ABSTRACT
Ethnographic research is generally approached from the interpretive or critical/cultural paradigm. Scholars who conduct ethnography of communication research also focus on the speech acts or events of speech communities, but are more interested in learning and comparing the shared and varied codes of communication within and between groups. Autoethnography is a combination of ethnography and autobiography. Many autoethnographies are written as journals, short stories, poems, personal essays, prose, and in any other forms fitting the needs of the authors. Ethnography affords the researcher a chance to make descriptive, interpretive, evaluative, and reformist claims. Ethnographic methods can aid in furthering interpretive claims about the relationships between communication and culture. An ethnographic research project requires taking into consideration the different types of data. Ethnographic research typically involves conducting participant observations or interviews. Interviews are an integral part of the ethnographic research process.
