JULY INDEPENDENCE DAY
Undertake qualitative research by conducting an ethnographic interview with one person about a significant celebration (MY CELEBRATION IS ABOUT THE 4TH OF JULY INDEPENDENCE DAY OF USA) that involves food. Ethnography is the study of people and cultures through a variety of research methodologies including interviews, participation observation, field notes or surveys. Interviews are generally transcribed (translated from audio recording to text) so that the data can be “coded” and analysed before being written up into a research essay.
Doing the interview
Your task is to find out as much as you can about the significance or meaning behind the event.
This may include thinking about the following questions:
What is the significance of the celebration?
What do people do during the celebration and who are they?
How long does it last? How does it begin and end?
How is the food prepared, served and consumed?
Where does the food come from?
What special or unusual foods are eaten?
Where does it take place?
What rituals or ceremonies are associated with this?
What are the important symbols?
What do people eat during the celebration and why?
What does this food mean to them?
What feelings/emotions/belief systems are associated with the celebration?
How has the celebration changed over time or between geographical locations (if at all)?
Why is this considered a special celebration? What makes it out of the ordinary?
How has the food associated with the celebration changed over time (if at all)?
These questions are only to get started. Your interview might take you in an interesting direction so use your creativity and listening skills to ask probing or exploratory questions that can help you find out more.
Writing the essay
When you are writing up your results, reflect on what you have learned from your interview and compare this to what you have read in other sources. Are there similarities or differences? If so, what are they? Also consider the relationship between the celebration and your interviewee’s personal, cultural, national and/or community identity. How are issues of ethnicity, gender, and/or age significant to the celebration? It’s best not to ask questions about these directly during the interview. However, you may choose to reflect on them afterwards. You do not need to include the verbatim transcripts of your interview in your paper. However, occasional quotes from the interviews should be included to justify your comments. If you stuck on how you might write up the results, consider using one of the subject topics to help frame your discussion (e.g. memory, emotion, cultural hybridity, globalisation, nationality, etc). In addition to the interview, you will need to do some research to get some background information about the celebration.