Williams

“Cognitive Ethnography”

Theme of the reading

In this paper, former UCSD cognitive science grad student, Bob Williams, spells out the basic principles of cognitive ethnography and illustrates those principles with excerpts from his study of time-telling instruction in elementary school.

 

 

Questions to keep in mind while reading

What differences between traditional ethnography and cognitive ethnography does Williams describe?

What methods did Williams use to document the nature of time-telling instruction?

How does Williams deal with the challenge of transcribing both talk and action?

Why is cognitive ethnography not for the faint-hearted?