Daybook Entry: Ethnography

Vocabulary
Ethnography- the scientific description of the customs of individual peoples and culture.
Primary research-first person research
Secondary research- scholarly research
Discourse community- a group of people who share a set of basic values and assumptions
Observation participant- the researcher
Subjective knowledge- personal knowl
edge
Objective knowledge- free from bias knowledge
Reliability- doing the same thing and getting the same results
Validity- can we trust what we hear, read, see?
Representatives- a sample; has to be an accurate sample of the group
Questionnaires- short easily understandable
Surveys- large amount of data
Qualitative- measure by concepts
Quantitive- measure the numbers
Correlation- the variables and how they relate
Interviews- structured vs. understanding
Observational Research
1. Non-participant
2. Participant
Contents
1. Direct quotes and conversations
2. In-text citations and paraphrasing
3. Different headers/title for different subject of the ethnography
4. Along with 2nd research, author included primary research
5. Conclusion
6. End notes
7. Work cited
Primary research
1. Collecting field notes
2. Based on observation you will have your discourse group
3. Write your 1st hand research
Secondary research
1. Utilize the library research center- academic scholarly articles
Reflection
This is the first ethnography that I have ever done. In high school, I have done secondary
research based on a prompt was given instead of picking my own prompt. As I was deciding on a
prompt, I realized that it was harder than it looked because I had to pick a prompt that is
interesting to me, but I must be able to collect data and research on the topic. The concept of
ethnography is to go in depth on a topic based on the discourse community that I have chosen.
Since I was on campus during the two weeks prior to the deadline, my discourse community was

college students. I had some problems avoiding first-person point of view because I can relate to
the subject and what I was researching.