Details

Each of these elements can be ordered in different ways. When you read, identify each of these elements in the margins. When you write, be clear with yourself how each element relates to and builds off of the other elements.

• Empirical material / Ethnographic vignette #1 (reveals guiding question)
• Theoretical frame: basic assumptions about structure/agency/human action/methodology
• Analytical review 1 (how others have dealt with your topic; questions that remain unanswered)
• Subsidiary research questions
• Thesis: tentative hypothesis/answer to guiding question
• Contexts: relevant historical, economic background etc.
• Key definitions
• Empirical material / Ethnographic Vignette #2 (and 3)
  • More ethnographic description of problem (evidence)
  • These can address your subsidiary questions
  • Revealing issues of cultural meanings and social roles
• Analysis of ethnographic descriptions
  • drawing on theory and other people’s concepts to help you explain the significance of your ethnography (analytical review 2—can be woven into ethnography, or be put in a separate section)
• Conclusion
  • The final answer to your guiding question
  • Broader implications and stakes…explaining why it matters
  • Future questions