5 Doing Ethnography II: Methods and Translating Them into Practice

Abstract

It’s late on the evening of Tuesday 8 October, 2013, and I’m sitting next to Susanne Engstler at her desk in her home. Together, we are staring at her computer screen. “Or rather like this?”, she asks and looks at me. I don’t know how to answer. In fact, I’m completely stunned. This evening, events come thick and fast. Only a moment ago, we were comfortably sitting on the couches in her living room, talking about LiquidFriesland and how she used it. And now she is asking me for suggestions on how to word the initiative she wants to start on LiquidFriesland. In the initiative, she demands “complete access for scientists”, or rather, complete access for me. Having herself completed a PhD, Engstler was furious upon hearing that I had to make do with guest access to the platform. Immediately, she got up and had us go upstairs to craft an initiative demanding full access to LiquidFriesland for scientists. So much for preferably having no influence on the field you’re studying!