Traditionally, anthropologists have undertaken ethnographic research in small, bounded villages while living among the village's relatively few inhabitants.  These ethnographers may have been one of few non-natives in that part of the world and may have been one of the first non-natives that the villagers had ever seen.  It may have taken these researchers a year or more in the field to gain the language skills necessary for communication before becoming able to fashion appropriate guiding questions.  These long stretches away from their homelands may have been very stressful.

Today, however, fieldsites can be nearly anywhere.  Research may still focus on village life, but it is also increasingly likely to take place in urban locales or in the native language of the ethnographer.  Sometimes the "group" among whom one wants to study does not live in one location, and our main fieldsite will be a workplace (like a bank) or a religious center (like a mosque) or a generic meeting room where some group meets regularly (like a library meeting room where Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, but also other things also take place) or even in cyberspace (like a chat room).  "Multi-sited" fieldwork, which allows ethnographers to engage in research in more than one locale for comparative purposes, is also possible.

It is possible to choose a fieldsite first and then to make a guiding question appropriate to the site.  It is also possible to start with a question about a certain cultural process and to find a site where that question might be appropriate.  Either method for setting up a project can work, as long as the site and the question are relevant  to one another.  In other words, be careful that your research questions hit on something important about social and cultural life and practices in the group you have chosen.

Once a potential fieldsite has been selected, ethnographers must negotiate entry.  This involves getting permission to visit the site for research purposes from members and often from a person in authority in the site or groups as well.  (See ethics.)  If this proves difficult or questions arise about how to best approach a group, students should consult their professors for advice or assistance.  Sometimes it is possible for a professor to help a student gain entry by providing official assurances regarding the project and its purposes to complement that which students provide.

Here are suggestions of fieldsites in the Philadelphia area.