedes and is concurrent with data collection.An ethnog-
rapher is a human instrument and must discriminate among different types of
data and analyze the relative worth of one path over another at every turn in
