Ethnographic Experiences: An Interview with Frederick Erickson

Abstract

During the 19th “Annual Research Forum on Ethnography in Education” (1998), Professor Frederick Frederick Erickson , a prominent scholar of ethnography in education, was interviewed by a team of researchers led by Professor Carmen Lúcia Guimarães de Mattos and the author of this text. The event took place at the University of Pennsylvania and was recorded by former undergraduate student, now a professor at UERJ, Professor Cleonice Puggian. The interview, dating back 25 years, serves as an example of ethnographic research and its distinctions from other qualitative research methods. This topic is always appreciated by those who are knowledgeable in the field of ethnography. Frederick Erickson discusses how ethnographers
experiment with various ways in which people describe human experiences, drawing on simple language and sociological knowledge to explore the transition from practical application to academic knowledge in research. It is hoped that the reading of this interview will clarify many uncertainties surrounding “being and doing ethnographic”.