Unlike other ethnographic field manuals — which are either written for the graduate or professional levels or are narrowly restrictive in their methodological approach — this manual focuses specifically on the needs of introductory-level students. It takes them by the hand and leads them step-by-step through the entire process — through tasks that range from simple to complex and that invite students to use their own lives as tools to understand various categories of culture. This task-oriented and reflective approach makes this the first field manual to emphasize the investigative instrument (the ethnographer) as well as the cultural situations, informants, and techniques of analysis.