User:Mister Maiden/sandbox

Ethnography
Ethnography is the systemic study of different cultures through observation, spending time with the subjects, and interacting with subjects in interviews and being in their environment. It's a study tactic used to accurately depict the point of view from another culture and viewing situations through their set of values and beliefs. As a methodological practice, it is best used to understand the everyday life of another while also being sensitive to their laws and accepting their actions as interaction with the surrounding world. Researchers can use the observations to further their understanding of situations in other cultured as opposed to their own. The data collection normally takes place through the observation and open ended interviews the researchers must commit to in order to try and fully understand the culture. Researchers must spend time with their subjects and commit to weeks, if not months, of spending time with the subjects in order to properly document and understand their reactions to the world around them. It's normally done through the observation of several subjects to accurately depict their reflections of everyday life. These observations must remain neutral in nature and not disturb the subjects as so to get a completely natural reaction. Rather than presenting a certain lesson or idea, the researchers present the culture through neutral eyes and poses no actual role in changing the situation. The study method must be held to the demands of some form of systemic means of deciding what is important but also know that nothing outside of the culture can produce such a decision and effect. .

Methods
Currently, the staple methods of Ethnography depict using three methods of interaction.
 * 1) Numbered list item Fieldwork
 * 2) Numbered list item Participant Observation
 * 3) Numbered list item Open-ended interviews.

Fieldwork
Fieldwork is all about participating in the subject's natural environment by being in the field for extended periods of time(there is no actual set of time that says you have performed an ethnography well). Without this, it is impossible to actually understand how a subject interacts with their environment and why without another point of view. A researcher can look at one item and think of it in a completely different subject than the subject. Rather than only spending time reading and researching the subject's natural states, researchers must partake in learning through being on the scene.

Participant observation
Researchers must spend time with their subjects in order to make everything seem natural and to observe their reactions with their surroundings, including people, places, and events. Without properly observing the subjects through vigorous study, it's impossible to understand their embodiment of the setting and culture they reside in.

Open-ended interviews
These are interviews made with very open questions like, "How do you feel about so-and-so," or, "What do you want most in the world." Then the questions lead off to more questions based off of the answers given by the subjects. In short, the interviews are mostly lead by the subjects in how they interact and respond to things. This helps to learn more about how the subject reacts to the world around them and to understand why they believe a certain methodology. Through all three of these methods, field notes are taken from the researchers to list down everything they have learned and to later analyze for interactive experiences. .

Concerns
Some concerns brought up is that certain ethnography can be seen as targeting or presenting a message underneath the study. There is also the level of generalization that can be placed on any study. Can this study actually produce evidence that can be used to the general culture and situation? Or is it to this specific situation and only shall be used to understand what these subjects went through rather than how a person from a culture could view the situation. As a study, how can this be seen as systemic in any sense as there is no set rules for performing an ethnographic study other than the three methods? Sometimes the information retained from an ethnography can seem repetitive, so the level of saturation can be used to know when it's best time to switch from fieldwork to paper. .

It's highly difficult to view a situation neutrally and be able to connect with a group of people in a foreign land a researcher has never met before. It will always remain the slightest bit awkward as they follow them around taking notes of the subject's actions and reactions. There's no way to stop this unless attempting to perform an ethnography on one's own culture, however this could be seen as poor taste as the researcher may have some of their own opinion of the situation. The community must also accept the researcher as well and it can be highly difficult to reach the point that a researcher is completely comfortable around a community and vice versa. The researchers must condone a long, engaging stay with the subjects and whoever they interact with in order to get an accurate analysis.