Ethnographic Study

I presented my research findings on U.S. Southern culture for my Qualitative Research Methods course using the interactive web-based mapping software, ArcGIS.

I wanted to explore identities, beliefs, and experiences within Southern culture because of the growing divide between liberals and conservatives, and my lack of knowledge on the population, despite living in Virginia. Applying an anthropological lens, I completed semi-structured interviews to gain understanding, archival research on location demographics to reveal the experience, and a digital ethnographic study of popular hashtags on Instagram to see how it is represented. Themes of history, identity, and relationships were found.

I was aware of my positionality and how that may impact my findings and am forever grateful to those I interviewed for their honesty and ongoing involvement in my dedicated (but unofficial) “mini thesis.”

ENVIRONMENT