Ethnography Research Methodology

The research method which is most interesting to me would be ethnography. To go out and observe and interact during a research assignment seems the most rewarding method. Ethnography is when the researcher observes behavior in its natural setting and he or she must assume a role.

My reserch question for deception would be: Do women or men use deception more in daily interpersonal interaction? I would take the covert role, I would go about my daily business and note each time I deceive my parents, my siblings, my cousin, my co-workers, my boss, my friends. I would also ask a male friend to write down his every interpersonal interaction and when he used deception. I would use the covert role because I could be one on one with my deception research. However, the problems with knowing you have to be deceiving others will most likely influence my daily interactions.

Or I could take the overt role and follow around one of my female friends and then one of my male friends and observe their daily interactions and quietly note down each time he or she uses deception and to whom they deceived. I could take all my energy to be observant and to really analyze their reasons and situations they used deception. However, my presence would most likely inluence their daily routine as well because having someone follow you is not true daily interaction.

I used deception last night at work when I told a customer I put their order in and it should be coming out very soon. I forgot about their order and had it was going to take another 10 minutes to prepare. I think in a work environment, dealing with customers you want to make them happy so you say or do whatever they want to make their experience at the restaurant a good one. However many things can go wrong which I have to keep from them because I do not want them to complain.

I remember when I was deceived by a family member. I was walking on campus when I got a missed call from my uncle. I called him right back and he said he called me by mistake and he had to go. It was really awkward because he usually loves to chat about school and how i am doing. Later that night my mom called to tell me my grandmother had passed away and that they would be flying me home for the funeral that weekend. When I finally saw my uncle he apologized for being so short on the phone and he said he couldn't tell me about what had happened because he had not even told my mom yet. Maybe deception is not always a bad thing.

Researching deception would be very interesting as well as why we use deception is even more so interesting.