ANT 101 – MAYSVILLE COMMUNITY AND TECHNICAL COLLEGE
ETHNOGRAPHIC FIELDWORK REPORT TEMPLATE
I.
WHAT TYPE RESEARCH STRATEGY DID YOU USE?
I took an etic approach in this study. This means that instead of focusing on the viewpoints of those I
studied, I observed them and made interpretations about their viewpoints from my own perspective,
based on my observations.
II.
LOCATION DESCRIPTION:
The location I chose for my ethnographic study was a Panera Bread located at 101 Cynthia Drive,
Nicholasville, KY. This Panera Bread is located just across the Fayette/Jessamine county line from my
house. It is nestled between two series of upper-middle class neighborhoods, and surrounded by
stores such as Kroger, Hobby Lobby, Goodwill, a movie theater, and several small shops like salons
and bookstores. The location of this café means that most of its patrons are single shoppers stopping
for a quick coffee or tea, people (mostly women) meeting up to chat in groups of two or more, college
students using the space to work on papers or projects, and students (high school or college) meeting
up with tutors. From my observations, based on several previous visits, I would say that the
percentages of these different patrons are:
People at Panera Bread
Single shoppers getting a quick
coffee or tea: 5%
People chatting in groups of
two or more: 70%
Students working on papers and
projects: 20%
Students and tutors: 5%
Based on these statistics, you can see that the majority of the people that go to this café are in groups
(such as teen/young adult women meeting casually, “lifegroups” from churches, etc.), but also that a
lot of students use it as a place away from their house/campus to study.
III.
DESCRIPTION OF MOST PROMINENT VARIABLES:
Note: I first took notes on the people sitting my section of the café, which was a sizable area facing
the entrance with the counter where you order food to the left of me. After I had taken my notes and
made observations about them, I began observing every third person/couple/group waiting in line,
most of which didn’t sit in my section, but moved toward the back of the restaurant. I did not take
detailed notes about those in line, beyond their behavior. When those in line did sit in my section, I
would stop my notes on the behavior of those in line and made closer observations of those who had
sat in my section. About 45 minutes before leaving, I moved to a table in another section of the café,
but simply made observations about their conversations and behaviors. There are unfortunately no
photographs included in this assignment because I have a phone that doesn’t have apps or email, so I
couldn’t have taken them with my phone and gotten them into this assignment, nor do I have a
camera (which would have looked very suspicious and probably would have gotten me kicked out of
the café). I would also like to note that I went to Panera Bread and made these observations on
Sunday, November 17th, between 1 PM and 5 PM.
1: A woman between 45 and 50 years old, Caucasian, between 5’ 5” and 5’7”, weighing between 140
and 150 pounds, light brunette hair with some graying sections. Drinking a hot beverage and eating
some kind of sandwich/Panini while reading a book called “The Mercy Rule”. *I also noted that she
wore a sweater which was a medium blue and had the “UK” symbol on it, which I will go more into
detail on later.
2: A group of five women between 18 and 22 years old, 4 Caucasian, 1 African American, all in the
range of 5’3” and 5’7”, weighing in a range of 120 and 140 pounds, two blonde, three brunette hair.
Two had Frappuccinos/milkshakes/smoothies of some kind; the other three had hot beverages. They
appeared to be following the guidelines from a small book through their conversation. After listening
in for a while I noted that they were talking about God and faith.
3: A man between 20 and 24 years old, Caucasian, between 5’11” and 6’0”, weighing between 150
and 170 pounds, dark brunette/black hair, alone. He had some kind of soft drink, and had in earbuds
while he worked on his laptop. *He wore a white shirt with a “UK” symbol on the front.
4. A man between 18 and 21 years old, African American, between 6’0” and 6’3”, weighing between
160 and 180 pounds, black hair, alone. He was drinking a hot beverage and working on a
tablet/Kindle/iPad the entire time (I couldn’t tell what kind of tablet he was using because it was in a
black cover that didn’t give away its brand).
5. A woman between 17 and 20, Caucasian, between 5’3” and 5’5”, weighing between 115 and 125
pounds, auburn hair, and a man between 28 and 32 years old, Caucasian, between 5’10” and 6’0”,
weighing between 180 and 190 pounds, light brunette hair. They each had some kind of hot drink, and
the man was tutoring the woman in some kind of math. *I could not tell if they were related, but they
were not father and daughter..
6: A man between 30 and 35 years old, Caucasian, between 5’ 9” and 5’11”, weighing between 140
and 150 pounds, blonde hair. He was accompanied by a female child between 7 and 10 years old,
Caucasian, between 4’4” and 4’6”, weighing between 60 and 70 pounds, light brunette hair. Father
got a hot drink, daughter “Kimmy” got a milkshake/smoothie. *They were the only parent/child I saw
the whole time I was there, and they were the first I observed in line before they came into my section,
which I will discuss in the next section.
7: A second group of 4 women, between 16 and 19 years old, all Caucasian, between 5’4” and 5’8”,
weighing between 115 and 135 pounds, one blonde, two brunettes, one with unnatural red hair. One
got a soft drink, the other three got hot drinks, and from their conversation I know that the blonde got
a pumpkin spice latte. Their conversation was casual, based more around gossip and swapping stories
than any real “goal” such as the first group in my section had. *One of the brunettes had a UK
keychain attached to her purse, and the red-haired girl had a scarf in “UK Blue”.
8: A woman between 18 and 20 years old, Caucasian, between 5’3” and 5’5”, weighing between 120
and 130 pounds, dirty blonde, and another woman between75 and 80 years old, Caucasian, between
5’3” and 5’5” (this was very difficult to tell because of the way she walked), weighing between 140
and 160 pounds, gray hair. The older woman used a walker, the younger woman ordered a
Frappuccino, while the older woman ordered a plain coffee and then put sugar into it herself. After
listening for a moment, I confirmed my belief that they were grandmother and granddaughter when
the younger woman called the older one “Meemaw”.
IV.
DESCRIBE THE RULES OF BEHAVIOR IN YOUR SITE. ARE THERE POSITIONS OF POWER OR
AUTHORITY, AND OTHER POSITIONS THAT ARE SUBJECT TO THAT AUTHORITY? WHAT OTHER
PARTICULARITIES EXIST IN YOUR SITE? BE AS DESCRIPTIVE AS POSSIBLE IN EXPLAINING WHAT YOU
PERCEIVE TO BE THE RULES OF BEHAVIOR:
As to the positions of power or authority, I noticed a few good examples:
1.
The father and 7-10 year old daughter were a good example of a position of authority and the
position beneath it. As noted before, this was the only parent/child duo I saw the whole time I
was there. The father gave off a strong sense that he was in control, but also that he loved his
daughter very much. He was kind to his daughter, whom I heard him call “Kimmy” at one point,
and while they were waiting in line the father leaned down to the daughter and pointed at
something out the window to their right, and then they both giggled. The daughter, in turn, was
respectful of her father, and seemed to be excited to be with him. While they sat, the father
listened and responded as the daughter about things happening at school, and about her ballet
lessons. I got the sense that the father was having “timeshare” with his daughter, since I was
Sunday, he wore no wedding ring, and the daughter was telling him about things he would know
if he lived in the same house.
2.
The manager-type man was another good example of authority. I’m not sure if he was the official
“manager”, but the employees usually directed questions toward him when he was close by, and
he went from station to station every 30 minutes or so to check on things.
3.
This third example may or may not count as an authority position, but I think that the man
tutoring the young woman in math was an example of it. She or her parents were likely paying
him for the tutoring, but while they were there he was the one with the most knowledge on the
subject, and he was teaching her how to solve the problems. In turn, the woman listened, asked
him questions if she didn’t understand something, and seemed to be respectful of him.
4.
I noted that both groups of girls I wrote details about, plus the others I saw in line, each had one
girl who seemed to have been designated as “leader”. They probably didn’t vote to make her the
leader of their group, but they were comfortable following her decisions and her topics of
conversation because for whatever reason(s) they looked up to her.
One particularity I noticed is that since Lexington and the surrounding towns love UK football and
basketball so much, many of them wear things with the UK symbol on them, such as shirts, sweaters,
hats, bags, etc.
One rule of behavior I would like to note is that most of the women who were between the ages of 16
and 25 seemed to think that since they were in a public place they needed to act “prissy” and
important. This was shown by the way they walked, the way they looked around and flipped their
hair, and by the way they carried themselves. This didn’t necessarily make them rude to those around
them, but I could tell that it was an act based on what they thought the standards of this public place
were.
V.
DESCRIBE THE MOST COMMON BEHAVIORS OF PEOPLE IN YOUR SITE IN AS MUCH DETAIL AS
POSSIBLE:
There was a difference in the behavior of the people I observed based on whether or not they were
part of a group, or alone. Those who entered the café in a group were very relaxed. They spoke to
those they were with, their facial expressions went through a series of emotions during their
conversations, and many of them were louder and more animated than they likely would have been
had they been alone. They paid little to no attention to those around them who weren’t a part of their
group, aside from the cashiers who took their orders. However, those who were standing in line alone
exhibited much different behavior. They were more tense than those in groups, and if they didn’t have
a cell phone to play with while they waited then they shifted their weight, fidgeted, studied the menu
intently, glanced around at others self-consciously, and toyed with their wallets, purses, or what they
were going to use to pay (card or cash). After they got their food, those in groups would usually follow
the most outgoing person in their group to a table/booth big enough for all of them, and occasionally
they would stop to get napkins for everyone. Those who were alone, after receiving their food, would
usually make a beeline for a small table or booth near a wall or half-wall, and every “single” person I
observed had a laptop, homework, book, or tablet which they pulled out immediately after sitting
down and remained glued to for the duration of their stay (usually anywhere from 30 minutes to 1 ½
hours).
A few rituals I noticed were that: 1) a few women from the two groups who sat in my section, either
before leaving the café or sometime in the middle of their “meeting” would take a “girls trip” to the
restroom (usually involving at least two girls, 2) those meeting one other person would usually make
loose plans to meet again within the next three weeks or so, and 3) almost everyone I observed,
whether part of a group or not, would dust/wipe off the table and chair/booth they were sitting at
before sitting and before leaving.
VI.
DESCRIBE THE COMMON LANGUAGE OF PEOPLE IN YOUR SITE. WHAT WORDS, PHRASES AND
MODES OF SPEAKING ARE COMMON:
Everyone I saw come into the café spoke English, but one unique thing I noted was that nearly
everyone spoke with a least a touch of a country or southern accent. It varied in strength from person
to person, but I caught at least a hint of the accent in about 97% of the people I observed closely. The
remaining 3% didn’t have a major accent of any kind that I could pick up.
There were a lot of typical “coffee shop” words being used the whole time, such as cappuccino,
frappe, espresso, decaf, latte, etc.
In addition to that, there was a lot of local and school jargon being used, such as: Cats (in reference to
the UK Wildcats), high school and college class names were shortened to words such as “bio” (for
biology), and a few girls from group 2 were discussing local places to eat, such as “BDs”, and a place
they called, “the Caf” (I never figured out what they meant, but they seemed to know).
Terms of endearment between women were common, mostly including “honey”, “sweetie”, or
“darling”, which I found quite interesting
VII.
DESCRIBE THE CORE VALUES OF THE CULTURE YOU STUDY. WHAT CULTURAL SYMBOLS SEEM TO
HAVE THE MOST MEANING?:
Some core values I noticed were that: 1) since it was a busy, public place, people replaced “bad
language” with words like “shoot”, “darn”, “crud”, and I even heard one woman say “Well, I’ll be gosh
darned!”, 2) taboo subjects, such as sex, were brought up by the second group of women who sat in
my section, but they were very clever in skirting around actual terminology by the use of nonverbal
communication such as hand gestures or facial expressions, 3) almost everyone held the door for the
person behind him/her, 4) almost everyone said “please” and “thank you” when addressing someone
they wanted something from.
There are a handful of symbols that are the most common and have the most meaning. They are: 1)
clothing or jewelry in a medium blue, which has been dubbed “Kentucky blue” (this symbolizes the UK
Wildcats team for nearly everyone, and it symbolizes pride in the town and team, and a feeling of
being included in something bigger than one’s self), 2) the “UK” symbol, a cat, or a paw print (same as
the above explanation), 3) purses with the “Coach” brand symbol on them (these seem to symbolize
that one isn’t hurting for money), 4) knee-high boots worn by women (these seem to symbolize fitting
in or being a part of peer culture for women ages 15 to 30), 5) the terms of endearment between
women (these seem to symbolize a level of comfort or closeness), and 6) I noticed that a lot of women
were wearing clear glasses, whether they were reading or not (I can’t help but to think that not that
many women can have such bad vision, and that the glasses symbolize intelligence, and they want to
appear intelligent in front of their friends and others in public).
To summarize my impression of the mini-culture found within Panera Bread just outside of Lexington,
KY, they are a culture of people mostly concerned about appearances and being included. Everything
they wear has to be in style and include them into their peer groups. Whether they would normally
talk with a southern accent or not, they did if their friends did. If the first girl in a group to order
ordered both a latte and a muffin, then the other girls would make sure that they ordered a drink and
a food item as well. I found these things more among the women than I did the men, for obvious
reasons, but even some of the men fell into the category of wanting to be included, such as the man
who wore the UK shirt. I noticed that a lot of men wore tennis shoes from Nike or another company
that looked very expensive, and I doubt very much that they chose those shoes because they were
better. They likely chose them because they symbolize money and physical ability (regardless of
whether or not they had those two things). This may be a harsh observation of the culture I studied,
but they were truly the things I noticed that were the most prominent during my four hours there.
Notes:
Female, 45-50, white, 5’ 5”-5’7”, 140-150 pds, light brn w/ gray, has hot drink & sandwich. Reading
“The Mercy Rule”. *has “UK” sweater.
5 females, 18-22, 4 white, 1 black, 120-140 pds, 2 blnd, 3 brn,. Two frozen drinks, three hot drinks.
Reading sm group book and talking about God.
Male, 20-24, white, 5’ 10”-6’0”, 150-170 pds, drk brn/blk alone. Soft drink & working on laptop with
earbuds.
Male, 18-21, black, 6’0”-6’3”, 160-180 pds, blk, alone. Hot drink & working on tablet.
Female, 20-22, white, 5’3”-5’5”, 115-125 pds, auburn, & male, 28-32, white, 5’ 10”-6’0”, 180-190 pds.
Two hot drinks, males tutoring the woman in math.
Male, 30-35, white, 5’9”-5’11”, 140-150 pds, blnd, w/ female, 7-10, white, 4’4”-4’6”, 60-80 pds, lgt
brn. Dad has hot drink, “Kimmy” has frozen drink. Good relationship, probably visitation.
4 females, 16-19, white, 5’4”-5’8”, 115-135 pds, 1 blnd, 2 brn, 1 “red”. 1 soda, 3 hot drinks (blnd has
pumpkin spice). Gossiping. *1 brn girl has UK keychain/ “Red” has UK blue scarf.
Female, 18-20, white, 5’3”-5’5”, 120-10 pds, dirty blnd & female, 75-80, 5’3”-5’5” (stooping), 140-160
pds, gray. Walker. 18-20 has frappucino, 75-80 has plain coffe w/ extra sugar. 18-20 calls 75-80
“meemaw”.
Lots of UK symbols.
People in groups are more sociable, people alone are tense.
People alone have things to focus on & sit near walls.
Women take “girls trips” to bathroom.
People make plans to meet again in a few weeks.
People dust/wipe table & chair.
Coffee words used often.
“BDs and “The Caf” talked about by 2nd group.
All English speaking so far. 97% Talking with south accent.
Women call each other “honey”, “sweetie”, and “darling”.
Woman said “Well, I’ll be gosh darned!”
2nd group of girls talking about sex now/ using nonverb. To communicate.
Ppl, holding doors for each other.
Please and thank you used often.
Symbols like “UK”, blue, paw prints/ team spirit?
Coach purses/rich?
Boots/included?
“Sweetie” and “honey”/closeness?
Lots of clear glasses for no reason/smart?
People all want to fit in and look smart, strong, rich, liked, etc.
*I realize that my notes don’t look very extensive, but I also had my laptop up and was typing out
some of the more detailed thoughts as I worked because I get hand cramps otherwise.