Blog 4

Jennifer Caso, Trisha Derosier, Elijawon Scott

Question # 4: What forms seemed most effective for each of the 4 different kinds of notes?  What was the purpose for each form?  And which kinds of notes best met that purpose?

Jottings: Bullet form seems to be the most effective like with Ethnographer #1.  It is the quickest and easiest way to list ’triggers” so that the ethnographer can remember the details later. Great way to approach the headnotes section.

Further Examples:  Ethnographer #6 for instance wrote in long hand and mostly wrote only from their own personal perspective and what they were experiencing first hand and tended to forget about the other participants and what they were experiencing.  Also this person wrote a lot for this section and was probably missing out on what was going on around them, they were missing out on the little details.  Ethnographer #2 and #3 also wrote too much.  Ethnographer #9 asked one specific question to every person and therefore was too controlling of the experience to sit back and become an observer as well as a participant.  This person had very little to say throughout all of the sections probably because they had taken down such limited jottings.

The purpose:  To be quick, so bullet form was ideal.  And to pick the appropriate trigger words so that later on the Ethnographer will be able to remember details and truly describe the experience.

Headnotes: The Ethnographers that wrote the most and with the most detail had the most effective form.  They expanded on their jottings appropriately for this exercise and it helped them overall with all of the 4 sections.  Ethnographer #1 is a perfect example of how headnotes should be a stream of consciousness.

Further Examples: Ethnographers 5 and 6 did not write enough, they made generalized observations and they didn’t really describe the experience in enough detail.

The purpose: A stream of consciousness: trying to recall exact details and conversations to add to the overall analysis of the situation.

Things I remember later:   In this section, whether the Ethnographer used complete sentences or bullet points, both methods seemed to be equally effective.  This section can be informal yet still be effective.

For example:  #7 was as effective as #8 even though #7 was shorter and using  bullet points instead of complete sentences.  For this section, whatever works for the particular ethnographer is a fine choice.

The purpose:  A place to go back to later and take note of things that have come to mind since the exercise has ended. These details will serve in better fleshing out the experience.

Observations about what happened: The Ethnographers in this case did not write very much in this section and it would have been better if they wrote more about the experience.  This typically should be the longest section and be an overall analysis of the entire experience.  These particular Ethnographers generalized in this section instead of getting into specific detailed events that made up the entire experience.

For example:  Most Ethnographers wrote short paragraphs or bullets and this is not necessarily what this section should be.  This section should be more of a story of what happened.

The Purpose: Give a detailed account on what happened.  This section can include the Ethnographers perspective on the experience.  This section can be a combination of subjective and objective observations.