Ethnography Proposal - Bart Collins, assignment for COm 318 PDF

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Bart Collins, assignment for COm 318...

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Morgan Murphy COM 204 11/2/2018 Ethnography Proposal I belong to a cooperative house on campus, Glenwood Cooperative. We are a house made up of 35 women. Unlike a sorority, a cooperative house is entirely student-run and not dependent on higher organizations. Additionally, we are a part of a larger community, as there are 12 houses (both male and female) that make up the cooperative system. The ethnographic study of the culture of a cooperative house would be fascinating. The ethnographer could explore the differences between a cooperative house and a fraternity or sorority, analyze the connections between houses, and study the relationships of groups within a home. In my opinion, observing the culture of the house while living in it would be the best possible way to gather excellent information about it. It is vital that the ethnographer would be fully submerged in this particular culture. Many aspects about the culture would go unnoticed and overlooked if the ethnographer solely relied on interviews or focus groups members in the house. Observation is the best research method in this case because it allows the ethnographer to form conclusions on their own, whereas an interview relies on members of the culture to convey information that might not be entirely factual. Observation could occur at every moment in the ethnographers day when they are living in the house, but it would be beneficial for them to be at events where most of the house is together, such as dinners and house meetings. While living and observing the culture of a cooperative house is the best possible way to draw conclusions about it, it is necessary to realize the potential reactivity problems that could arise. Reactivity is crucial to ethnography because it recognizes the possible error that needs to

be calculated and forces the ethnographer to realize their impact on the culture. In the study of a cooperative house, specifically mine, reactivity would most likely be present in the way girls act. For example, people may try to present themselves as a dedicated student or an avid partier when they are not. Further, the makeup of friend groups may be different if members know that someone is studying them. Although these are possibilities, it is important to realize that if an ethnographer is researching correctly, they will be a part of the culture for at least a year and it would be incredibly difficult to alter one’s behavior consistently for over a year....