According to Emerson, Fretz, and Shaw, there are not many forms of research that are
more in-depth, and more informative, than ethnographic research. Ethnological research creates
quality research, which leads to more accurate data and findings to be published for the public.
The key component of ethnographic research is the use of field notes. Field notes result in a
primary source of research, which creates much more insightful information than facts gathered
through secondary sources. The authors go on to say that the sole purpose of research is to learn
and understand the topics of what is being studied. They add to this by stating there is no better
way to learn and understand than to experience something first hand. Field notes are similar to
fingerprints, everyone’s are structurally similar, but the end product is slightly different based on
the person. There are some basic foundations that go into good field notes, which results in
valuable and quality ethnological research, which make them structurally similar. The first is
ethnographic participation. In order for the research to be the best it can be, the researcher must
fully immerse himself or herself into the community he or she is researching. A person cannot
simply be a fly on the wall; he or she must fully participate in the research he or she is
conducting. This also includes thinking about the community’s point of view, which can result
in detailed research on people’s moods and interactions.
The second foundation of good field notes, and value of ethnological research, is the
complexities of description. This is where every researcher’s field notes become unique, even if
they are observing the same scene. Researchers are encouraged to not only descriptively
describe the scene as they see it, but also to put one’s own interpretations and perceptions into
the field notes. These different interpretations are what lead to every researcher’s field notes
being slightly different. The third and final foundation is inscribing experienced and observed
realities. This foundation involved inscribing social discourses as they occur. This means to
transform thoughts of events, people, and places onto paper. A researcher is encouraged to write
down initial impressions of the subject as a start of his or her field notes. This allows researchers
to avoid missing the obvious facts that may be the most important components of an area. In
conclusion, the authors sum up the basis of ethnography and field notes in four steps. These
steps are: figure out what is being observed, give special attention to the indigenous meanings
and concerns of the people studied, field notes should be essential grounding and resource for
writing broader, more coherent accounts of others’ lives, and field notes should detail the social
and interactional processes that make up peoples’ everyday lives (Shaw, 1-15). Quality field
notes, as a result of ethnological research, leads to quality primary source research, and a wider
range of experiences and knowledge that may not be available in the comforts of a library. This
concept is what Emerson, Fretz, and Shaw argues is the greatest value of ethnological research.
Emerson, Fretz, and Shaw go into detail about participation, observation, and jotting.
However, this is not the only way to describe the actions that should be done by ethnological
researchers. Other ways to describe these actions are:
 Immersion- A researcher should not simply be a fly on the wall, or even just scratch the
surface of participating in a subject matter. A researcher must fully immerse himself or
herself into the community in order to fully understand the matter at hand. In order to grasp
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the concept of peoples’ moods and interactions, a researcher must become one with the topic
they are researching.
Analysis- It is not enough for researchers to just observe what is occurring around them, they
must also analyze what is going on. It is easy to observe spot A and spot B; however, a good
researcher must be able to observe spot A and B, as well as analyze why spot A interacts
with spot B in the manner in which it does. Analysis of a situation is what creates the
interpretations that go into a piece of research, and allows the piece to move beyond a simple
list of facts and observations.
Evaluation and Transcription- Ultimately, the purpose of immersion and analysis is to create
a quality piece of work on paper. After a researcher has immersed himself or herself in the
subject manner, they analyze what is occurring around them. After analyzing, a researcher
must evaluate what has happened, why it is happening, and how it is important. Once this is
deciphered, the researcher is then able to put information gathered through the five senses
into written words which can be used to further the research along, leading to the publication
of the work.