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Methodology of Social Research Sukanya Das, Lovely Professional University

notes Unit-20: Ethnography

contents
objectives
introduction
20.1 ethnography field Work

20.2 summary
20.3 Keywords
20.4 review Questions
20.5 further readings

objectives

After studying this unit students will be able to:
y Attain the knowledge of ethnography field work
y Know the difference between the daily activities of reality and the scientific beliefs.

introduction

Method of preparing a detailed descriptive account of customary behaviour, beliefs and psychologies
of any society is called ethnography. it is a branch of cultural anthropology. it is mostly prepared by
field-work. It is generally related to the descriptive study of the primitive or pre-educated society. In
this branch of knowledge, as compared to analysis and narration, importance is given to description
only. in ethnography, mostly research method of participant observation is used. A branch of cultural
anthropology that deals with the comparative study of cultural elements of various societies is known
by the name of ethnology. What is the difference in the cultures and what are the reasons behind these
differences is the main subject—matter of study in ethnology. ethnography and ethnology are two
different concepts. in ethnography a few communities are only described, whereas in ethnology, on
the basis of material received from ethnography, efforts are made to search the principles. for this
comparative study of material of various communities is done.

20.1 Ethnography Field Work

Through ethnography field-work, humans make a scientific study of social events and communities.
in this ethnographer stays with those people like normal life and studies those communities through
field-work and also keeps such people of those communities with him who may collect the right
information. such ethnography’s time may be usually one year or more or sometime this job may go
on for a long time also. In it ethnographer completes the field-work and writes about his experiences.
this written record is a schedule of daily life in which along with mentioning of incidences, assortment
of many proceedings and events is also included.

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