Decode the art of people reading and writing and how it has shaped social research over the years.

As humans who are a part of society, we play many roles and each one is different from the other.

We learn to get our needs fulfilled by our families as children and also to provide for them as parents, we learn to become social beings through institutions like schools and universities that shape us as students, and we learn about our social status and position in the society with the job we take up as professionals, etc.

So many roles to play each day. But even as you play so many different roles and have so many different traits in each role, people who have known you for years will be able to best describe you as a whole even without experiencing each of your roles.

Your family and close friends will be able to easily describe you as a person in terms of how you are professionally, personally, and socially. But how do they do that?

How can your friends and family accurately read you even without being present with you in each role you play?

This becomes possible because of the art of observation and interaction. For years together your friends and family have observed you, your behavior, and your responses in your natural setting and thus they can chalk out some dominant traits in you as a person.

You may also put it as over the years they've read all of your layers simply via observation and interaction with you in your natural environment where you were always being yourself.

Let us believe this is how we learn to read individuals in a society. Piece by piece, observation by observation, and interaction by interaction.

Ethnography comes from this train of thought in anthropology. But this was at a very micro level. Let us see how ethnography works at a macro level when we read people as collective beings of society.

You must have come across the word Ethnicity very often. But what does ethnicity mean?

As per a definition from Oxford languages, Ethnicity can be defined as “the fact or state of belonging to a social group that has a common national or cultural tradition”.

Our ethnicity helps us identify as a part of a culture, a religion, an ancestral legacy, a social group, and even a nationality.

Our Ethnicity speaks volumes about our traditions, rituals, cultural heritage, etc. For example, if someone says I am an Indian by my Ethnicity, you can make out that this individual has culturally rich roots and you can also pick up certain practices that this individual's ethnicity finds of utmost importance like respecting elders, treating guests as gods, respecting all cultures and religions, etc.

Just knowing that a person is Indian you were able to identify so many crucial characteristics and traits that this individual identifies with.

For example, if a person says I'm from Japan, you immediately know that etiquette and mannerism are of utmost importance, punctuality, being true to their work, conducting yourself politely, etc comes naturally to this person because their ethnicity has imbibed in them.

But how do you read people from where they come from? How do you understand someone from their ethnicity? Their cultural heritage and background? It all stems from the field of Ethnography in Anthropology. 

What exactly is Ethnography? And How has it been contributing to social studies and anthropology?

Ethnography has been derived from two Greek words, Ethnos which means “Folk, People or Nation” and grapho which means “Writing”. Summed up it means People Writing which means Culture Writing.

If you go by this definition and link it to the fields of History and Sociology, you will realize how people writing or cultural writing was at the heart of these social science fields.

For years we have been studying Empires like the Roman Empire, and Greek Empire, and Cultural Mythologies like Greek Mythology, Hindu Mythology, etc.

We have read about wars, we have heard about the Spartans and Vikings, and in modern History about Renaissance, Revolutions, Wars, etc.

So much has been written in the past that defines and shapes the present. So many of our celebrations and festivals come from people and culture writing. To an extent that our entire lives have been shaped by this field of study.

Anthropology is a field dedicated to studying human behavior and humanitarian studies.

Why humans behave the way they do what shapes their beliefs and social personas etc are all studied under anthropology. That is exactly why Ethnography is so crucial in Anthropology.

Without having a record of people and cultural evolution over the years, anthropology cannot draw inferences about human behavior in a society.

Ethnography is about observing people in their natural setting or environment where they can truly express themselves and not be controlled or manipulated in any way.

Day-to-day observations in their natural setting can tell us a lot about people and their tendencies and behavior patterns.

We see so many research papers that act as social commentary and bring our focus to how certain common human behavior is rising. 

Ethnography is a Qualitative field of Research. The art of Public Reading and Writing can tell us how society functions and behaves as a whole.

For example, today we see a rise in people chasing materialistic possessions to maintain their social status in society and this is because people are always buying the next big thing they see in the market.

This field of study also helps Consumer Behaviour Studies to identify consumer buying trends and what pushes people towards buying new products. 

According to the Definition, “Ethnography can be defined as research designed to describe and analyze the social life and culture of a particular social system, based on detailed observation of what people do”.

For eg, In India, you can observe that no matter how busy the people are in their lives and irrespective of which culture or religion they come from, they will always make time to pray and express their gratitude to their gods and deities.

Whether it be by visiting temples, mosques, churches, Gurdwaras, or at their small worship place at home.

A majority of people in India will always visit the temple first when something nice happens in their lives or to celebrate new beginnings, new achievements, etc.

You will find at least 90% of the Indian Population have a small worship place in their homes and they will always begin the day by offering prayers and gratitude to their gods, goddesses, and deities.

This observation of what people do in their day-to-day lives gives us an important insight into how Indians are very serious about their religious practices and take their culture and religion very seriously. 

But how is India then called a Secular Nation when so many Cultures and Religions thrive here together? Ethnography shows how people come together and celebrate every festival and occasion irrespective of which religion or culture it belongs to.

And Ethnography is not just true in terms of religion, culture, and ethnicity. You can read and write to people based on something as common as their love for sports.

India is primarily a Cricket Playing and Loving Nation, but if you go to Spain, you will find people who Love Football or Soccer.

These countries celebrate these respective games and win as festivals and occasions and these sports play a very important part in the lives of these people.

Irrespective of Festivities and Occasions, Culture and Religion, we also see how ethnography helps us read how the socially different classes in the society feel about their daily lives.

For example, we see that minority classes and castes are always very fearful of expressing their views and opinions because they are often oppressed by the majority class or caste.

In India, the Varna System taught us how the Classification of Castes in India oppressed minorities like Dalits, Scheduled Castes, and Scheduled Tribes of India.

But because of ethnography and knowledge about how minorities have suffered in the past, the Government of India brought the provision of Reservations for minorities in Educational and Professional Institutions to make sure they get an equal opportunity to come up as members of society without being looked down upon and can live a respectful life.

You can observe that a majority of Doctors and Engineers come from the Reservation quota and how this reservation enabled minorities to come to par with the majority class.

Ethnography enables minorities to fight for their rights and to be respected as equal individuals in society.

Ethnography has been able to write about the people, the culture, and the practices of our society in the past to be able to give us a better present and future.

It is important to note that Ethnography is about Descriptive Qualitative Research. It comes from the fields of visual and social anthropology and needs to be conducted over a long period to draw strong inferences and conclusions.

The qualitative study needs no statistical analysis and thus only by observation and interaction, the researcher can be successful at ethnography.

What are the Advantages of Ethnography Research?

1. Since the Researcher is only in the role of observation and general interaction without enforcing anything on the participants, the researcher gets direct access to the culture and practices of a group.

2. Since the people being observed are in their natural environment or setting this leads to greater flexibility and openness.

3. Ethnography attempts to prove or verify certain theories or hypotheses.

4. The whole idea is to give a deeper insight into a culture and to gain perspective and a culture-specific narrative.

What are the Disadvantages of Ethnography Research?

1. Since this method of research is subject to observation and limited interaction, the researcher's bias or predetermined notions can lead to wrong or faulty conclusions.

2. Ethnography research is subject to Subjective Interpretation and can have many angles to an observation. This can again lead to faulty analysis and can miss out on some crucial aspects of research. 

3. In some cases where the researcher is involved in the process, it becomes difficult to maintain necessary boundaries and distance from the group being observed as the researcher gets pulled into the conversations and behavior patterns of the group.

4. Ethnography is a very tedious and time-consuming process that has to be done for a prolonged period to come to an essential discovery or conclusion. 

5. The researcher needs to have a proper plan of action and needs to stay focused to make sure the researcher stays true to the research and does not become engrossed as a participant.

So How can the Researcher Take up Ethnographic Research?

There are various approaches as to which role can a researcher take up to get closer access to the group being observed. They are:

1. Complete Observer: here the researcher is not involved with any kind of interaction with the group being observed. The researcher simply keeps an eye on the behavior pattern of the group. The researcher is at a safe distance so that the people being observed can act naturally and not be awkward about being observed. The people involved are completely unaware that they are being observed by the researcher.

2. Observer as Participant: here the researcher is still an observer but the only difference is the group being observed or the participants are aware of the researcher observing them. Thus the researcher becomes a participant but with limited interaction with the participant and is not completely into the group as one. 

3. Participant as Observer: in this case, the researcher is trying to observe his/ her group of people who are very well aware of who the researcher is. The group is almost like a bunch of friends or family members that are aware of the researcher and his/her intention to study them. So here in this case the participant of the group only takes on the role of the observer. 

4. Complete participant: unlike the one mentioned above, here the researcher is playing a spy and is not revealing his/her intention to observe the group as a researcher. The researcher is involved with the group as a participant but is secretly an observer. The people are completely unaware of the researcher's intentions and therefore act their most natural selves around the researcher. 

Out of the above-mentioned ways of taking up ethnographic research, the most suitable ones are said to be the complete observer and complete participant; however, this could vary as per the demand of your research.