This reading was a description of the authors thought and research process in order to best demonstrate to readers the results of his research. Ethnography can no longer be directly analyzed. Too many outside factors, for example a researcher’s own opinions, could influence the studies results. An ethnographer studies other cultures in direct relation to himself, so he must also be included as a factor. He is an outside variable to a culture, but at the same time he is the only constant from his own point of view. The difficulty of studying a culture by examining small and individual pieces of itself is due to the vast influence that any outside source might have upon the community. Examining the culture is more effective when viewing it as a whole, despite the fact that it will still have unexamined “gaps”. But these gaps will always be present as there are limitless developments inside of every culture. The most efficient way to study a culture is through studying representation and explanation by the culture’s members as well as non members. There was attention called to the fact that multiple people reading the same text could potentially come away with wildly different opinions. The author explains that this is due to the readers background and past experiences. My favorite part of this excerpt is the explanation of post-modernism described as the result of the extremely multicultural world finding a new form of expression rather than just an artistic trend.
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