Selected Methodology for Ethnographic Work at the Jewish Home of San Francisco

After much debate, I have come to the conclusion that "co-performance"/ "deep hanging out" is ultimately the most suited form of approach for our work at The Jewish Home of San Francisco.  Volunteering at the Jewish Home is all about social and communicative interaction with the residents of the home.  Even the regular volunteers, who have no ethnographic agenda, are expected to actively participate within the community and to socially engage the residents.  Thus, the ability to truly immerse ourselves within the community and quite simply "hang out" with the residents is crucial to our ultimate understanding of how this particular community operates/functions.  "Co-performance" and "deep hanging out" are well known ethnographic concepts, first pioneered by Dwight D. Conquergood.  What particularly attracts me to Conquergood's methodology is his emphasis on listening while engaging with the community at hand.  Conquergood stresses that as researchers, we must learn to forgo our visual sight and instead focus more on listening to those around us (the subjects of the study).  As Madison so elegantly puts it, "listening invites dialogue" (p. 184).  Beyond this methodology, I also belie

ve that Geertz's use of "thick description" could potentially serve us well.  Our ability to write down, in the most descriptive way possible, our findings and impressions is crucial to our research.  Prior to beginning the "thick description" process, each member of our group will do his/her best to acknowledge and mark their positionality (biases, previous experiences, beliefs, prejudices, etc).  


Works Cited

Madison, D. Soyini.  Critical Ethnography: Method, Ethics, and Performance.  Los Angeles, London, New Delhi, Singapore, Washington DC: SAGE Publication, Inc., 2012.