Ask about a custom

Students often want a short answer to the question ‘What do people do?’ Culture rarely fits one short answer. A practice may differ by region, family, age, situation and time. Begin with a smaller question: ‘What happens in this family, at this event, according to this person or source?’ Ask permission before recording a voice, name or image. During the conversation, use open questions such as ‘Could you explain what this object means here?’ Avoid questions that already contain a judgement. When you write, identify the source and keep the speaker's boundary. One interview can describe one experience; it cannot prove what millions of people always do. You may compare several reliable accounts, but differences are useful evidence, not errors to hide. A careful description can still be interesting. In fact, context often tells a richer story than a confident stereotype. Respectful questions leave room for more than one answer.