Informal Ethnography in the Corporate Workplace: Applying Foundational Research Methods in Professional Life

There was a moment during my second year of undergraduate studies when I thought, "This is for me. I think I want to do this." It had taken me a year before I found my way to Introduction to Anthropology, a class on the four fields approach to the discipline. Those first classroom discussions of anthropology's history, theory, and methods were fascinating—to the point that I quickly sought out ways to begin fieldwork. At the time, my interest in anthropology was deeply rooted in the idea that people and culture could and should be understood in ways that challenged the notions of truth that defined much of my life up to that point. In the following years, ethnographic research informed my view of how culture is constructed while shaping individual and organizational actors. In addition, these early experiences prompted me to consider how anthropologists participate with other social actors navigating social, political, and spatial terrains in the field.