ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines and evaluates the ethno-graphic approach to social research. Atkinson conducted an ethnographic research project into the Welsh National Opera (WNO). As such there are ethical issues about trust as well as methodological issues about validity and reliability that affect ethnography to a much greater degree than other methodological approaches. Verstehen is a technique that helps the researcher to gain access to the perceptions, motivations and thoughts of the people they are investigating. Although ethnography can be conducted in a rich variety of settings it is always concerned with understanding the meaning of social action. Hammersley and Atkinson argue that marginality in both perspective and in the social position of the researcher can help to enhance the naturalistic feel of the research. Interestingly, just like traditional face-to-face ethnography, several internet ethnographies are both covert and potentially unethical, have a focus on sex and deviance, and attempt to gain a sympathetic understanding of marginal groups in the population.
