Sociology

Ethnography as a Discipline
Ethnography is a method used to observe and document human interactions in a specific cultural context. It is a qualitative research project which describes and analyses every day practices. Contemporary anthropologist Clifford Geertz defined ethnography as a thick description of culture which focused on qualitative study rather than the use of statistically-oriented method of gathering information (quantitative research Hoey, Brian A.). The aim of ethnography is to interpret a certain culture based on documented daily life practices and events. According to Geertz, these events represent webs of meaning which serve as a ground for cultural constructions. Ethnographers often allow these meanings to emerge from an ethnographic encounter (emic perspective), rather than interpret these representations from a more distant point of view known as the etic perspective.

In addition, the discipline often requires time and participation of the ethnographer so as to better understand their observation. The so-called participant observation is a method used in ethnography where the ethnographer becomes a participant of the study and is given the opportunity to detach his or her own interpretation of the subject at hand. Thus, personal biases with respect to the study are disregarded and meaning of a cultural construction emerges on its own.

Participant observation often requires long-term engagements in the field. Ethnographers choose to stay with their subjects where in they themselves become a part of the culture itself. In fact, others have been able to establish lasting bonds with the people they study  a manifestation of how long would it normally require for an ethnographer to understand a foreign culture apart from its own.

Information is often acquired through sets of interviews which vary with respect to methods used by the ethnographer. More often than not, the use of open-ended questions is popular in ethnographic studies. These questions are answer-friendly and would give respondents the opportunity to freely express their answers in a more convenient manner. Ethnographers, on the other hand, gain more access to insights from their subjects.

Ethnography may be applied regardless of the culture being studied. The discipline is flexible in nature as to there are no restrictions with respect to how data should be gathered however, meanings of the various representations acquired should be free from personal interpretations so as not to sabotage the innate cultural construction.

The Ups and Downs of Ethnography
Ethnographic study has other various advantages. It uncovers the true nature of the cultural system in general  one that is free from personal biases and a study that would encourage meaning of representation to come out of its own. Ethnography often generates unexpected results about a certain cultural system which may appear unusual but at the same time a lot more interesting to the student. In addition, it allows the student to be involved in human interactions which would suffice his or her needs according to the needs of the subjects.

Apart from advantages, there are also major drawbacks with respect to the methods used. One, ethnographic study requires considerable time to produce quality results. Although some ethnographic methods are designed to gain results in a few days, major studies require weeks or months of critical analysis to understand every data acquired. Others prefer to live with their subjects as this may be the only way to learn certain practices which have become a part of their everyday activities. Second, the presentation of ethnographic results with respect to its qualitative nature, may appear unusable and inapplicable to other designers and researchers. How information is acquired for one particular study may not be suitable as a method for another. Third, most ethnographic studies use small-scaled target population (small number of participants) to limit research cost, communication and effort. The use of large-scaled target population requires a considerable amount of money and greater amount of effort to produce quality results regardless if data is acquired through observational study (visual), contextual inquiry (questions are required) or participant observation (ethnographer joins the subject).

An Ethnographic Study of Gender Influence on Social Behavior
Most common ethnographic studies focused on the influence of gender relations to social behaviors which are often manifested in peoples everyday activities. The Student Contribution An Ethnographic Study of Gender Influences on Social Behavior of Members at a Private Golf Club (Peter A. Shotton, Dr. Kathleen M. Armour  Paul Potrac) aimed to understand ways on how gender issues influence daily activities in one particular private golf club in England. In addition, it aimed to discuss how these issues became a part of ones personal experiences as a club member.

More often than not, women are denied of full membership, full access to club facilities and the power to vote in most private golf clubs. Furthermore, they are often barred from weekend play, local tournaments and are often denied of equal playing time relative to mens. The ethnographic approach provided a more descriptive, interpretive and evaluative eye view as to how golf clubs serve as good research settings where imposition of male dominance and discrimination against women become a part of everyday practice.

Sport is considered a male-dominated world and some scholars came up with various generalizations which attested it. Most sports were created by men for men  HYPERLINK httpphysed.otago.ac.nzsosolv1i2v1i2s1.htm l refs (Boutilier  SanGiovanni, 1983 Cited in Peter A. Shotton, Dr. Kathleen M. Armour  Paul Potrac) and primarily, men formed the professional team sports which served as models for the youth in school sport programs  HYPERLINK httpphysed.otago.ac.nzsosolv1i2v1i2s1.htm l refs (Coakley, 1990 Cited in Peter A. Shotton, Dr. Kathleen M. Armour  Paul Potrac). In fact, only one third of the athletes both in high schools and colleges are female, not to mention that in most cases, leadership and coaching roles are being assigned to men  HYPERLINK httpphysed.otago.ac.nzsosolv1i2v1i2s1.htm l refs (Acosta  Carpenter, 1988).
There had been a considerable fifty percent increase in the number of female golfers in UK-affiliated golf clubs since 1979 ( HYPERLINK httpphysed.otago.ac.nzsosolv1i2v1i2s1.htm l refs Kennedy (1997)). In spite the improvement in numbers, the society had continuously see women inappropriate for the sport. According to many, the only reason why number of female golfers increased was due to the awareness of golf club managers on happy to pay career women whose income are relatively the same of mens ( HYPERLINK httpphysed.otago.ac.nzsosolv1i2v1i2s1.htm l refs Kennedy (1997).
Golfing women were treated sub-species ( HYPERLINK httpphysed.otago.ac.nzsosolv1i2v1i2s1.htm l refs Mott (1996)) relative to men and this was justified by how men golfers like European Seve Ballesteros treated women with respect to the game. You women want equality, but youll never get it because women are inferior to men in all sorts of ways - physically, intellectually and morally. There are exceptions, but on the whole women are inferior to men, he openly stated. Many believed that the reason why women often suffered in golf is because of the unsuitability of their physiological attributes to the equipments used ( HYPERLINK httpphysed.otago.ac.nzsosolv1i2v1i2s1.htm l refs Hopkins (1997)).

Furthermore, golf tours formed and participated in by women like the Women Professional Golfers European Tour (WPGET), were often denied of sponsors due to the social stigma that womens tour is less attractive and successful than mens. Other reasons include the lack of female professionals and inadequate prize funds  HYPERLINK httpphysed.otago.ac.nzsosolv1i2v1i2s1.htm l refs (Henderson, 1997 Cited in Peter A. Shotton, Dr. Kathleen M. Armour  Paul Potrac). In short, womens treatment with respect to golf had become a cultural barrier on womens identity.

A survey had been conducted by Fore Magazine (August 1997) which manifested changing attitude of men towards womens participation in the sport. The study asked 1000 men ages 25-45 about their perception on women and golf. Only nine percent said that both were indeed incompatible. The study showed that more and more male golfers consider golf as a social activity which can be participated in by anyone regardless of sex. Moreover, a study had been conducted on Wirral Ladies Golf Club where in 190 men at the club was denied participation of the clubs affairs despite equal fees being paid. The study reflected that most female golf clubs exercised the same policies with respect to gender and that more women were in favor of gender division in relation to the sport. 

Ethnographic Methods Applied
Generally, this ethnographic study derived answers from interviews and observations at a private golf club within a period of five days. The club is composed of 500 members 400 males and 150 females of which, 30 are staff members. Actions, behaviors and topics discussed in relation to gender were noted by the ethnographer and the affirmation of such observations was usually done through interviews and was often recorded soon after the observation has been made.

The researchers findings were summarized into five categories (1) attitude towards participation (2) social interaction and communication (3) organization and compliance with rules and regulations (4) age and (5) inferiority. All of which have been recorded within the premises of the golf club established in 1935.

As per observation, men were far more competitive than women and that men focused on the development of his personal skills as a player towards winning the game and that women played for the sake of fun and companionship. The club secretary was interviewed about the type of atmosphere the golf club was trying to create. The golf club, according to the interviewee, wished to promote a non-biased playing atmosphere and that women should be treated with respect just like any man. A male player reiterated that social interactions within the club had enhanced rapport within players regardless of gender. With respect to rule compliance, men in contrast to women were often reminded by the management not to wear spiked shoes and hats in the course area and inside the clubhouse respectively. In addition, women followed organized committee meeting procedures than men. This manifested that although women are often considered inferior to men in the playing field, men were less organized and disciplined relative to women. The youngest female player was 38 while the rest fell between ages 45-55. Men population, on the other hand, ranged from school boys to professionals and retired pensioners. The study claimed that there was no female junior section in the club unlike the mens section which had junior, senior and veterans divisions. When a female player was asked why number of female players was far less than mens, she answered that playing golf had never been a part of the young girls sport. Men, in contrast, were taught by their fathers at an early age and that females have come to know the sport only upon maturity when their husbands and boy friends play.  As far as physiological aspect is concerned, womens lack of power in the field vastly contributed to their complex of inferiority. A female was interviewed after having defeated by a male competitor during a joint competition. She felt embarrassed by the way she performed during the game and had come to admit that she was tensed even before the game had started. According to a club professional, women are often tensed during mixed events because of their feelings of inferiority towards male players. Worse, women are aware of how they are classified as Slow, Short and Shabby.

Conclusion
To sum it all up, the influence of gender based-issue on golf as a sport, is problematic especially to women that although there are differences with respect to how both sexes treat the sport in general, put a lot of pressure on women than men.

Sample Ethnographic Design The Internet as Entertainment
Introduction
Media is a major social institution which has a huge impact to the society in general. What people see on televisions and hear on radios often affects and influences how lives are lived and should be lived. Media is a powerful apparatus which encourages social collective actions of people and thus, a major contributor and ground on how social norms should be defined.

Nowadays, people vastly rely on televisions, radios and internet for almost any latest information on the globe. The use of these tools has become collective in general that these became a part of peoples everyday activities. I chose to focus on the internet and how it is collectively utilized as a form of entertainment.

It became quite obvious how the internet had been reduced as mere entertainment package which have become a part of peoples daily life routine. For instance, apart from the internets role to educate people about the latest happenings in the society and politics, it also encouraged both young and old to be involved with countless social networks for entertainments sake. What defines leisure can now be found on Friendster and Facebook. One cannot just go off to bed at night without checking the latest updates on his or her account or if not, having to play Zynga Poker and Mafia Wars perhaps.

Objective and Scope
In order to narrow up the scale, a certain company was chosen to represent the research some time in April 2008. The objective of the study was to know who frequently used the internet for entertainment purposes Is it the male or the female The study also attempts to understand the factors which influenced frequency of internet usage with respect to gender.

The scope of the study, however, excludes those who are not affiliated with the company and late stage adults for more often than not, it is the younger ones who utilized the internet both at work and at home. Themes used include (1) the function of the internet, (2) respondent status, (3) usage frequency.

Methodology
The ethnographic study was participated in by 30 respondents who were selected randomly according to age and gender. Fifteen of which were males whose age varied from 21-45 and females 22-42. Most information was derived from interviews and personal observations within a period of three days.

Summary of Findings
The study showed that out of 15 male participants, 11 of which used the internet merely to play online games available on Facebook without having to frequently check messages on their respective accounts. When one male respondent was asked why he chose not to regularly scan up his messages, he said that he mainly used the social network for online games and that he could just sneak at his account details anytime when he gets home. The other four male participants often checked websites which have something to do with tour and vacation packages. Six out of fifteen male participants are married. A large part of the total male respondents used the internet for entertainment.

On the other hand, seven out of fifteen female respondents played online games on a regular basis. Although the other eight did not, thirteen out of fifteen have their Facebook accounts opened. The study showed that majority of the females often checked and replied to messages in their accounts in contrast to men. Ten out of fifteen female respondents were married.

Furthermore, majority of the men closed their accounts after serving its purpose, whereas, most women prefer to have their accounts opened until the shift ends. A female respondent argued how important it is for her to be updated with anything that is going on and so chose to have her account opened in order to receive and reply to messages.

Implication and Conclusion
The study implies that both working men and women used the internet on a regular basis. The distinction lies with respect to how they used it and what factors motivated them primarily.
Majority of the men utilized the internet to unwind, perhaps to give them a break at the back of stressful work routine. Women also used the internet in similar ways however, they prefer to maximize the benefits they can obtain from it both as a form of entertainment and as a constant tracking device.
In short, men used the internet to address his immediate need to be entertained, whereas, women looked at it as a form of benefit. Social status, so to speak if the respondent is married or single, showed a little but vague influence on internet usage as a form of entertainment.

In terms of usage frequency, men tend to be more practical than women and that once it served its (internet) purpose prefer to get rid of it immediately in short, his need defines his usage frequency. Women are practically constant and that regardless of need, usage appears to be on a regular basis for as long as she gets something out of it.

It is therefore suffice to conclude that both men and women used the internet for entertainment and that the only difference is defined by their distinct motivation towards the use of it.