ABSTRACT
At one time ethnography referred to the field methods of anthropologists in studying "ex-otic" cultures. It is now used by sociologists, educational researchers, cultural anthropologists, and other social science researchers to study any bounded group of people in virtually any context, urban or rural, global or local. Although some still prefer to think of ethnography as a research method grounded in anthropological concepts (Wolcott, 1987), others have argued for differentiating ethnography so as to reflect the multiple disciplines associated with it. Hence the terms "socioethnography" and "anthroethnography" (Spindler, 1982). Most agree, however, that ethnography is transdisciplinary; it critically appropriates elements from various theoretical traditions and is utilized by researchers across the social sciences in answering a variety of different research questions.
