Open AccessOur Journey to Becoming Ethnographers: An Exploration of Rhetorical Structures as Lived Experience
Author(s) -
Heather A. Blair,
Jacqueline Filipek,
Meridith Lovell,
Marlene E. McKay,
Rhonda Nixon,
Miao Sun
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
international journal of qualitative methods
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.414
H-Index - 29
ISSN - 1609-4069
DOI - 10.1177/160940691101000203
Subject(s) - ethnography , performative utterance , feeling , rhetorical question , sociology , grounded theory , qualitative research , autoethnography , media studies , aesthetics , psychology , social science , art , anthropology , social psychology , literature
This article, originally written as a performative piece, presents the experiences and perceptions of five graduate students and one professor as they reflect on and write about becoming ethnographers throughout a graduate-level research course. Data sources include reflective journals, synthesis papers, and academic literature. Following the completion of the course, the group came together and applied grounded theory to analyze the data and write collectively about their experiences, feelings, and insights on ethnographic work. They present the data as a readers theatre that incorporates portions of a children's book with the group's reflections. Like authors of other academic literature the group discusses the challenges and benefits of ethnographic research. Their collaborative writing reflects their polyvocality as they negotiated their journeys toward becoming ethnographers