Methods
Developing a Thesis and Argument
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As an academic paper, an ethnographic paper needs a thesis statement as its foundation. This statement must be persuasively presented and argued in order for the paper to be successful. In ethnographic papers, the thesis sentence is often the answer to the guiding question. In other words, the thesis is the simply stated conclusion of the research. If the ethnography has been brief, it may be necessary to refer to the thesis as "preliminary conclusions", but in any case the paper must argue for them as well. Thesis statements are most commonly found in the first paragraph of the paper.
The process of developing a thesis sentence is intimately linked to the process of data analysis. From the various ways of understanding and explaining data which have been tried as analysis, ethnographers are generally able to choose one which seems most appropriate. This, then, forms the basis for the thesis statement.
Theses are usually one sentence claims which report the results of the research. Booth, Colomb and Williams (1995) make these points about strong theses:
- A thesis should be substantive. That is, it should do more than introduce the topic or announce what the paper will discuss. The thesis should attract audience interest by briefly stating the claim that the paper will focus on, with the contradiction, new information, or surprise it contains taking center stage.
- A thesis must be contestable. This means that it must not be either completely obvious or constitute common knowledge on a subject. Good theses should pique reader interest by announcing something that has the possibility of changing people's minds.
- A thesis must be specific. Therefore, it must announce as simply and clearly as possible what kinds of evidence will be necessary to prove it. These elements constitute an outline of what strands of argument the paper will present in its defense.
Examples of thesis
sentences:
1. For an ethnography of changing strategies of ethnic identity
maintenance strategies among Laotian immigrants to Philadelphia:
While extended family networks
remain an extremely important in the maintenance of ethnic identity
among Laotian immigrants in Philadelphia, non-kin networks developed
through neighborhood community centers have taken on a new role of
increasing prominence as well.
2. In her ethnography of an urban hospice's social construction
of death, Annie Farmer used the following thesis:
"Because of hospice's construction
of death as an individual event that is a natural part of the life
cycle, a view of death that differs greatly from that held by much
of American society and its medical community, hospice provides
a different type of care than a traditional hospital or nursing home."
Once a claim has been asserted, it is necessary
to put forth an argument which proves it to the reader.
Embedded in the thesis sentence should be a kind of abbreviated outline
for the paper; this outline consists of several sub-claims for which
evidence must be provided. The evidence from which a conclusion
and then a thesis sentence was gleaned now comes into the foreground.
How do you know what you claimed to know in the thesis sentence?
Excerpts from the data gathered should be
interwoven in the text of ethnographic papers as proof for your conclusions.
It is important to break this down for readers exactly how the evidence
presented leads to the points asserted in the paper.
References
Booth, Wayne C., Gregory G. Colomb, and Joseph M. Williams
1995 Chapter 3: Making a Claim and Supporting It.
In The Craft of Research. Pp. 85-146. Chicago:
The University of Chicago Press.