Ethnography of a Subculture (50 points)
For this assignment, you’ll learn about a subculture by observing and experiencing it firsthand (and if possible,
participating in it). Before you begin, review the following terminology in your textbook and/or lessons (some of which
we may not have covered at the time you begin this assignment): ascribed vs. achieved status, cultural materialism,
cultural relativism, dialect, emic and etic, ethnography, gender, key cultural consultant (a.k.a. informant), kinesics,
participant-observation, ritual, stratification, style shifting, subculture and symbol.
Choose a subculture that is easily recognized for its own, unique characteristics by “outsiders” (i.e. those who are not part
of the subculture), and consists of a group of people who all share the same worldview or beliefs, have a common goal or
purpose, are of the same nationality, etc. Choose a specific group to write about, rather than one that has a really broad
scope (e.g. a major religion would be too broad, but a specific denomination, mosque, church or temple would be fine).
This assignment will allow you to practice an anthropological approach, which includes:
1. PARTICIPANT-OBSERVATION: try choosing a subculture for which you can attend an event or ritual and, ideally
have the opportunity to participate in it. If this is not possible, interview your informants in a setting related to their
subculture or where their events/traditions take place (e.g. workplace, sacred place, studio, university campus, etc.).
Try to gain an emic perspective as best as you can (in addition to an etic perspective).
2. OPEN-ENDED INTERVIEWS: in addition to making observations, you need to collect your data by interviewing at
least two people who are members of this subculture (face-to-face interviews are best!). Construct questions that
allow your informants to provide you with detailed responses. You must devise in-depth questions that are structured
around the topics in the outline. Put a lot of careful thought into this! You might find it necessary to interview your
informants more than once to collect enough data with which to write your paper.
3. CROSS-CULTURAL COMPARISON, HOLISTIC PERSPECTIVE AND APPLYING CULTURAL RELATIVISM:
you’ll be doing this when you address the sections and follow instructions in the outline below.
The result will be a “mini-ethnography” of a particular subculture within American society. An ethnography is not the
same thing as a research paper; you will not be conducting a literature search for this assignment. Keep in mind that this
is an ethnography of a subculture/group/community, not of a particular tradition, ritual or holiday (though your paper
may include several of these, they shouldn’t form the main focus of your paper). For the purposes of this assignment
we’re broadening the definition of a subculture to include activities that might be of interest to you (e.g. hobbies, sports,
occupations, religious activities, etc.). Examples of past student ethnography topics: firefighters, surfing, nursing, Hip
Hop, Reform Judaism, US Navy, the Starbucks subculture, a particular fraternity, Vietnamese-Americans in Garden Grove.
The only restrictions are that you must choose a subculture you’re not already part of, and students will not be permitted
to study a subculture with a focus on any of the following: violence or causing harm to others; discrimination towards
other groups; drugs or drug-related topics; or sex/pornography.
INTERVIEWS:
 Choose at least two informants. This is NOT a research paper, but one that is based on information that you’ll
obtain through interviews, observation and, if possible, participation. To use an unbiased approach, interview your
informants individually so they don’t influence each others’ answers.
 Devise your own, open-ended questions that will allow you to obtain in-depth information to address all of the
sections below. Each individual will likely have a slightly different experience as a member of that culture. Take
advantage of that, by tailoring your questions to your informants. In other words, ask each person questions that
pertain to his/her individual roles, positions or experience in the subculture.
 Submit your informants’ responses with your paper. Whether you take notes by hand or make audio/video
recordings of your interviews, you must provide a typed transcription of your interview notes with your assignment
(including the dates, times and places of your interviews at the top). Include them in a separate section at the end of
your paper (you can call it “Interview Notes”). Points will be deducted from assignments without interview notes.
FORMAT:
Your paper must be typed using Microsoft Word (no other format will be accepted), include each of the sections in
the outline on the next page and follow the format below:
 at least five pages in length
 double-spaced
 11-12 point font
 default margins (1” top/bottom, 1” left/right)
 include interview notes at the end of your paper (include dates, times and places of the interviews at the top)
OUTLINE/GUIDELINES FOR THE PAPER:
Make sure your paper is VERY detailed - as if I have never heard of this subculture before! Since you’ll be writing about
your own experience and understanding of this subculture, as well as describing the culture from others’ perspectives,
you need to use both a first person and third person voice throughout the paper. Organize your paper in the following six
sections (include the headings/titles in your paper in the same order they occur below: Introduction, Worldviews, etc.).
I. Introduction:
 Provide a brief description of the subculture (including the characteristics, attributes, etc. that unite members of
this group).
 Introduce your informants (not necessary to include their names, but describe their roles or positions in the
subculture and some brief details about them).
 Briefly describe when and where the interviews, events, etc. took place.
II. Worldviews, Ideals and Beliefs:
 Describe some of the worldviews, beliefs, values, attitudes, etc. shared by members of this subculture. Consider
whether they share a common way of thinking, philosophy, ideology, religion, etc. (e.g. superstitions,
discrimination, common goals…).
III. Cultural Rules:
 Discuss several examples of this group’s cultural rules, and possible unwritten rules (this might be harder to
uncover, as unwritten rules are those which people don’t readily recognize).
 Describe some of the status differences that exist in this subculture, or examples of stratification.
 Discuss any gender-related issues present in this community.
IV. Traditions, Rituals and Symbols:
 Include detailed descriptions of at least two traditions, rituals or other activities described by your informants
and/or that you observed or participated in. Apply the emic and etic perspectives as best as possible. Make sure
you include descriptions of the activities, people involved, as well as any important objects used in the
tradition/ritual/activity.
 If possible, discuss a ritual (religious or secular/non-religious) in detail, including an explanation of why it qualifies
as a ritual (i.e. what makes it ritualistic in nature?).
 Choose a particular aspect of a ritual/tradition/activity – such as an action, object, article of clothing, color, etc. –
for which you can discover and describe:
1) it’s symbolic significance (emic perspective), and 2) the practical reason(s) behind it, or a cultural materialist
explanation for it (etic perspective). Choose an action, object, piece of clothing, color, etc.
V. Communication:
 Consider whether this subculture uses specialized terminology, codes, jargon or slang that is unique to this group.
If so, provide several examples with a brief description of each. OR:
 If this subculture uses a dialect of English, provide some detailed examples and descriptions.
 Explain how style shifting is used in this subculture and provides some detailed examples.
 Describe at least one example of kinesics (non-verbal communication) you observed.
VI. Conclusion:
 Briefly provide a description of this subculture using an etic perspective. Think about how “outsiders” view this
group, their traditions, cultural rules, beliefs and/or ways of speaking (positive or negative).
 Use cross-cultural comparison, to compare and contrast one or more aspects of this subculture to mainstream
American culture (or a subculture to which you belong). Describe some of the similarities and differences
between the two groups.
 Discuss the importance of practicing Cultural Relativism when studying, observing and learning about a culture
that’s different from your own.
SUBMITTING YOUR PAPER:
Submit the Ethnography as an attachment in an email to mwaters@elcamino.edu by 11:59pm, Wed. May 16th. Only
MS Word files will be accepted. The instructor will send you an email confirming receipt of your assignment within 24
hours. Don’t wait until the last minute! I recommend submitting your paper at least 24 hours ahead of the deadline to
avoid any potential technical problems (which won’t be a valid excuse for late submissions). If you don’t have access to
MS Word or a computer at home, you can use one in the library (computer lab in the basement or near the
Periodicals/Reserve Desk). Papers will be accepted up to one week late – no later than 11:59pm May 23rd - for a loss of
10% (one full letter grade). Your graded paper will be returned to you by email within two weeks of your submission.