Acting for the Local Community: Hybrid Ethnography in the Careers of Local Culture Animators

Abstract

This article focuses on the innovative methodology used to collect data. We describe how we have utilized the diary method and what analytical potential it contains. We also flag the limitations we have perceived during the research. At the same time, so as not to refrain entirely from a discussion of the study findings, we recreate selected shared attributes in the careers of culture animators. A hybrid research method was used to report and interpret the reality of our surroundings. This involved the use of a diary in which the animators described facts and events from the previous day while also plotting data concerning their location on the Google map; they enriched their notes with short essays, pictures, and video clips. Then, the animators as subjects in the research took part in one-on-one in-depth interviews to summarize their experience. Deliberations on the utility and innovativeness of these ethnographic methods are accompanied by considerations as to the variety of experience held by culture animators and the factors driving their occupational choices.