FIELD RESEARCH AND FOCUS GROUP RESEARCHethnography, we describe people’s lives and behav-
ior but also try to infer the meaning of behavior
(i.e., the thoughts or beliefs that reside behind it).
The major goal of ethnography is to move from
what we can easily observe externally to what the
people we observe truly feel and mean internally.
For example, someone invites you to a “bridal
shower.” Based on your cultural knowledge, you
may infer that it will be an informal party and you
should bring a gift for a person who will soon
marry. Cultural knowledge includes symbols,
songs, sayings, facts, ways of behaving, and objects
(e.g., cell phones, hamburgers). We learn the cul-
ture by watching television, listening to parents and
friends, observing others, and so on.
Cultural knowledgeincludes both explicit
knowledge(i.e., what we know and talk about) and
tacit knowledge(i.e., what we implicitly know
but rarely acknowledge directly). For example,
explicit knowledge includes the social event (e.g.,
a shower). Most people can describe what happens
at one. Tacit knowledge includes the unspoken
cultural norm for appropriate gifts and method
of presenting them. People may not even think
about the norm or if uncertain may feel anxious
about how to use the norm properly. They feel dis-
comfort when someone violates the norm, but it
is difficult to pinpoint the source of discomfort.
Ethnographers describe the explicit and tacit cul-
tural knowledge that members use. They use detailed
descriptions and careful analysis to disassemble
and reassemble the events.
The anthropologist Clifford Geertz (1926–
2006) stated that a critical part of ethnography is
thick description.^5 It is a rich, highly detailed
description of specifics (as opposed to a summary,
or generalization, or use of standard variables). A
thick description of a 3-minute event may take sev-
eral pages. It captures exactly what has occurred and
places the drama of events in a larger context. It per-
mits multiple interpretations or perspectives and
gives the broader social-cultural context, allowing
the reader to infer deeper cultural meanings.
Ethnomethodology, a distinct approach devel-
oped in the 1960s, is the study of commonsense
knowledge.^6 To study common sense, ethnomethod-
ologists observe its creation and use in ongoing
social interactions in natural settings. Ethnometho-
dology is an extreme form of field research based
on phenomenological philosophy and a social con-
structionist approach that blends theory, philos-
ophy, and method. In Mehan and Wood (1975:3, 5)
we see a description of ethnomethodology.[E]thnomethodology is not a body of findings, nor
a method, nor a theory, nor a world view. I view
ethnomethodology as a form of life.... Eth-
nomethodology is an attempt to display the reality
of a level which exists beyond the sociological
level.... It differs from sociology much as sociol-
ogy differs from psychology.Ethnomethodology involves the specialized,
highly detailed analysis of microsituations (e.g.,
transcripts of short conversations or videotapes of
social interactions). Compared to Chicago School
field research, it is more self-conscious about
method and sees research findings arising as much
from the specific method we use to study as from
the social life we study.
A core assumption of ethnomethodology is
that social meaning is fragile and fluid, not fixed,
stable, or solid. We constantly create and recreate
meaning as an ongoing process. For this reason,
ethnomethodologists closely analyze what we
say, including our pauses and the context of our
speech. They assume that people “accomplish”
commonsense understanding by applying tacit
social-cultural rules. Ethnomethodologists wish to
reveal the unspoken rules that we follow but about
which we are not explicitly conscious. They see us
as constantly interpreting (i.e., figuring out or assign-
ing meaning to) everyday events by applying ourThick description Qualitative data in which a
researcher attempts to capture all details of a social
setting in an extremely detailed description and con-
vey an intimate feeling for the setting and the inner
lives of people in it.
Ethnomethodology A social science approach that
combines philosophy, social theory, and method to
study commonsense knowledge; investigates ordinary
social interaction in small-scale settings to reveal the
rules that people use to construct and maintain their
everyday social reality.