Ethnography, Belief Ascription, and Epistemological Barriers

Abstract

While ascribing beliefs to one's subjects is a common practice for most ethnographers, I argue that this task is far more difficult and error-prone than commonly realized. I lay out the fundamental epistemological problems for belief ascribers and explain why certain sorts of ascriptions are especially difficult to make accurately. I suggest some guidelines for making ethnographic belief ascription less error-prone.