Ethnographic interviews aim at informants’ self-understanding, not factual truth.

Evidence

I am tempted to write a lengthy rebuttal particularly to the difference between ethnographic research and investigative reporting, but I will instead simply comment that the point of ethnographic interviews is not to determine the veracity of an informant’s statements but to examine how they understand and portray their experiences and the world around them. — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, 947

Categorization

• DEFINE: States the epistemic goal of ethnography that distinguishes it from investigative journalism — useful framing for how to read status-update claims.
• XREF: connects to: Ethnographic data can be collected systematically via structured interviews with local informants; Ethnography reveals identity aspects invisible to conventional psychological approaches — Cristian Tileagă, The Nature of Prejudice: Society,…, 726; Narrative credibility depends on skill, not factual accuracy. — Janet Burroway; Elizabeth Stuckey-French; Ned Stuckey-French, Writing Fiction, Tenth Edition: A Guide…, 56 (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• Narrative credibility depends on skill, not factual accuracy. #corroborates (0.85) — Janet Burroway; Elizabeth Stuckey-French; Ned Stuckey-French, Writing Fiction, Tenth Edition, 56
• Interpreting a group’s self-descriptions requires avoiding both scientific neutrality and uncritical acceptance #expands (0.82) — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 783
• Ethnographic data can be collected systematically via structured interviews with local informants #qualifies (0.80)
• Ethnography reveals identity aspects invisible to conventional psychological approaches #expands (0.78) — Cristian Tileagă, The Nature of Prejudice, 726
• Colonial interviews distort the subject’s meaning through layers of mediation #qualifies (0.75)
• Oral-history bias demands triangulation against others and records. #complicates (0.75) — Donald MacKenzie, An Engine, Not a Camera, 127
• Interviewers probed indirectly rather than asking subjects directly about sensitive topics #exemplifies (0.72) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 502