!HE DEVELOF MENTALRESEARCHSEQUEN CE ualsmakepoorinformantsforthenovceethnographer.Eventheexperi-encedintervlewermusttakespecialprecautionssuchasusingfrequent "nativelang.1agequestions." One stude1 :t,a junior majoring inpsychology, decided to study the culture of clinical pschnlogists. He approached someone who agreed to serve asan informan t. B tt soon he discovered it was almost impossible for his informant to talk inhisnativelanguage,theway hewould talkto other psychologists. Instead,heonstantlyinterpreted,analyzed,andexplainedtothestudent whatpsycho ogistsaresupposedtodo. lnformantrwlo aresophisticatedinthesocialsciencescanlearntore-spondtoque ;tionsinanonanalytic fashion.Instudying cocktailwaitresses, 1 collaboratt dwithBrendaMannwhoworkedasawaitressduringthe study andse1ved as a primary informant. She managed to set aside her social sciencebad gronndandrespondfromtheperspectiveof Brady'sBar.In general, the l egiHning ethnographer will do well to locate informants who do notanalyzehei ownculturefromanoutsi.der'sperspective .. Thesecrit, riadonotexhausttheonesthatwillmakeagoodinformant. However, ifhese critcria are met, the beginning ethnographer will elminate sorneofthemrstvexingproblemsoflearningtoconductethnographic interviews.{avingidentifiedthesegeneralcharacteristics,wearenow ready to und:rta yudo when you first arrive. then "hat Jo youdonext? What are sorne,fth: things you would ha veto do nights,andthengoon 'heeveningrightupuntil youw tlkout thedoor andlea vethe bar? PAM:V ell,first1shouldsaythat there,notypicalnightatBrady's. ETHNoQ \AP!IER:Well,that's fine,jusi gothr:;1ughany night and tellmewhat youinkmightusuallyhappen. Pam:It dependsifIgoonal7or 9 o 'el oc.e1 usuallystartat9,atleast late! y ETHNOQlAPIIER:O.K.Whydon'tyou tellwhatyouwouldusuallydo, from !i1ebeginning ofthe evening at 9 o'clo('\whenyou comein,untilthe end\\lenyougoborne. 62 Gil'ingetluwgraphicexplanations.He conveys thenature of theprojectwith-outusingtechnicaltermslikecul-ture,ethnography,science,or cultural knowledge.Jtisputineverydaylan-guagethattheinforman!willunder-stand.Another important ethnographic elementhereisrepeating.Insevera! differentwaystheprojectexplanation isrepeated. Asking ethnographic queslions.Before asking,he states thathe is going to ask one,thuspreparingtheinforman!. Then,repeatingoccursinwhichthe ethnographer asksthequestioninsev-era!differentways. Expressingcultural ignoranceprefaces therepetitionof questions. Askingdescriptilequestions.Thisisa specialkindofdescriptivequestion calleda"grandtourquestion."ltis asked,notinasimplestatement,but withrepeatedphrases,expandingon thebasicquestion.Expandingallows theinforman!timeto think,to prepare her answer. Pam's response gives the ethnographer an opportunity to repeat the grand tour question, thus giving Pam moretime to think. Pam'sshortanswergivestheethnog-rapher another chance for repeating the descriptivequestion. PAM:1 usuallygetthereatabout8:45. 1'11goto thekitchen andhang upmy coat or sweater,then gobacktothe bar andsitforawhile.1 mightask foracokeandthen:passthetime jokingwiththebartenderorsorne regularwhoissittingnearby.If it's realbus y, 1'11punch in and go rightto work.Anyway. by 9 o'clock 1 punch inandgotomywaitressstation and setupmyIray.1'11takeeitherthe upper section or the lower depending onwhattheotherwaitresswants. Oependingonwhatbartendersare working1 mightsay,"Bob'sonto-night,can 1 ha ve theupper section?'' Butshehasfirstchoicesinceshe carneinat7.Theuppersectionis srnallerandyougetdifferenttypes of peoplethaninthelowersection. Yougetmoredates.Mysectionwas reallypopularlastnight.Itwas jmmed. 1 couldn't even take my tray withmebytheendof theevening, just carriedonedrinkatatime. ETH)'IOGRAPHER:Really!Thatmust makeitdifficult. PAM:(Nodsher head) ETHNOGRAPHER:Yousaidthatyou would go to your waitress station and set upyour tray.Couldyou describe formewhat you do whenyou setup yourtray? PAM:Sure. You ha ve a little round tray, likea pizza tray,two ashtrays on it. oneontopandoneonthebot-tom.My tips go inthe bottom and my loose change goes in the top ash tray. Andthebilisgounder theashtray, withthebigbilisonthebottomand the ones on top so youdon't make the mistake of handing out a five ora ten. & UMLl!t!JiJI.! [ 'IIINTERVIEWINGANINFORMANT Pamnowbeginstoanswerthegrand tourquestion,easilydescribingthe thingsshedoesatthebar eachnight. Someinformants willtalkfor fifteenor twentyminuteswithoutstopping;oth-ers pause tobesurethey aredoing the rightthing.Pausingprovidesthe ethnographerwithachanceforex-PI'('ssingintercst. E:rpressinginterest.Inlongresponses tograndtour questionsitisimportant towatchforevery opportunitytover-ballyexpressinterest. Restating.Theethnographer beginsto usePam's words;thistellsher itisim-portantforher tousethem. lncorporating.As soon as possible, the ethnographerwantstomovefrom questionsthatusehiswordstoones thatincorporatenativeterms.Restat-ingandincorporatingaretwoofthe most important elements and they often occurtogetherinthisway. Mini-tour question.The phrase "set up yourtray"wasincorporatedintoa mini-tour question. This is a descriptive questionthat askstheinformant to de-scribesornesmaller unitof an event or activity.Mini-tourquestionscanbe asked almost any time, even before the grandtour questionhasbeenfullyan-swered. 63 fHEDEVELiPMC:NTALHESEARCHSEQUENCE ETHNOGRAIJIER.Oh,that'sinteresting and;mportant for notlosing money.1 dneverthoughtof that. I'AM:Yeah,tgetsdarkandcanbereally hardtoSie. ETHNOGRAFIERO.KNow,let'sgo backlony e:rlierquestion.You've punchedi 1, g