"The Promises and Pitfalls of Going into the Field"

               We all remember science labs, you know, those labs we used to do in middle school? One of the words I remember learning was hypothesis and learning that in science there has to be some sort of validity in my evidence. In sociology the same is true and the article I read, "The Promises and Pitfalls of Going into the Field" describes just that. Ethnology is the study of characteristics of various people and the differences and relationships between them. In this field the article emphasizes that the information you get is obtained through years of work with a minimum of two years of research depending on the topic of study. On example the article gave of an ethnography report was one done by Barbara Ehrenreich, PhD. She spent a year working low wage paying jobs all around the country (Maine, Florida, and Minnesota). In he research she reveals how "physically demanding and personally demeaning" those jobs are and ultimately how the employees are "stuck", "trapped in them." Ethnography may be compared to journalism but it differs because ethnography requires systematic long-term gathering of specified data in the field of research and involves close study in human behavior. In order to come up with a factious ethnological report there are certain steps to take. The article describes the three crucial stages in an ethnography: data gathering, data analysis, and data presentation. You cannot study a field in which you're familiar with because you might get attached—researchers being biased by their own opinions or history. Under data analysis, researchers start right away framing and refining their findings. The article states that they usually remain in the area of study. Their analysis are not based on "word of mouth" or statements said by the people being studied but by hard facts from the data gathering process stated earlier.
                In reading chapter two in my text book I realized that is a very important factor of sociology. A powerful example the this chapter of the book uses is a Santa Claus example. Children believe the main influential source in their lives—their parents. We don't quickly realize this but the parent creates this fictitious character that rewards their children for the good deeds done throughout the year. We display this Santa character on billboards, in stores, on the television, and in our movie theaters. The children each believe because their peers do so as well, then once they become a certain age, the truth comes out. Hmm, that's a very good example that wouldn't have been possible without ethnologists. This chapter focuses on doing research and finding hard based facts unlike those we gave our children about Santa. A helpful chart given (page 37) is the Elements of Social Science Research. This chart relates a lot with the article I read because just like in ethnological research we are "Identifying and understanding patterns in social life," we're gathering "empirical evidence," using "transparent methods"—analysis, and viewing "knowledge as provisional"—if new evidence is discovered. An overall learning curve is being presented by the field of ethnologist in the sociologic science spectrum.