In this article, I will provide a simple introduction to the practice of ethnographic fieldwork. Ethnographic approaches, while born of the work conducted by anthropologists over one hundred years ago, are increasingly employed by researchers and others from a variety of backgrounds and for a multitude of purposes from the academic to the applied and even the commercial. In this article, I will provide an introduction intended for those new to this approach but who have already had some basic experience or training. I also provide a discussion of the centrality of fieldnotes to the conduct of this very personally engaging form of research. Finally, those in training are given lists of questions to ask and points to consider in the conduct of their ethnographic fieldwork projects.

Consider a more in-depth examination by this author provided in Doing Ethnography to Connect, Exchange, and Impact.