Ch. 2 - The Ethnographer’s Field Entry and Tools of Practice


The field of ethnography sounds so interesting! Observing the environment in which individuals live would have to be an intriguing path of study. Before this semester, I was not familiar at all with the field of ethnography. Heath and Street give a precise explanation by stating,” Ethnography…is a theory-building enterprise constructed through detailed systematic observing, recording, and analyzing of human behavior in specifiable spaces and interactions” (29).

There are two ethnographic studies I would like to focus on from this chapter: the juggler and skateboarders.

The Juggler

I would have never thought about studying a juggler, and I certainly would have never guessed how much went into this! Ethnographer, Molly Mills, created an ‘intellectual framework” around the skill of juggling. Her study consisted of the observation of one juggler by the name of Roger. The purpose of Molly’s study was to probe into the life of a person who chose to pursue a “self-selected expertise” (34).

As a person who pursued the art of playing the violin growing up, Molly’s research needed to be the reflection of a study centered around, “making the familiar strange” (32). Collecting data, by avoiding the why questions, is how Molly conducts her research. Instead, Molly ask the “who, when, what, where, and how questions” to decide “what is happening” (35).


A research conducted in this fashion would be more likely to produce authentic answers. Responses that seem to be of little importance may be part of the missing puzzle for the researcher.

The Skateboarders

Shirley unraveled a missing piece of the puzzle while conducting an ethnographic study on skateboarders. Shirley had to look past any preconceived notions concerning skateboarders. The community in which the skateboarders belonged to viewed them as unreliable and ill responsible delinquents who failed at school and were destined to fail at any career. How could these unreliable teens arrive at the same location on a certain night and at a certain time without actually keeping up with the time?

Through observation and not falling into the trap of being lead by preconceived notions, Shirley discovered that the skateboarders actually were very prompt. The members of the group determined the time they would meet according to a television show. After the show, wherever they were at, they arrived at their destination on time.

Shirley was delighted about her discovery, even though the boys did not see much importance about it, and instead asked her questions about the show. Through observation and asking the appropriate questions, Molly was able to obtain the answers she was looking for.