scribe the situation. What aspect of our campus culture are you examining? Where and when are you located? What kind of crowd is present? What did it look like

1. Describe the situation. What aspect of our campus culture are you examining? Where and when are you located? What kind of crowd is present? What did it look like? Explain the interactions between members of the community. What kind of dynamics were at work? Who sits with whom? Who appeared to arrive and depart together? Give detailed descriptions.

2. Assess the situation. Based on your observations and your description of our campus—your evidence—make convincing claims about our campus climate. How is the social world of our campus organized? What groups exist? Do they form coalitions with one another, or do they avoid each other? Pay special attention to—as far as you can describe them—issues of race and ethnicity, gender, and class. Engage in a complex and comprehensive analysis.

3. Describe your method. Did you take notes while you observed? Did you write down your impressions when you got home? Did you tape it (video or audio) and consult it later? Did you ask people questions directly, or gauge their responses some other way? For all of the previous questions, why or why not? How did your method affect your position at this event—did you feel like you were part of it? Did you feel alienated? How useful was an ethnographic method when talking about race? When and why did it fail you?