Blog 5: Ethnography Activity in Class

In our last class meeting, on Thursday, Dr. Chandler had the entire class participate in an ethnographical activity by having us make jotting on our phones or notebooks as we walked around the classroom in a party-like atmosphere.

Here are all my findings based on the activity!

Jottings:

2/6/14 – 2:56 p.m.
Awkward, introducing laughing, groups, showing interactions

2/6/14 – 2:58 p.m.
Awkward quiet moment

Headnotes:

Only 7 minutes!, People were in groups and moving slowly around, hesitant. I let my own insecurities get in the way of what I was doing. Too awkward. Noticed that some people handled it better than others. John, David, and Florie were the people that I noticed flourished. Laughing, “mixer,” smartphone snubbing, getting a bit of each conversation, overwhelming, some confused, other confident. Let my social awkwardness halter my ability to observe in great detail. Too concerned with myself to worry about others. Lots of smartphones. Hard to start an initial conversation. Chandler made us move around. Arms close to us to show discomfort. Talked awkwardly to several people. Need more practice in ethnography.

Things I Remembered Later:

I tried to separate myself from the activity afterwards in an attempt to create a moment of “Eureka!” However, no such epiphany happened. I did remember that it was hard to get around the computer desks and that I wasn’t the only one who felt awkward. I am also realizing now that I used the term “awkward” a lot during this exercise!

Field notes:

“Okay, you can start,” Dr. Chandler declared with a wave of her hands. The other students and I looked around at each other, half smiling and half blushing. “Come on, move around! Talk to someone you don’t know very well,” the professor pushed us further. At first, we seemed hesitant, but once the more eager members of the group began, we all joined in. People immediately formed into groups and began discussing one of two things: the awkwardness of this assignment or what we should even be doing. I found it difficult to start conversations because I am a shy person to begin with, only made worse by maneuvering about the computers, desks, wires, and mass of grouped people in the center of the room. I took the “isolated time” to observe other people’s actions. I first noticed only three people had notebooks, while the rest had Smartphones to take down their jottings. Second, most people were looking more at their phones than the person’s face that they were talking to. Third, although I was out of my elements, my other classmates like David, John, and Florie seemed to flourish as I saw them talking to several people with what seemed to be relative ease. Fortunately, with social people and Dr. Chandler’s help, I was able to talk to a few people. Through most of the conversations, I focused on myself and the awkwardness of the situation. To my surprise, I found out that I was not one of the minority and many people I interacted with found difficulty with the activity. While transitioning from one conversation to the other, I caught snippets of other people’s conversation. I heard Jessica say, “This is like a mixer!” David said, “Unfortunately, this is like real parties today where everyone is more focused on their phone than on conversations with others.” Although the activity seemed to last for a very long time, for a socially anxious individual like myself, once Dr. Chandler told us it was over, she informed us that it had only been seven minutes.

Final thoughts: Ethnography is an interesting field of study. However, through the excerise in class and even making these field notes now, I realize that I need much more practice if I actually want to do a formal ethnographical study.