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Probably the best explanation of what ethnography entails in terms of data collection is given by Martyn Hammersley and Paul Atkinson (2007[1990]: 3):

Ethnography usually involves the ethnographer participating in people’s daily lives for an extended period of time, watching what happens, listening to what is said, and/or asking questions through informal and formal interviews, collecting documents and artefacts – in fact, gathering whatever data are available to throw light on the issues that are the emerging focus of inquiry.

Ethnography usually involves a researcher studying a whole community of people, sometimes in a small town or village, or possibly part of a larger town. The method involves the researcher going to live among the people being studied and becoming involved in community life as a participant observer. The best way to understand people is to observe them by interacting with them over an extended period, sometimes years. Anthropologists have to share the lives of the people they are studying as much as possible. This experience is sometimes romanticized (seen as exciting or wondrous); however, in reality, most anthropologists work alone and experience loneliness, especially in the early stages of fieldwork. While fieldwork can be a challenging experience, almost all anthropologists find themselves assimilating to the culture of their host communities to a greater or lesser degree.

assimilation The absorption of an individual or minority group of people into another society or group, achieved by learning and adopting the cultural traditions of the society in which assimilation occurs; it is also often hastened by intermarriage and by de-emphasizing cultural and or biological differences

Figure 2.1 Problems with ethnography

There are a number of advantages and limitations in ethnographic research methods. People can be studied when acting in ways they consider normal to them and may not be completely aware that they are being watched.