An “Ethnographer” can be described as someone who gathers all the records/data about human cultures and societies-scientific observation. The style in which the author Sally Campbell wrote throughout this book “Shane, The Lone Ethnographer” enables the reader to gain a better understanding as to what an “ethnography” is/ what they do. Sally structures her writing with comics and humor all the while giving an insight as to the process in which she learned to become an ethnographer. Through each layers are introduced to the overall matter of ethnography.
To summarize this book is about Shane and her process in which she goes through as an ethnographer as well as a student. Shane’s character is very relatable to readers as we journey with her throughout this book, she must do a research project. Shane demonstrates the proper way of fulfilling an ethnography. The use of visual aid in which Sally allows to reader to partake in this book from the images enhances the story as a reader. I found that through out each chapter a new process is introduces in which Shane must do in order to fulfill the overall outcome-ethnography.
Weak points within this book were found on the chapter of safety and sanity in the field. Now to others who lack the knowledge that that may be a strong point. This chapter does connect and have relevancy to the overall story of the book; however, I found this chapter to be not very useful for me in term of gaining useful knowledge thus I believe the points were weak.
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The final chapter on analyzing data has quite the impact on the reader as it was so descriptive. Strong point I found within this book are the use of humor, descriptive details, structuring of chapters and illustration as aid. Sally uses great details through out this book and Shane’s character portrays the knowledge/ process well in which the author is trying to convey to the reader. The structuring of the chapters allows a flow as you read. By combining humor and illustration Sally truly has the reader hooked within the story. The use of the elements such as humor, detail, structuring and illustrations as served as major strong point to be throughout this book. By using these strong points, the message and knowledge is well stated.
To conclude Shane, The Lone Ethnographer was a wonderful read. The authors way she wrote allowed for a fun, knowledgeable read. The use of humor and illustrations allows the reader to truly and engage with the story, overall expanding knowledge on ethnography. Weak points such as the chapter on safety and sanity was noted as I feel I did not benefit from that chapter. Strong points such as descriptive detail, humor, illustrations, and structure of writing were all noted and help/ benefited my experience as a reader and overall taught me more on an an ethnographer and ethnography.
References
- Ethnography.com: An online ethnographic community
- JSTOR: A digital library of academic journals, books, and primary sources
- American Ethnography Quasimonthly
- SAGE Research Methods: Methods in Ethnography
- Vassar College Anthropology Department: Sociocultural Anthropology
- CiteSeerX: Approaches to Ethnographic Research – Section 2.7 by Dr Peter Brannen and Dr Bruce Lankford
- Anthropology of Vision – Online Journal of Visual Anthropology
