Action ethnography: using participant observation

This chapter examines the methods used by an anthropologist to produce an action ethnography of tourism, i.e. an ethnography of tourism that is useful to the subject population. Following a brief introduction to action ethnography and participant observation, this chapter examines how the researcher (who previously operated tours in the research area) returned to carry out fieldwork in the Ngadha regency of Flores, Nusa Tenggara, Timor, Indonesia. It examines how the researcher dealt with selecting key informants, her various roles, and the phases of her research. It also discusses how interviews were adapted to the local ways of articulating and transmitting knowledge and how participation and data collection occurred concurrently. The chapter ends by highlighting the mutual benefits of action research