Ethnography

Ethnography Project
Cultural Anthropology – 270

Introduction

This ethnography will be a study based on the spiritual aspect of the program, Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) as perceived by individuals from different religious backgrounds. I myself am a recovering alcoholic, with a sobriety date of January 26, 1988, and have a good understanding of the program of A.A. and the importance of a strong spiritual foundation upon which to build a life of sobriety. The founders of A.A. with their thoughtful insight understood the need for a program that allowed persons of all backgrounds to be able to establish a relationship with a power greater than themselves, but most importantly of their own understanding. It is this very concept that I will attempt to elicit from members of the fellowship.
    The interview strategy that I plan to employ is the informal type, conversation style, my reasoning behind this is actually based on the format of A.A. itself. Although I chose the informal type, I will be asking the same standard questions of each subject. Also, I will be recording the interviews electronically, again to make the conversations more relaxed, and to allow the talk to flow at its natural pace. The information that l am attempting to gain would be difficult to get in a formal question setting. As for my informants-due to the primary purpose of AA is anonymity- from here on out they shall be referred to as Subject#1, Subject#2 and Subject#3.     As I have chosen subjects with long term sobriety, they are also people that I have known for some time, I do not foresee any challenges that could not be overcome relatively easily. Also, the anonymity issue would probably be the largest challenge to face, but as I stated previously I have established relationships along with, an existing level of trust with each of these subjects. The guarantee of privacy will be discussed beforehand.

Section 1 – The Interview

    I interviewed my informants in order, the location...