“The adequate study of culture, our own and those on the opposite side of the globe, can press on to fulfillment only as we learn today from the humanities as well as from the scientists.” –Ruth Benedict

“Ethnography literally means ‘a portrait of a people.’ An ethnography is a written description of a particular culture - the customs, beliefs, and behavior - based on information collected through fieldwork.” -Marvin Harris and Orna Johnson, 2000.

To gently live side-by-side in a community as a part of the culture is the only way to discover the nuances, private and everyday habits, challenges and hopes of those coming, those leaving and those emerging as icons in that society. Honestly opening up comes only after trust and acceptance is established. These are the qualities which separate pure research findings and revelations from surface ones.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 24th, 2007 at 8:00 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.