ERIC Number: EJ989825
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2012
Pages: 21
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1052-0147
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Practicing the Four Seasons of Ethnography Methodology while Searching for Identity in Mexico
Pitts, Margaret Jane
Qualitative Report, v17 Article 79 2012
This narrative is an account of my field experiences and challenges practicing Gonzalez's (2000) Four Seasons of Ethnography methodology in Mexico City. I describe the complexities and tensions inherent in managing two scientific paradigms: Western scientific logic vs. a more organic ontology. The experiential knowledge produced in this text is useful to ethnographers who face questions of identity and ethics in the field. To evoke a sense of experience, I re-present the ethnography for the reader in the way it unfolded for me--sometimes painful, other times insightful, oftentimes both. This dual text exposes my struggles as emergent ethnographer grappling with issues of voice, identity, and representation while describing scenes from life in Mexico drawn from observations and narrative interviews. At the forefront of this text are the methodological choices and ontological experiences of the Four Seasons of Ethnography methodology, while observations and conversations in Mexico City form the backdrop. (Contains 1 table.)
Descriptors: Field Experience Programs, Ethics, Ethnography, Foreign Countries, Research Methodology, Experiential Learning, Self Concept, Researchers, Interviews, Observation, Western Civilization, Scientific Attitudes, Logical Thinking
Nova Southeastern University. 3301 College Avenue, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33317. Tel: 954-262-5389; Fax: 954-262-3970; Web site: http://www.nova.edu/ssss/QR
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Mexico (Mexico City)
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A