high-level theoretical views from the introduction
“reality is an interpreted world, not a literal world, always under symbolic construction” (Altheide and Johnson 1994:489” (Emerson et al., 2011, p. 2)
“The ethnographer seeks a deeper immersion in others’ worlds in order to grasp what they experience as meaningful and important. With immersion, the fi eld researcher sees from the inside how people lead their lives, how they carry out their daily rounds of activities, what they fi nd meaningful, and how they do so. In this way, immersion gives the fieldworker access to the fluidity of others’ lives and enhances his sensitivity to interaction and process.” (Emerson et al., 2011, p. 3)
“Goffman (1989:125), in particular, insists that field re- search involves “subjecting yourself, your own body and your own personality, and your own social situation, to the set of contingencies that play upon a set of individuals, so that you can physically and ecologically penetrate their circle of response to their social situation, or their work situation, or their ethnic situation.” Immersion in ethnographic research, then, involves both being with other people to see how they respond to events as they happen and experiencing for oneself these events and the circumstances that give rise to them.” (Emerson et al., 2011, p. 3)
on the craft: jottings
“Jottings translate to-be-remembered observations into writing on paper as quickly rendered scribbles about actions and dialogue. A word or two written at the moment or soon afterward will jog the memory later in the day when she attempts to recall the details of significant actions and to construct evocative descriptions of the scene. Or, more extensive jottings may record an ongoing dialogue or a set of responses to questions.” (Emerson et al., 2011, p. 29)