Ethnography is immersing oneself in a particular culture in order to discover more about not only the environment but also about your personal qualities, comforts, and ideologies. If you are researching a culture that parallels an experience that you have had or an environment that you have been previously immersed in, a certain level of distancing and “ignorance” is necessary in order to make more keen and detailed observations. How much “ignorance” is required in order to be an effective ethnographer in this situation? What are the exceptions?

In ethnography, the research should rightfully use the researchers inquiries and interests as a basis but informants may sway the direction that the construction of the project goes. The ethnography is ideally written about the observed life and experiences of the informants; there should not be omission in order to fit the presumptions of the researcher. The relationship between researcher and informant (as well as the surroundings) is extremely important. The researcher grasps main details through observation and sometimes even imitation. The researcher becomes a participant-observer.