Culture, History, Power: Home

It's a short-term observation of a group

A first-hand account of a culture or group (the goal is to gain an insider's understanding)

• Focused on a particular population
• In a particular place
• During a specific time

The goal is to accurately describe the group through participant observation

Ethnographies are conducted by anthropologists

The results of the study can become a book or an article (scholarly)

There's no one place in the library with ethnographies so this can be a bit tricky.

Here are a few strategies:

Use one of the following terms to coax out the idea of an ethnography:

• Type in ethnograph* as a key word
• Use the phrase "case study" in the search
• If the database allows you to search by Subjects, try Ethnology or Social Life and Customs as a Subject

Next apply some terminology that would reflect the group or culture you are studying.  Be as specific as possible. For example:

• teen* OR adolescen*
• "college students"
• America* OR "united states"
• immigrants

Remember that research is an iterative process. Try several strategies to find as many good articles as possible.
If you're not happy with your results, add more terms and/or use limiters if you find too many results. You may also want to back away from some of your limiters and/or change your terminology if you get too few results.