Ethnographic Research in a Student Cafeteria
Ethnographic Research Assignment: This assignment will consist of you completing ethnographic research in a public place where people commonly interact with one another (e.g. a park, store, cafeteria, major intersection, or other public location). I prefer that you do not choose the student union. For this assignment, you are required to spend 20 minutes observing norms that govern social interactions. This includes interactions between people, but also the interactions people have with nonhumans (such as animals, objects, and technology). During the observations, you will need to take notes that you will hand in along with the assignment. You should notate a total of about 15 observations of norms and/or agency that you make during the 20 minute observation period to ensure that you will be able to select the 6 best examples for the written portion of the assignment. Your notes should correspond with the questions listed below that you will answer after completing the ethnographic observation:
Questions
1. Describe the public space where you conducted your observations, and explain why you chose this location as a site for observing normative interactions? (100-150 words)
2. Describe at least three norms or codes of conduct that people followed in this public space. Which norms varied based on individual characteristics, such as gender, race, or class? Theorize why you think people followed these unspoken rules. (150-200 words)
3. Describe at least three ways that people enacted agency during these interactions. This includes, but is not limited to, the breaking of the norms or codes of conduct mentioned earlier. Theorize why you think people enacted agency in those specific moments. (150-200 words)
4. Overall, what did you learn from this assignment, and how would you do ethnographic observation differently next time? (50-100 words)
The document you upload must include both: (1) the answers to the four assignment questions above; and (2) a written transcript of your field notes. The field notes should be written in a bulleted format, with each observation mentioned in a separate bullet. Your transcribed field notes should be comprehensible and understandable enough for me to grade
Grading Rubric
• 25%: comprehensible and understandable field notes that highlight approximately 15 observations.
• 25%: a reflection that answers the four questions listed above while also meeting the minimum word requirement.
• 25%: writing clearly with little to no spelling or grammatical errors.
• 25%: demonstrating a strong understanding of sociological concepts (such as social norms, agency, gender, race, and class).
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Ethnographic Research
Introduction
In ethnographic research, researchers interact with the study participants in real-time environment (Naidoo 1). Through ethnography, it is possible to get a deeper understanding of the design problem. Therefore, it helps to understand a problem better and come up with better solutions (O'reilly 12).
Question One
I decided to conduct my data collection observation at the student cafeteria because it is an area that is majorly frequented by students. In this regard, it enabled me to collect data on a common population. Additionally, the cafeteria is frequented by different students regardless of their age, gender, religion or race. This further enabled me to expand my area of data collection. Moreover, different people came to the coffee shop for different reasons. This made it easy to understand the differences in the patterns in their behaviors, and it further gave me the opportunity to collect information on various kinds of data. Most importantly, it gave me the opportunity to collect data on how different people from different ethnic backgrounds interacted socially. It was important to establish the frequency of people of people of different racial affiliations hanging out together.
Question Two
One of the most important observations I made was that as opposed to men, ladies were more than willing to clean up their own mess. Men on the other side believed that they were just there to eat and someone else will do the cleaning. The next important code of conduct that people followed was their obedience to the cafeteria rules. People understood that the cafeteria was a self service place and no one among the people I observed came there expecting to be served. They all obediently ensured that they served themselves. However, there were a few special cases of people with disabilities. The staff was kind enough to see that they got the services they needed without having to hustle so much. Finally, the other observation I made was that the ladies were more respectful towards the cafeteria employees ads compared to the males. They talked to them more politely and they were more engaging in their conversations. On the other hand, the men were more demanding and they never took the time to engage the employees in friendly conversations. To most of them, they were the kings and the employees were there to serve them. Consequently, they had a bossy character that most of the employees were never comfortable with.
Question Three
One of the guiding principles of the ...