Sophie El-Masry

Word Count: 788

Ethnography Reflection
My ethnographic study took place in a caf in an affluent suburb of Washington D.C. I sat
by myself, ordered something to drink, and spent the next hour observing my surroundings while
taking notes. I am an 18 year old woman and over the past four years I have worked as a swim
instructor, working specifically with small children. My strong maternal instincts led me to
unconsciously hone in on the children in the caf. In my original observation, I concluded that
different types of social interactions had differing effects on peoples behaviors. Although I had
tried to keep my ethnographic study as descriptive as possible, upon further scrutiny I concluded
that I was not as successful as I had hoped. The language with which I described people in the
caf revealed unconscious biases that I should have been conscious of in an effort to quell.
In order to be as descriptive as possible, I used words that made inferences about peoples
thinking and their lives that I was in no position to make. In one case, I said that the waitress was
ignoring the fact that they are already seated, as she spoke to a family. As I described the scene
I inferred that she had ignored this fact, in an attempt to accurately describe the confusion in their
interaction, when in reality I cannot accurately speak about the mental processes of another. As I
described a woman sitting alone I say that she is truly alone but what do I mean? Sitting alone
without visibly communicating with anyone does not qualify her as truly alone. I do not know
enough about her, her family, acquaintances, or friends to speak to her solitude in this moment or
her life. After I made this descriptive inference I tried to analyze the inference I had made. I
claimed that maybe she wanted it that way, but what I find more interesting than the analysis I

made is that I found it necessary to provide an explanation for solitude. I subconsciously judged
someone for sitting alone, although I was doing the same, and despite the fact that I as an
ethnographer should only observe and not pass judgment. I think this speaks to the hypocrisy of
humans. I felt no need to explain my own actions, but tried to find an explanation for the actions
of others. I did not put my decisions under the same scrutiny that I did when observing others
and this was wrong. Ethnographers should know enough about the environment and the people
they are studying to justify such analysis, but I was not in a position to make such a claim.
I observed the caf at a time when there were not many customers coming in, usually the
caf is busier earlier in the afternoon. I showed bias in the lack of description of the staff as the
man bought his companion a cake. When I said the man buys her the cake and they stroll of I
showed commodity fetishism because I ignored the exchange with the staff and just focused on
the exchange of money for the cake. I gave more detailed descriptions when I observed
interactions involving children. I fell victim to the traits of children, the kinderschema, which
made them seem so adorable and engaging. The cultural association of young children and
happiness affected my work greatly, but I should have been aware of the pull I was feeling to
accurately describe every situation, not just ones with children.
My study contained a major ethical flaw because I failed to gain consent from my
subjects, especially the parents of the children, this was a major issue with my study. Since my
observation, I learned more about ethnographic practices such as interviews and participant
observation that helped anthropologists learn more about the people they worked with, and I
realized I lacked these practices. Malinowski practiced participation observation amongst the
Trobriand Islanders, and gained an insight into what they truly valued in their practices, and why
they continued them. If I had used this practice, I could have spoken from my own experience

when I wrote my observation and spoken more openly with my subjects. Had I included
interviews, participant observation, and addressed my positionality prior to beginning, I might
have a better understanding of why interactions with children tended to be more positive. The
parents might have the emic understanding that their child makes them happy, because they love
their child. When I finished my study, I did not have any etic understanding for the behaviors I
was witnessing; interviews would have been most helpful in exploring how people felt after
interacting with the children.