Ronnie Roland
Unit # 6 Assignment 1
SS3150

Ethnography (from the Greek words ethnos = nation, and graphein = writing) refers to the qualitative research method of describing human social phenomena, based on data obtained primarily from fieldwork. The goal is a complete, accurate description of the culture being studied, on its own terms. Ethnography should not be confused with ethnology, which is the comparative study of cultures. Although ethnographic studies inevitably involve some comparisons with other cultures, their primary purpose is not comparison.
The roots of ethnographic studies are found in the reports of travelers and historians dating back to the Greek writer Herodotus, and more recently, of traders and colonial administrators. The inherent difficulty of ethnographic studies is immediately apparent in these reports, as the writers often misinterpreted for various reasons the activities they witnessed in foreign cultures.
Ethnography relies primarily on detailed descriptions of the social life and cultural phenomena of a particular group of people.
I choose ethnography because even thought I have not been in Hurricane Katrina myself and my family have been in a hurricane while station on the Gulf Coast, and for those that have suffered in Hurricane Hugo ,we have an ideal of what happens during these trying time
The good part about Ethnography is that it closes the gap between cultures, enabling people to better understand the true meaning and value of different customs and practices in once distant (Ethnographic Research, 2008)cultures. In ethnographic research one must put aside one's own cultural views in order to enter into the mindset of the people under study. Only by putting ourselves into the "shoes" of others, can we understand the meaning of their thoughts and behavior, and so develop meaningful relationships with them.
On the other hand you got to take the good with the bad; the bad part is the researcher's own subjectivity may influence the objectivity of the data. In ethnographic research, the people being studied are described by the researcher through his own cultural thought system, using the researcher's own terminology. 2. The people being studied are described by the researcher through his own cultural thought system, using the researcher's own terminology. 3. The people under observation, consciously or unconsciously, may act in order to please the researcher, or to better perform their supposed roles.
I’ve been there and seen how a natural disaster can affect people that are living in the event, your life has been turned upside down all of a sudden ,the worst part about it there’s nothing you can do to stop or prevent it,you just have to ride it out and try to be as prepared as you can be.

References

Ethnographic Research. (2008, April 3). Retrieved Febuary 8, 2014, from www.contextresearch.com.