A R T I C L E

Copyright 2003 SAGE Publications {London, Thousand Oais, CA and New Delhi)
www.sagepubllcations.com Vol 4(3): 455^8511466-1381(200309)4:3:455-485:035818]

Street phenomenology
The go-along as ethnographic research tool

Margarethe Kusenbach
Department

of Sociology,

University

of South Florida,

Tampa

A B S T R A C T a Ttiis article introduces and evaluates the go-along as a

qualitative research tool. What sets this technique apart from traditional
ethnographic methods such as participant observation and interviewing is
its potential to access some of the transcendent and reflexive aspects of
lived experience in situ. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in
two urban neighborhoods, I examine five themes which go-alongs are
particularly suited to explore; environmental perception, spatial practices,
biographies, social architecture and social realms. I argue that by exposing
the complex and subtle meanings of place in everyday experience and
practices, the go-along method brings greater phenomenological
sensibility to ethnography.

K E Y W O R D S m ethnography, everyday life, interaction,

neighborhoods, phenomenology, qualitative methods, Schutz

Previous phenomenological investigations i n other disciplines have established that our experience o f the environment is fundamentally based o n the
coordinates o f our living body, giving 'place' primacy over 'space'. Informed
by Merieau-Ponty, the philosopher Casey (1993: 43ff.) describes h o w living
bodies' movements constitute our p r i m o r d i a l sense o f the environment as a
diversity of places. This perspective resembles the concept o f 'perceptual

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space' as developed by the humanist geographer Relph. Relph (1976: 11)

asserts that perceptual space is 'richly differentiated into places, or centres
of special personal significance', mcluding not only actual places but also
imagined and remembered ones.
A l f r e d Schutz, one o f the f o u n d i n g fathers o f i n t e r p r e t i v ' s o c i o l o g y ,
acknowledged the importance o f the subjective coordinates o f the body i n
describing the structures o f the Ufe-world (Schutz and Luckmann, 1989),
yet he d i d n o t f u l l y recognize the primacy of place i n our environmental
experience and practices,' The role o f the environment and the meaning o f
place i n everyday lived experience is an area o f Inquiry that phenomenologically minded sociologists have begun to explore only recently (e.g.
M i l l i g a n , 1998). The broader goal o f this article is to contribute t o a better
phenomenological understanding o f h o w individuals comprehend and
engage their physical and social environments In everyday life. M o r e
specifically, i t introduces and evaluates the 'go-along' as an ethnograplilc
research t o o l that brings to the foreground some o f the transcendent and
reflexive aspects o f lived experience as grounded i n place.
I begin by briefly commenting on the complex relationship between
phenomenology and sociological research. N e x t , I take a critical l o o k at
classic ethnographic methods and then specify w h a t Is new about the
method o f the go-along and h o w this technique f o r gathering data manages
to overcome certain shortcomings o f participant observation and interviewing. The m a i n part o f the article is devoted to illuminating the substantive potential o f the go-along technique by noting five themes that i t is
particularly suited to explore: (1) environmental perception, (2) spatial
practices, (3) biographies, (4) social architecture and (5) social realms.
Finally, I address some limitations and implications o f go-alongs.
The article is based upon my participation i n a three-year collaborative
ethnographic study o f h o w residents i n five urban neighborhoods i n H o l l y w o o d (Los Angeles) perceive local problems, and h o w their daily activities
and social interactions relate to those understandings.^ I studied t w o o f the
five neighborhoods, all of w h i c h were distinct i n terms o f the racial, ethnic,
class and lifestyle composition o f their residents. One o f the t w o areas, here
called 'Melrose', is a lower-middle-class neighborhood w i t h a culturally
heterogeneous population that includes O r t h o d o x Jewish families, aspiring
actors and i m m i g r a n t Russians. The other, 'Gilmore Junction', is an uppermiddle-class and more homogeneous neighborhood located about a mile
away f r o m the first one. M a n y o f its overwhelmingly Caucasian residents
are homeowners and have estabUshed successful careers i n the H o U j w o o d
entertainment industry. I n 61 interviews lasting one to three hours, I
gathered ethnographic data on residents' biographies and daily experiences
i n these areas. I also observed the neighborhoods' local events and street life
over about 18 months and recorded m y observations i n fieldnotes. I n this

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Street phenomenology

article, I predominantly draw on a t h i r d set o f data: my records o f 50 'goalongs', covering 30 residents, during w h i c h I accompanied m y informants
on their 'natural' everyday trips.

Building o n phenomenology

By f u r t h e r developing Husserl's groundbreaking ideas into a systematic

description o f the structures o f the hfe-world (Schutz and Luckmann, 1973,
1989), A l f r e d Schutz gave the social sciences a phenomenological f o u n dation. While Schutz's w o r k has been actively engaged i n European sociology (e.g. Sprondel and Grathoff, 1979; Eberie, 1984; Srubar, 1989), his
influence on sociology i n the American context has been m u c h less direct
(Wagner, 1988). I n the United States, H a r o l d Garfinkel counts as the p r i n cipal interpreter o f Schutz's thought (Holstein and G u b r i u m , 1994).
Garfinkel's ethnomethodology is seen as an attempt to t u r n Schutz's f o u n dation o f the social sciences into a radical research program while preserving its 'phenomenological sensibility' ( G u b r i u m and Holstein, 1997: 40; ses
also Psathas, 1977).3
The complex relationship between phenomenology and sociology has
been widely discussed i n the past (e.g. Luckmann 1973; Natanson, 1973;
Psathas, 1977). Luckmann claims that phenomenology serves an important
methodological purpose b u t warns that i t should not 'be taken as a substitute empirical method' (Luckmann, 1973: 179). Meant to reveal tha
universal, invariant structures o f the Ufe-world, phenomenology provides a
'matrix' f o r research b u t cannot itself be based on data because 'aU data o f
the social sciences are historical' (Luckmann, 1973: 180). I n this view, ths
structures o f everyday experience, and basicaUy any phenomenological
inquiry, cannot and should not be subjected to empirical investigaUori-,
including ethnographic research.
I n a recent article Unking phenomenology and ethnography, Maso (2001)
points out considerable shortcomings i n this traditional view o f the naturs
of phenomenological inquiry, a view that is favored by scholars such as
Psathas and L u c k m a n n w h o closely f o l l o w Schutz.
Nowadays, [the] strict bracketing of all presuppositions and prejudices about
phenomena must be considered a myth. Since Hanson we know that perception and interpretation are inseparable, which means that theories and
interpretations are 'there' i n the obseiving, f r o m the outset. . . . To bracket
them, i f at all possible, would make perception, and therefore experience,
impossible. Tills is why bracketing can at best refer to an attempt to refrain
f r o m those presuppositions and prejudices about phenomena that are sensed
by phenomenologists as contaminating (from the outside) their pure

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experiences of those phenomena. What w i l l be bracketed and what subsequently appears to consciousness w i l l be dependent on who is bracketing.
(Maso, 2001: 138)
Maso points o u t that the method o f phenomenological reduction is an ideal
that cannot be reached w i t h o u t ehminating the very phenomena sociologists
are Interested in. He argues that fhe bracketing procedure underUes the same
socially contingent prejudices and presuppositions that i t attempts to
d l s m a n e . Maso purs phenomenology where it belongs, back into the canon
of scientific perspectives situated i n history and culture, and he reminds us
to be cautious n o t tiD frame phenomenological goals, methods and findings
in absolute terms.
I n ethnography, i rising awareness o f the researchers' o w n posltionality, sometimes charecterlzed as the 'reflexive t u r n ' (see Emerson, 2001), has
not prevented scholars f r o m practicing their craft. Rather, i t facilitated a
fundamental shift i n the ways ethnographers locate themselves w i t h i n the
context o f their ressarch and w r i t i n g (Coffey, 1999). Similarly, a c k n o w l edging the reflexivity o f the phenomenological method need not p u t an end
to phenomenologie?! practice; i t can Instead contribute to its sophistication
and progress. W i t h Maso, I believe that the phenomenological structures
of lived experience are legitimate objects o f empirical, particularly ethnographic, inquiry. Ir.deed, i f phenomenological inquiry is n o t subject to
empirical testing, on w h a t basis can phenomenologists cUstinguish between
v a l i d and invalid phenomenological propositions? Thus the e f f o r t to
develop a phenomenological ethnography offers the promise o f saving
phenomenology f r e m the Inadequacies o f a solely 'philosophical' f o u n dation.
How, then, should phenomenological structures o f lived experience be
studied? W h a t contribution can ethnographic methods make t o w a r d the
goals o f a more phenomenological sociology and a more sociological
phenomenology? Here, I argue that the innovative method o f the go-along,
tiirough combining some o f the strengths o f ethnographic observation and
interviewing, is a tDol particularly suited to explore t w o key aspects o f
everyday Uved experience: the constitutive role and the
tianscendent
meaning of the physical environment, or place.

S o m e limits o f participant o b s e r v a t i o n a n d i n t e r v i e w i n g

Ethnographic methods can roughly be divided into interviewing informants

and observing 'natui'ally' occurring social settings, conduct and events. Both
methods o f inquiry can be conducted f r o m close-up or f r o m a relatively
distant vantage point. Both have advantages and disadvantages when i t

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a Street phenomenology

comes to exploring the role o f place i n everyday experience. Because people

usually do not comment on 'what is going on' while acting i n 'natural'
environments, i t is difficult to access their concurrent experiences and
interpretations through a purely observational approach. O n the other
hand, conducting sit-down interviews usually keeps informants f r o m
engaging i n 'natural' activities, typically taking them out o f the environments where those activities take place. This makes i t difficult to grasp w h a t
exactly the subjects are talking about - rf they are able and wlUing to discuss
at aU w h a t researchers are interested i n . I n b o t h cases, i m p o r t a n t aspects of
lived experience may either remain invisible, or, i f they are noticed, unintelligible. This is especially true" f o r the spatial f o o t i n g o f experience and
practices i n everyday life.

Some limits o f p a r t i c i p a n t o b s e r v a t i o n
The f o l l o w i n g pair o f fieldnote excerpts clearly illustrates shortcomings o f
the ethnographic method o f participant observation. I recorded the first one
after w a l k i n g around Gilmore Junction at the very beginning o f my fieldw o r k i n this neighborhood.
8-29-97. I t is trash pick up time. I notice one of these huge green garbage
trucks that have an automatic arm on the side which grabs, lifts and empties
the cans without any help by the driver. We have the same system in our
neighborhood: it is fast and clean but it requires that the trash cans stand
properly spaced on the street in front of the curb, and that they are not
blocked by parking cars. This seems to be no problem i n the entire Gilmore
Junction area, whereas the same system causes considerable conflict around
where I live. Here, there is ample parking space available on every street and
there is very littie traffic. . . .
I think I w i l l make the entire Gilmore Junction neighborhood my study
area. The number of housing units to draw informants i r o m is l o w (I estimate
that the number of people living here on eight blocks equals the number of
people living on two blocks i n my other neighborhood). The houses all look
very similar: there are no multiple-unit or courtyard buildings, no abandoned
or empty buildings, and no converted garages. I see a number o f 'for sale'
signs by real estate companies but I don't notice any signs advertising places
for rent.
The above excerpt is taken f r o m the first set o f fieldnotes that I t o o k after
scouting out Gilmore Junction as a research site. I t is obviously the descript i o n o f an outsider w h o knows next to nothing about the area. M y efforts
to make sense of m y observations are focused on comparing this area w i t h
the other neighborhood I had already been living i n and stud3dng f o r several
months. The absence o f traffic, the availability o f parking space, the orderly

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process o f the trash pick-up, and the lower concentration and homogeneity
of buildings are a l l features that become noticeable and meaningful i n
contrast to features o f an area I was m u c h more famiUar w i t h . However,
these observations and comparisons reveal Uttle i f anything about h o w the
area's residents perceive and interpret their local environ&ent. A n y
outsider's view o f a setting that lacks a local vantage point necessarily
remains superficial, revealing more about the observer's o w n standpoint
than anything else.
Yet even when i n f o r m e d by intimate local knowledge, observations o f
natural settings can be problematic. O u r research team learned through t r i a l
and error that independent, solitary observations - even when done as
insiders - are not weU-suited to access local culture as i t unfolds through
other members' experiences and practices. Echoing the dUemma that distant
or novice observers r u n into, we also f o u n d that the detaUed observations
o f weU-lmmersed researchers similarly emphasize,
Instead o f overcome,
their independent reference points. Consider tills second excerpt taken f r o m
fieldnotes recorded five months into my research In Gilmore Junction.
1-31-98. O n my way to the copy shop I pass the two-storied white house on
Gilmore that sits directiy behind Cam's. He had told me earlier that the house
had been owned by two elderly sisters who were badly tricked into selling
their valuable home under price. I t now seems to be on sale again after undergoing remodeling. . . . O n one side of fhe front lawn, I have previously
noticed a sign o f the real estate company that Nick Russell works f o r ('Tuft
and Associates'). A plate w i t h his f u l l name used to be displayed on top of
the sign. I saw i t several times; it was the only sign in f r o n t of this building.
N o w I discover something very interesting: on the other side of the f r o n t
lawn, another sign has been put up by a company called ' B & H Realtors'.
Under the big sign stands a smaller one that reads: Tom and Jean Stark.
The 'Tuft and Associates'-sign is still there, not even six yards next to the
new one, but N i c k Russell's personal name plate has been removed. I take
these observations as a sign of the ongoing t u r f war between Tom and N i c k
that Tom had told me about. Both are rivals i n their attempt to control the
real estate market i n the neighborhood. A n d i t is out there f o r everyone to
see.
Five months into the fieldwork, I had interviewed many Gilmore Junction
residents and was n o w quite familiar w i t h the area. I had learned about and
spoken to t w o local realtors, both residents and active members o f the
neighborhood association. I also knew that there existed a professional
rivalry between the t w o w h i c h made i t impossible f o r them to, f o r Instance,
serve o n the same neighborhood committees, as one of the men admitted.
W h a t i n my early observations seemed to be a bunch o f real estate signs originaUy I had only noticed the absence o f ' f o r rent' signs as significant -

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Street phenomenology

has n o w turned into a good indicator o f the ongoing conflict between t w o

local realtors. I knew about the existence o f this conflict b u t was surprised
to find signs o f i t i n the open, 'out there f o r everyone to see'.
A l t h o u g h the second excerpt testifies to m y familiarity w i t h locals anil
local social life, i t does n o t reveal whether m y s a w y observations were
shared by, or meant anything to, any o f the residents. Again, my perceptions and interpretations o f environmental features are p r i m a r f l y i n f o r m e d
by my personal knowledge and interests. I identify the exchange of the signs
to be a 'juicy' indicator of the ongoing conflict between the local realtors,
even though I cannot be certain that it actually means to residents w h a t i t
appears to mean to me. A f t e r all, i t is possible that the exchange o f the signs
does n o t point to an active t u r f w a r but to a compromise, an act o f cooperation between the rivals.
A l l i n all, the t w o examples illustrate h o w solitary observations of a field
setting, whether conducted f r o m a distant or a close vantage point, f a to
access the environmental perception and experience o f (other) members .
This considerable weakness does n o t disappear when observers focus
directiy on other persons or their encounters instead o f environmental artifacts. W h a t exactiy these others are doing, and w h a t their local experiences
and practices actually mean, often remains a mystery - even when examined
by researchers w h o have become f u l l members o f their settings.
Being the primary and sometimes only i n f o r m a n t can indeed provide
extraordinary depth, f o r Instance i n the study o f emotions and personal
relationships (as recent w o r k s i n auto-ethnography have shown, e.g. Ellis,
1995), or when examining the acquisition o f practical sldlls (Sudnow,
1978). Furthermore, there is no doubt that being an accepted member o f
the setting provides unique access to f e l l o w locals and should be tha
preferred position o f anyone conducting field research.* M y point is that
becoming and being a privileged insider does not provide automatic
clues
to other locals' lived experiences. Garfinkel's radical insistence on becoming
a practitioner as the key strategy of ethnomethodological inquiry (Garfinkel,
2002: 169) discourages any research activity that, by definition, transcends
the member role. I n m y view, such a position negates Itself Instead o f furthering a phenomenological understanding o f everyday Uved experience. I f I had
solely remained a competent and f u l l y accepted neighbor, and w r i t t e n fieldnotes f r o m this insider point o f view w i t h o u t taking a more proactiva
approach towards understanding others, I w o u l d not have learned as much
about the elusive aspects o f environmental experience i n everyday life as I
report below.
I n short, participant observation, especially when done imobserved, is
often characterized as the most authentic and reUable ethnographic method
because i t provides access to 'naturalty' unfolding events and delivers
'volimteered' member interpretations (Becker, 1958). But despite its many

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strengths, this method is neither the only nor the first choice f o r a l l areas o f
sociological and phenomenological inquiry.

S o m e limits o f intfirviewing

Because o f its abiUty to go beyond w h a t is visible and thus observable, sitd o w n interviewing is an exceUent phenomenological t o o l . Ethnographic
interviews can provide unique access to informants' biographies and f u t u r e
plans, to their subjective interpretations o f others and social interaction
(Holstein and G u b r i u m , 1995; Seldman, 1998). Yet there are at least t w o
shortcomings o f the interviewing method w i t h respect to its abUity to reconstruct the informants' Uved experience o f place. The first is posed by the
limits o f narrativity: the second by the limits o f the interview situation.
De facto, i t is n o t possible to access all aspects o f Uved experience i n Interviews because informants refuse to talk about certain topics or cannot t a l k
about them because, no matter h o w much they may w i s h to coUaborate,
they overlook issues that do n o t figure prominently i n their awareness.
Ethnographic interviews can miss out on those themes that do n o t lend
tiiemselves to narrative accounting, such as the pre-reflective knowledge and
practices o f the body, or the most trivial details o f day-to-day environmental
experience. Aware o f this problem, interviewers often move away f r o m a
strict question-and-answer f o r m a t , using props such as letters, books, maps
and photographs (sae Harper, 2002), i n order to stimulate the less easily
accessible, non-verbalized regions o f their informants' minds. A l t h o u g h
association props a-e helpful i n broadening the narrative focus o f ethnographic Interviews, they still cannot overcome some of the Umltations posed
by the Interview sitiiation Itself.
Sit-down interviews are primarily static encounters i n w h i c h talking
becomes the center of attention. A n y other activity is usuaUy perceived as
a distraction and pushed into the background. The stiucturing and emphasis
of the interview sitaation n o t only discourage 'natural', that is, contextsensitive reactions o f the interviewer and interviewee, they also magnify the
dialectical relations nip between the participants instead o f p r o m o t i n g a
shared perspective and a more egalitarian connection. I n short, the particular interactional d j n a m i c s and the physical constraints o f most ethnographic interview encotmters separate informants f r o m their routine
experiences and practices i n 'natural' environments. These are serious
disadvantages, espe;iaUy i f they obstruct themes that are the f o c i o f the
Investigation.

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The go-along method

W h e n conducting go-alongs, fieldworkers accompany individual informants

on their 'natural' outings, and - through asking questions, listening and
observing - actively explore their subjects' stream o f experiences and practices as they move through, and interact w i t h , their physical and social
environment. A h y b r i d between participant observation and interviewing,
go-alongs carry certain advantages when i t comes to exploring the role o f
place i n everyday lived experience. Go-alongs are a more modest, but also
a more systematic and outcome-oriented version o f 'hanging out' w i t h key
informants - an ethnographic practice that is highly recommended i n v i r t u ally aU fieldwork manuals and textbooks. M a n y reflexive descriptions of
w h a t ethnographers do characterize 'hanging out' w i t h informants i n a
variety of social situations as a key strategy. However, because o f their extraordinary commitment to a small number o f key informants, ethnographers
rarely systematically f o l l o w a larger number o f subjects into a variety o f
settings. Studies that buUd 'hanging out' w i t h many or aU informants into
the overall research design - as a number o f classic and contemporary ethnographies do (e.g. Becker, 1961; HochschUd, 1989; Duneler, 1999) ~ usuaUy
focus on their subjects' personal and professional lives at one or t w o specific
locations, thus necessarily downplaying the significance and meaning ofless
prominent places and of the spatial practices by w h i c h different places are
linked together.
The goal o f the go-along as a research method is at the same time more
limited and more focused than the generic ethnographic practice o f 'hanging
out'. Go-alongs require that ethnographers take a more active stance
towards capturing their informants' actions and interpretations.
Researchers w h o utilize this method seek to estabUsh a coherent set o f data
by spending a particular yet comparable slice o f ordinary time w i t h aU o f
their subjects - thus w i n n i n g i n breadth and variety o f their coUected materials w h a t might get lost i n density and intensity. W h a t makes the go-along
technique unique is that ethnographers are able to observe their informants'
spatial practices i n situ w h e accessing their experiences and interpretations
at the same time. While going along w i t h subjects is c o m m o n i n ethnographic research, I am not aware that ethnographers have used go-alongs
or equivalent techniques systematically
i n previous qualitative studies o f
everyday llfe.^ I n any case, sociologists have not yet fuUy explored the
phenomenological potential o f this interesting empirical approach.
For the purpose o f authenticity, i t is crucial to conduct w h a t I have previously referred to as 'natural' go-alongs. By this I mean go-alongs that f o l l o w
informants into their familiar environments and track outings they w o u l d
go on anyway as closely as possible, f o r Instance w i t h respect to the particular day, the time o f the day, and the routes o f the regular t r i p . I n contrast,

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'contrived' or experimental go-alongs - meaning when researchers take

informants into unfamUlar territory or engage them i n activities that are n o t
part o f their o w n routines - might produce appealing data, b u t n o t o f the
k i n d that w o u l d greatly enhance our understanding o f the subjects' authentic practices and interpretations.
*
Even though 'natural' go-alongs are ideaUy rooted i n informants' everyday
routines, this research technique is obviously n o t a 'naturally occuning'
social occasion. I t is rather unUkely that informants are accompanied on their
routine trips by acquaintances w h o engage them i n discussing their perceptions and Interpretations o f the physical and social environment. There can
be no doubt that go-alongs, like interviews and even participant observation
are always 'contrived' social situations that disturb the unfolding o f ordinary
events. Go-alongs intentionally aim at capturing the stream o f perceptions,
emotions and interpretations that informants usually keep to themselves. The
presence and curiosity o f someone else undoubtedly intrudes upon and alters
this delicate, private dimension o f lived experience.^
I f o u n d that conducting go-alongs w i t h more than one person at a time,
f o r instance accompanying a couple w a l k i n g their dog around the neighb o r h o o d or running errands together, can be very productive. The presence
of a partner or friend can reduce some o f the obvious discomfort that a
number o f informants feel about being f o l l o w e d i n , and queried about, their
mundane local practices by an ethnographer. This does not, however, mean
that go-alongs w i t h couples are therefore more 'natural' events. They only
produce a different k i n d o f artificlaUty and cannot solve the m u c h more
fundamental dUemma o f researcher reactivity. Even so: i t is stiU useful to
distinguish between the contributions o f more and less contrived versions
of go-alongs. While they can never be completely 'natural' social situations,
and thus always Impact the experiences that subjects w o u l d have w i t h o u t
such company, the less contrived ones stand a much better chance o f uncovering aspects o f individual lived experience that frequently remain hidden
during participant observations, sit-down interviews and more experimental
types o f go-alongs.
The most common and practical modes o f go-alongs are ' w a l k alongs'
(on foot) and 'ride-alongs' (on wheels), yet others are certainly possible.
M a n y times, go-alongs w i U Involve a mixture o f activities and the use o f
more than one mode o f transportation. O f the 50 go-alongs that I
conducted, three-quarters were walk-alongs and the rest ride-alongs or
mixed types. M y go-alongs lasted anywhere f r o m a few minutes (walking
w i t h an i n f o r m a n t to the gas station on the corner to buy cigarettes) to many
hours (spending almost entire days w i t h informants as they w o r k e d , ran
errands and sociaUzed). I n my experience, a productive time w i n d o w f o r a
go-along is about an hour to 90 minutes.
I experimented w i t h audio-recording go-alongs, taking jottings and

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photos, and w i t h n o t making any records during the actual outing. I f o u n d

audio-recordings particularly useful i n the case o f ride-alongs because o f t h e
much faster and more urgent pace o f events, making i t difficult to ask
informants f o r clarifications and to mentally keep track o f the sequence o f
situations. Overall, I f o u n d ride-alongs to be less effective than walk-alongs
mainly f o r these reasons. Jotting d o w n key phrases and facts on the spot
t u m e d out to be quite helpful, as long as i t d i d not Interfere w i t h the original
pace or the nature of the outing. I n the end, w h i c h strategy o f recording goalongs is most useful depends on the variable c o m f o r t level o f informants
as w e l l as on the personal preferences o f the researcher (Emerson et al.,
1995). W h a t is most important Is to expand any records or mental notes
into f u l l sets o f descriptive fieldnotes as soon as possible after completing a
go-along.
W h a t exactiy d i d I emphasize while conducting go-alongs?-I tried giving
my informants as littie direction as possible w i t h regard to w h a t I w o u l d
like them to talk about. I f they insisted on Instructions, I asked them to
comment on whatever came to m i n d while looking at and moving through
places and also to share w i t h me w h a t they usually experienced during
routine trips. O n occasion, I pointed to a nearby feature i n the environment
that was difficult to overlook and asked my subjects w h a t they thought of,
or felt about, this particular object i n order to demonstrate w h a t k i n d o f
i n f o r m a t i o n I was l o o k i n g for. Even though the telling o f my informants'
experiences was sporadically invoked by m y presence, I avoided participating i n the selection or the contents of their narratives. I n any case, I could
have never anticipated w h i c h places and environmental features stood out
i n their minds and h o w they perceived and interpreted them.
I n sum, the stiengths and advantages o f participant observation, intei-viewing and go-alongs accumulate when they are pursued i n combination.
The argument here is n o t one o f superiority b u t f o r becoming more sel"conscious about expanding the range o f data-gathering techniques i n order
to exploit the different perspectives and angles each provides. As Becker
(1958: 657) points out, social scientists should not only strive to collect
many Instances o f an Identified phenomenon b u t also seek to gather 'many
kinds o f evidence' to enhance the vaUdity o f a particular conclusion.''
A t the very least, including systematic yet subject-driven go-alongs into
the research design o f an ethnographic study wiU provide fieldworkers w i t h
the opportunity to schedule multiple returns to subjects w h o might hie
hesitant to make themselves avaUable f o r a f o r m a l f o l l o w - u p interview.
Furthermore, go-alongs create exceUent opportunities to conduct 'unobserved' observations o f social settings and situations that happen to be sensitive to unaccompanied outsiders. Ultimately, go-alongs can do more than
merely enhance field access and contacts.

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The thematic potential of go-alongs

I see five substantive topics to w h i c h go-alongs provide privileged i f n o t

unique access whe:i compared to other ethnographic methods. Because
these themes tend to be pre-reflective and visuaUy elusive, they "are particularly difficult to discover through participant observation or interviewing,
even though these techniques can be essential f o r coUecting additional
evidence once the tiiemes have been established.
First, go-alongs unveil the complex layering and filtering o f perception:
they can help ethnographers reconstruct h o w personal sets o f relevances
guide their inforrriants' experiences o f the social and physical environment
i n everyday life. Sec ond, go-alongs offer Insights into the texture o f spatial
practices by revealing the subjects' various degrees and types o f engagement
i n and w i t h the environment. T h i r d , go-alongs provide unique access to
personal biograpliies. They highlight the many links between places and life
histories, thus uncovering some o f the ways i n w h i c h individuals lend depth
and meaning to thElr mundane routines. Fourth, go-alongs can iUuminate
the social architecture o f natural settings such as neighborhoods. They make
visible the complex web o f connections between people, that is, their various
relationships, groupings and hierarchies; and they reveal h o w informants
situate themselves i n the local social landscape. F i f t h , go-alongs facilitate
explorations o f socal realms, that is, the distinct spheres o f reaUty that are
shaped by var3dng ]5atterns o f interaction (Lofland, 1998). The position o f
the solitary and tianslent observer weU suits studies o f pubUc space because
here anonymity reigns and the dominant code o f conduct is based on categoric as opposed tc personal k n o w i n g . Yet, because they establish a more
grounded, intimate vantage point f o r reconstructing the dynamics o f interaction i n communal and private realms, walk-alongs have a significant edge
over other ethnogrEiphic methods.
1. Perception. One could say that our perception o f the environment is
filtered through a series o f veils. Some o f these veUs, such as the capacities
or the actual perfcrmance o f our sensual apparatus, are determined by
physiological and developmental factors that usuaUy remain Invisible u n t i l
we notice a sudden i;hange or problem (Leder, 1990). Other filters o f percept i o n - our emotion;., tastes, values and previous experiences, f o r Instance are shaped by, and sensitive to, social contexts. They vary greatiy throughout our life course and f r o m one moment to the other. I n the practical course
of everyday Ufe, we are n o t aware o f the fact that w h a t we notice i n the
environment is determined by a complex and selective process. We usuaUy
take f o r granted and do n o t reflect u p o n the structures, concUtions and
processes o f our perception. I n the foUowing, I briefly illustrate h o w goalongs render visibie t w o such perceptual filters: practical knowledge and
tastes/values.

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Practical knowledge constitutes an indispensable yet often invisible filter

of our perception.^ I t is closely intertwined w i t h one's personal interests,
talents, dispositions and sensibiUties. I call the combination of such elements
'relevance', adopting the approximate meaning that A l f r e d Schutz (1970)
gave this t e r m i n one o f his early books. The experiential relevance o f
'relevance' is illustrated i n the f o l l o w i n g examples.
I noticed that those o f m y GUmore Junction Informants w h o were real
estate agents frequently perceived and pointed out largely invisible features
of the urban environment, such as the historic architectural references o f
homes; past, current and f u t u r e property values; rising or falling reputations
of neighborhoods; or safety issues such as potential water or earthquake
damage. D u r i n g our walk-along Tom, f o r instance, explained that the
H o l l y w o o d foothills i n f r o n t o f us were 'geologically safe' while he called
living on the beach 'geologically spealong a disaster'. A l m o s t magically, T o m
can view beneath surfaces and make out geological structures that typically
remain invisible to others. A n assessment o f safety, geologically speaking, is
one o f the relevances that guides Tom's perception o f probably any environment. He acquired this particular sensibihty through w o r k i n g i n the real
estate field i n California f o r many years where i t is an Important
professional skill.
A second excerpt Illustrating a simUar point comes f r o m m y m o r n i n g
walk-along w i t h Gilmore Junction resident Ross, a retiree i n his 70s. I t , too.
Illustrates h o w work-related knowledge has created an appreciation o f an
environmental detail that almost certainly escapes the rest o f us, at least
during the day.
Ross points out somethmg to me that I have never noticed before: the fact
that the street lights i n Gilmore Junction are installed on only one side of the
street, and that there are only three of them on each block. He tells me what
this particular type of lamp is called, 'Cobra', and continues by saying that
the lamps are much too high. This makes a lot of sense. Ross explains that
in most cases, the lamps are so high that light they give o f f w i l l illuminate
only the upper side of the trees but rarely reach the sidewalks and streets.
They are thus not very functional or safe. . . .
Ross also says: ' I always take notice of the lights!' He tells me that when
he traveled to Venice [Italy], which is the hometown of his wdfe, he reaUzed
that the street lights were 'very yellow', unlike in the US.
W h y does Ross 'always' take notice o f a background environmental feature
such as street lights, even during the day? Before retiring, Ross used to w o r k
in the City's Department o f Street Lighting f o r many years. Because o f his
professional experience, Ross routinely notices and evaluates street lighting
concUtions as a prominent feature o f the urban landscape. He was the only
i n f o r m a n t w h o mentioned the issue o f street lighting to me w i t h o u t being

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asked about i t , even though this is an environmental detaU that, unlike

geological risk, can easily be detected by everyone.
Whether a place is evaluated i n terms o f its geological risk or adequate
Ughting depends o n the personal relevances that shape environmental
perception. D u r i n g go-alongs, ethnographers can detect and directly observe
the workings of such perceptual filters w h i c h not only create the 'visibiUty'
of objects but also determine how they are interpreted. EventuaUy, through
comparisons, researchers can begin identifying the patterns and principles
that underlie practical, Uved perception.
Another pair o f data excerpts iUustrates the constitutive role o f tastes and
values i n the complex process o f perception. D u r i n g our walk-along, Ross
likened the property on the corner o f h i s block to a j u n g l e ' . I recorded the
episode i n m y fieldnotes as follows:
The house on the south-east corner of his block is partially hidden behind a
dark green fence and a number of tall trees and bushes. Ross comments: 'This
used to be a nice house!' He continues by saying that iis was back when
the fence was painted white and the garden 'didn't look Uke a jungle!' 'It was
really pretty. Well, no more!' I can't flnd anj^thing wrong w i t h the landscaping of this property, it looks lush and Interesting; thus I don't react to his
comment.
Clearly, Ross uses the w o r d jungle' to express his negative aesthetic impression o f the house, d r a w i n g on connotations such as 'wUd' and 'uncivilized'.
Ross does not enjoy seeing a j u n g l e ' instead o f a house that was once 'nice'
and 'pretty'. H i s description o f the f o r m e r looks o f the house implies Ross'
aesthetic preferences f o r homes i n his neighborhood: white fences,
controUed vegetation.
A f e w weeks later, a neighborhood walk-along w i t h another I n f o r m a n t
named JUl, a musician i n her late 40s, takes us by the same house.
We pass the house about which Ross had said that he doesn't like i t because
it looks Uke a jungle'. Jill now uses the exact same w o r d to describe how
much she likes this house: 'It's just like a jungle! Look at all these different
plants in the backyard, and the tiees and everything in the front!' Jill thinks
that the owners take 'very good care' of the garden, she j u s t loves' how i t
looks.
Unlike Ross, JUl here uses j u n g l e ' i n a positive meaning, probably t h i n k i n g
of a jungle's exotic character and hidden secrets. Even though b o t h i n f o r m ants agree on the looks o f the property, Ross and JiU's opposite tastes render
the jungle-house a dramatically different feature i n their everyday environment: an eyesore versus an exotic tieasure.
Ross and JUl's aesthetic preferences are Unked w i t h their ideas o f what
good maintenance means, thus also Including a moral judgment o f the

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owner's care-taking abilities and taste. Jill sees the many plants as an
adorable e f f o r t by the owner to create an interesting environment, a sign
that they take 'very good care' o f it, as opposed to a sign o f neglect, w h i c h
is h o w Ross reads the excessive vegetation surrounding the home. U l t i mately, these judgments reveal the t w o informants' distinct ideologies c f
w h a t good neighbors are Uke. Note that Ross and JiU d i d not f o r m their
aesthetic and moral judgments o f this site as a reaction t o seeing i t . These
values have been i n place long before, yet they become expUcit i n their
differing depiction o f this site.
I n sum, go-alongs can sensitize ethnographers to the idiosyncratic sets c f
relevances that govern their informants' environmental experiences. Being
able to witness in situ the flltering and shaping o f their subjects' perceptions
de-emphasizes the researchers' o w n perceptual presuppositions and biases,
w h i c h are i n the end irrelevant, and o f w h i c h they might n o t be completely
aware. While lonely observers depend on their imagination i f they w a n t to
reconstruct h o w others perceive a particular place, interviewers r u n into
difficulties because o f the fragUe, pre-reflective nature o f environmental
experience. Remedying these shortcomings, go-alongs provide independent,
empirical evidence o f a phenomenon w h i c h is difficult to access and substantiate by other means.
2. Spatial Practices. The geographer Seamon (1979: 9 9 f ) suggests that our
manifold engagements w i t h the environment can be located on an 'awareness continuum' spanning between complete 'person-environment separateness' at the one end and complete 'person-environment mergence' at the
other. He distinguishes between various kinds of encounters o f hirmans w i f h
the environment^ - such as 'obliviousness', 'watching', 'noticing', 'heightened
contact', 'basic contact' and 'at-homeness' - w h i c h distribute over the entire
spectrum o f the 'awareness continuum'. Seamen's somewhat static model
nevertheless conceptualizes a phenomenological quaUty o f environmentEil
experience that has routinely been overlooked. I t analyticaUy captures the
fact that our immersion i n the environnient can vary i n its strength. I n other
words. Seamen's model takes into accoimt that we can be more or less aware
of, and engage w i t h , the places and objects around us throughout the course
of our everyday Uves. A t times, being i n and moving through the w o r l d
requires a high degree o f commitment and concentration, f o r instance whUe
changing several lanes o n a busy freeway. A t other times, we are able to
(almost) completely w i t h d r a w f r o m our environments and movements. Goalongs aUow ethnographers t o leam more about the various degrees o f our
informants' environmental engagement, especiaUy during moving practices,
and also about the various qualities o f this engagement, about w h i c h we
learn relatively Uttle f r o m Seamon.
For instance, one interesting aspect o f environmental engagement is the
fact that we are able t o reframe our spatial practices t o enhance their

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primary meanings and functions. W h a t may appear t o an independent

observer as a straightforward and relatively uneventful commute to w o r k
can actuaUy be saturated w i t h layers and contexts o f meaning that subjectively transform a mundane routine into something entirelyj.different, I
believe individuals conceive o f such transformations i n order to a m p l i f y the
experiential depth cif their routines. I n other words, one can 'thicken' the
texture o f one's hsbitual practices b y making them more rewarding o r
exciting; i n short, a more effective use o f one's personal resources. One
especiaUy Interesting motive In my informants' efforts to enhance the depth
of their mundane practices was to frame them as f u n or play (see G o f f m a n ,
1974).
Consider, f o r instance, the case o f Tony, a retired w i d o w e r i n his 80s w h o ,
f o r decades, has regularly w a l k e d around and beyond his neighborhood.
Tony refers t o his walks as 'exercise' and appropriately dresses f o r these
occasions i n a j o g g i n g suit and sneakers. Yet Tony, who used t o be very
athletic and is stUl i n fine shape, does n o t regard his walks as only healthrelated or recreational b u t also as a somewhat competitive endeavor,
explaining that 'it's more f u n this w a y ' . Tony has measured his t w o regular
and sUghtly different w a l k i n g routes w i t h the odometer o f his car - they are
exactly 2.1 and 2.25 mUes long respectively - and he carefully times himself
on his walks. He finds i t 'not bad' when I tell h i m u p o n his request that our
w a l k over the 2.25 miles cUstance t o o k exacdy 50 minutes. Tony frequently
adds even more ' f u n ' t o his exercise routine by purchasing a lottery ticket
at a convenient store located along the way back to his house, even though
this stop adds a couple o f minutes t o his carefully timed walks. Being a
frugal person, Tony justifies the lottery tickets by explaining that 'this Is the
only spoof I have'. I leam that when he walks by himself, Tony often fantasizes about w h a t he w o u l d do w i t h the money i f he were so lucky to w i n
the j a c k p o t . The extra f u n he gets out o f playing the lottery is w e l l w o r t h
the cost i n terms o f money and time added to his walks.
These subtle, peiipheral layers o f meaning w h i c h subjects often Infuse
Into primarUy funct.onal activities are n o t likely to surface when researchers
rely on tracUtional ethnographic methods. For one, they are impossible to
observe. A n d exam ning the many meanings o f a mimdane and seemingly
one-cUmensional practice such as w a l k i n g d i d n o t cross my m i n d while interviewing Tony I n sorie detaU about his personal map and his d a y routines.
However, the caref j1 orchestration and complex f r a m i n g o f these walks
became very obvlo is during my repeated walk-alongs w i t h Tony, as he
freely elaborated o n their various aspects and implications. This example
iUustrates h o w go-alongs can unearth mundane detaUs too trivial t o t h i n k
and t a l k about during more f o r m a l research occasions.
A recreational stroll around the neighborhood can also be reframed as
' w o r k ' . I became av/are o f this possibUity while f o l l o w i n g Tom, one o f t h e

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Gilmore Junction realtors, w h o during these occasions makes and strengthens i n f o r m a l contacts w i t h other locals that at some point 'might lead to
business', as he volunteers. By w r a p p i n g their activities into multiple
contexts o f meaning, my informants pushed their encounters w i t h the
environment towards the end o f the continuum that Seamon (1979)
described as 'mergence'. The more aspects or nuances o f their selves my
informants were able to tie into a particular activity, fhe better i t expressed
w h o they are, and the more they were able to identify w i t h and enjoy l t . '
It even happens that mundane spatial practices become so saturated w i t h
meaning and experiential depth that they t u r n Into symbols o f someone's
personal identity.
Consider the f o l l o w i n g example, w h i c h Illustrates the emblematic
meaning o f w a l k i n g to one of my Melrose Informants. Andrea, a married
w o m a n and mother i n her 50s, regularly walks around her neighborhood
f o r recreation and to take care o f small errands. However, w h a t captures
the meaning o f her walks better than f u n c t i o n a l goals are the political and
almost subversive implications o f this practice. Ultimately, Andrea walks
because she considers w a l k i n g to be a fundamental right i n need o f being
demonstrated and reclaimed. She explains:
I pay my property tax here. We are very established here. This is our neighborhood. A n d I thinly we SHOULD be able to do this! A n d I think when you
are alwaj^s scared . . . I can't understand that, you Imow? I t gets to you. A n d
then you are too scared to go to the market. A n d now, think about It, Maggie,
if everybody here would think that way! We all walk to the movie [theater];
it is close by, right, the one right here. Or to get a video . . . everything is i n
our vicinity. A n d I think i f everyone, every house, w o u l d have that attitude!
If you like to walk, go out and walk! A n d suddenly we would have so many
people out here at night, and everyone walks a Ute bit, goes f o r a litde walk,
w i t h a dog, without a dog . . . i t w o u l d be safer A n d this is what I think
about how you take back your neighborhood.
I t troubles Andrea that her neighbors seem be too scared to w a l k around
the area. She knows about these fears because f a m i l y members constantly
caution her n o t to wall< around the area, at least not i n the dark or by
herself. Walldng is thus a potentially dangerous practice but f o r Andrea its
benefits outweigh its risks. I t is her personal crusade against the forces out
there that attempt to Umit her freedom. She also walks w i t h the hope o f
setting an example f o r others, encouraging them to j o i n her i n a collective
act o f resistance.
I could speculate about the sources o f Andrea's 'because-motive' f o r
walking, to use another one o f Schutz's terms. Andrea grew up and Uved
part o f her adult life i n a small t o w n i n Germany, i n a place and at a time
where w a l k i n g was a universal, taken f o r granted practice i n everyone's

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daily life. T h r o u g h o u t her Ufe, Andrea has made a number o f decisions that
people around her d i d n o t support and even opposed: such as leaving postwar, small-town life i n Germany behind, m o v i n g to Los Angeles, marrying
a Spaniard and, lately, opening her o w n home business. Being too scared to
w a l k a r o i m d w o u l d mean giving up control over her personal f r i e d o m and
space, Andrea's biography shows h o w she has managed to maintain a sense
of control over her Ufe, and that she is wiUing to stand up f o r her beliefs.''
I n short, spatial practices can become p o w e r f u l tools i n expressing and
shaping our personal identities, and go-alongs provide privUeged access to
this phenomenon.
3. Biographies.
Ideally, go-alongs bring to the foreground the stream o f
associations that occupy informants w h e m o v i n g through physical and
social space. Including their memories and anticipations. Whether we
appreciate i t or not, the environment we dweU i n on a daily basis becomes
a sort o f personal biographer as i t preserves parts o f our Ufe history. N a v i gating familiar environments f u U o f personal landmarks i n many ways
resembles going t h r o u g h the pages o f a personal photo a l b u m or diary. The
foUowing passage f r o m M i c h e l de Certeau's essay 'Practices o f Space'
expresses this idea more poetically.
Memory is only a traveling Prince Charming who happens to awaken the
Sleeping Beauty - stories without words. 'Here, there was a bakery'; 'That
is where old Mrs. Dupuis lived. We are struck by the fact that sites that have
been lived i n are filled w i t h the presence of absences. What appears designates what is no more: 'Loot, here there was . . .', but can no longer be
seen. . . . Every site is haunted by coundess ghosts that lurk there i n sUence,
to be 'evoked' or not. One inhabits only haunted sites - the opposite of what
is set forth in the Panopticum.
(De Certeau, 1984: 143-4, aU italics and
quotation marks i n original)
As sUent witnesses, 'haunted' sites bring back to life the ghosts o f the people,
places and events that together f o r m our biograptries.^ Go-alongs can
unearth the personal, biographic experiences that underUe our subjects'
present engagements w i t h their environments. They can also give clues as
to h o w informants integrate memories o f past events, and anticipations o f
the future, into the ongoing stieam o f their spaUal experiences and activities. I n comparison, these themes are very difficult to retrieve through interviews and almost impossible to observe.
Encountering personal landmarks during their daily routines frequentiy
evoked feelings o f identification and at-homeness i n m y informants.'^
Often, an aura o f nostalgia envelopes their past homes, as the foUowing
excerpt f r o m one o f my walk-alongs w i t h Tony conveys.

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As we come up to another street corner, Tony says: ' I want to show you something that has a little history to it. Do 3'ou see this place there, the bungalow
w i t h the sign N U D E GIRLS?' I say that I see it; I noticed i t many times before.
'That is where I lived once!' says Tony. I am stunned: H o w did that happen?
Tony tells me that when he came home after the war [Second World War], he
and his wife did not have a place to live. Luckily, they were able to stay at
this place that was then owned by one of his wife's twin sisters. 'Do you see
the bungalow behind it?' he asks me as we peek through the fence right next
to the strip j o i n t . I do; I can see a small wooden house right behind the club.
It looks empty and quite run down f r o m the outside. It turns out that this fe
the building where Tony and his wife lived together w i t h their relatives.
I ask: 'What was i n the front at that time?' 'Nothing', says Tony, 'there was
just the house.' Much later, his wife's sister sold it and the strip club was pul;
up in front of it. 'Every time I walk by here, I have to think about that I once
lived here', says Tony. Soon, he remembers something else: one year his sister
in law's children got a duckling f o r Easter which they decided to raise. I t grew
up to be a huge duck, almost the size of a goose. The duck followed the
children around like a dog when they played i n the driveway. I t was aggressive towards others and protected the chUdren just like a dog would have
done. Tony often remembers this too when he walks by this place.
Tony refers to his f o r m e r home behind one o f the area's stiip j o i n t s as ei
place w i t h 'a littie history', glossing over the fact tiiat the places surrounding i t have histories as w e l l . O n l y the fact that i t plays a significant role i n
his biography makes the unnoticeable building special, giving i t 'a little
history' that outside observers could hardly see or Imagine. Interestingly,
Tony says he has to t h i n k about the fact that he once lived here 'every time'
he passes the house. I n fact, he d i d point i t out again during a similar w a l k along about one m o n t h later. I n Tony's memories o f his f o r m e r home, the
strip club w i t h its aggressive signage does not exist, even though i t is d i f f i cult to overlook. He even recalls his nieces and nephews playing w i t h theliduck i n the no longer existent driveway.
I t could be that the place symbolizes the generosity o f his sister i n l a w
w h o offered Tony and his (recentiy deceased) w i f e a place to live while he
was l o o k i n g f o r w o r k . I t was Tony's first residence i n the neighborhood
where he has ended up living and raising his o w n family f o r over 50 years.
The httle house is an Important symbolic landmark i n Tony's biography,
even though i t is no longer intact i n the w a y that i t keeps hving on i n his
memories. Remembering its significance and being reminded o f scenes o:F
dally Ufe that happened here clearly transcends the here and n o w o f Tony's
regular walks. As he encounters this and other personal landmarks, Tony's
current experiences become anchored i n his biography i n ways that remain
invisible to outsiders.

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Other personal k n d m a r k s directed my informants' awareness into the

future, f o r Instance Dy reminding them of their future projects and ambitions.'^ O u r experie:ices of, and practices i n , the urban environment span
the entire arch o f our life history - past, present and futtu"e. VYhile we aU
k n o w this f r o m pers Dual experience, go-alongs allow ethnographers to caU
systematic attention to and explore In d e t a the tianscendent aspects o f
environmental experience w h i c h easily escape observations and off-location
interviews.
4. Social Architecture.
Go-alongs are helpful In l i f t i n g to the surface the
implicit web o f social relationships between individuals w h o live i n , or use,
a certain area. While sit-down interviews are w e l l suited to investigate
strong social ties, they are much less effective i n examining the less significant or purely functional relationships w h i c h aU people have but rarely tend
to t h i n k about. By visualizing social networks i n real space and time, i n situ,
go-alongs chronicle local relationships, especially those that are n o t
considered w o r t h :nentioning under different circumstances. M o v i n g
around their natural environments encourages Informants to t a l k about the
people w h o Uve right here or over there; and about the particular person
they j u s t passed. W i t h many o f such detaUs i n hand, ethnographers can over
time piece together a mosaic o f the invisible social architecture o f their
setting.
Even w i t h o u t encountering others, routine spatial practices are social i n
nature because we tsnd to view the physical features o f places, especially i n
the urban environment, as animated. Places represent others, and our
feelings towards them are based o n their 'interactional past' and 'interactional potential', as M i l l i g a n (1998) Investigated.'* The f o l l o w i n g excerpt
f r o m my notes foUo\\fing a go-along iUustrates this Interesting phenomenon.
As we pass a rented house - JUl caUs i t a 'rental' - she says disapprovingly:
'You can see the difference!' and points to the relatively messy front yard.
There is yard was;e pUing up i n f r o n t of the house on the yeUowish lawn;
no flowers beds DT other landscaping features beautify the f r o n t yard.
'Compare it w i t h this!' JiU demands and points to the next house down the
block. She knows lhat this house is owned by Kimberly - 'a top model, reaUy
successful, and vei y nice' - and tells me that her house is 'always wonderf u l ' . 'Look at the flowers here, and the grass!' I t is true: there is a stunning
difference betweer the two houses which I have never noticed before. (. . .)
The next one is another 'perfect' house, according to Jill. I t is painted dark
green w i t h ivory-colored tiims and frames; the interesting landscaping looks
thoroughly plann^jd and very well maintained. JiU stops walking and
declares: 'This is tiie prettiest house i n the area!' I say that i t really does look
very nice. JUl continues to tell me, proudly, that when the owners began to
remodel this housn, their contractor came over to look at her iU's) house

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on the next block f o r inspiration. Afterwards, he initially wanted to copy

some of her design ideas f o r this f r o n t yard. Even though the contractor
ended up doing things differendy, he still complimented Jill on her house a
lot.
I t is no coincidence that Jill points out the contrast between the messiness o f the renters' house and the ' w o n d e r f u l ' house owned by Kimberly.
To Jill, the appearance o f homes represents the social hierarchy o f people
i n her neighborhood. Renters are the underdogs i n this area dominated by
homeowners. The apparent neglect of the rented home is congruent w i t h
their inhabitants' inferior social position. According to the same logic, i t is
Just natural that a home owned by a beautiful and successful top model
looks 'always w o n d e r f u l ' .
A thorough reading o f other places suggests where one stands i n the hierarchy oneself. I t is clearly a source o f personal satisfaction f o r Jill that the
contractor w h o designed the 'prettiest house In the area' looked to her f o r
Inspiration. She can pride herself on providing the prototype. To an outsider,
i t might l o o k like her place was an attempt to copy the 'prettiest' house,
obscuring the fact that i t was actually the other w a y around. By w a l k i n g
around the neighborhood and by seeing the 'prettiest' house, Jill reassures
herself o f the position o f her o w n home i n the neighborhood's aesthetic and
social hierarchy. Her o w n home's top placement allows JUl to be critical o f
others whose homes score lower on the beauty scale. Go-alongs w i t h JiU
and other locals suggest that t w o important functions o f environmental
experience are comparing and positioning, operations through w h i c h locals
produce an assessment o f their o w n social status relative to the overaU local
order.
I n sum, social relationships and local orders are important aspects o f
everyday spatial experiences. Because Informants w i l l spontaneously and
continuously comment on their personal connections to places and people
i n the environment, go-alongs are helpful i n mapping the social architecture
of an area, especiaUy when i t comes to weak social tlfis. This particular
point, as weU as the next, indicate h o w go-alongs are particularly useful i n
ethnographic research o n communities and neighborhoods.
5. Social Realms. Thus far, I have discussed h o w researchers using the
go-along method can expect to uncover hitherto hidden dimensions o f
perception, spatial practices, biographies and the local social architecture.
I n addition, go-alongs are Instrumental when i t comes to exploring the
Interaction pattems that shape the social realm o f neighborhoods and other
'parochial' territories (Lofland, 1998). The discovery o f such pattems hinges
on the researchers' observations o f actual social encounters f r o m the
perspectives of locals. 'Hanging out' and moving along w i t h a range o f
informants permits ethnographers to examine the naturally occurring

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patterns and variations o f social encounters w h i c h they could not f u l l y

access as outside observers, nor as practitioners. A n d because o f their
subtlety, these patterns are quite difficult, i f not impossible, to capture
through off-location interviewing.
Take, f o r Instance, the basic principle of 'friendly recognitidti' (Kusenbach, 2003), w h i c h is the parochial equivalent o f 'civil inattention'
( G o f f m a n , 1963; Lofland, 1998) i n the pubUc realm. Here is a typical
example o f this k i n d o f exchange, observed j u s t before our walk-along whUe
Tony gave me a tour o f his f r o n t yard.
We turn around and see Roger, the neighbors' adult son, on the f r o n t porch
of the house next door. Roger is barefoot and dressed i n shorts only. Tony
and Roger take turns greeting each other w i t h a smile. They say ' H i ' and
mention each other's name: ' H i Roger!' 'Oh, h i Tony!'
Friendly recognition, the neighborly w a y o f greeting, demonstrates personal
recoUection and kindness towards other locals. I t pays tribute to the special
bond that exists between many neighbors as a result o f sharing home territory. Other instances suggest that meeting a neighbor - that is, facing the
obUgation to initiate or return a neighborly greeting - can temporarily interr u p t primary activities, such as a casual street conversation or outdoor interviews. I also f o u n d that the unaccounted w i t h h o l d i n g o f friendly recognition
among neighbors is a noticeable event that evokes disapproval and. i f i t
happens repeatecUy, leads to permanent exclusion f r o m neighborly interaction.
Even though neighborly greetings seem almost too trivial to be noticed,
they can carry great signiflcance, much i n the w a y that 'weak ties' can
support p o w e r f u l stratification effects (see Granovetter, 1973). A n y more
intimate f o r m o f communal sociabihty begins w i t h friendly recognition. I t
is a vehemently enforced, normative Interactive principle that paves the way
f o r the construction o f local networks and communities. Friendly recognition, as weU as other forms o f neighborly interaction, is generously
extended to anyone w h o carries an association w i t h a neighbor, as I often
experienced myself. I n general, m y impression was that neighborly encounters were not severely changed by the presence of an 'associate' such as
myseU, yet I noticed that I could not rely on neighborly treatment on my
o w n i n an area where I was not one o f the locals.
Observations o f social encounters during go-alongs w i t h informants
emphasize an additional aspect o f social realms that has not yet been f u l l y
investigated: the autonomy o f place i n shaping social Interaction. I n compliance w i t h the principles o f pubUc interaction (Lofland, 1998), we w o u l d
expect that strangers wUl be treated as strangers even i f they enter parochial
territories. M y observations indicate that this is not always the case. I n f o r m ants w h o strongly identify w i t h their neighborhoods often treat certain

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strangers as if they were locals. The locals a f f o r d some strangers a version

of the friendly and personal treatment that they usually reserve f o r neighbors; a treatment that is, strictly speaking, inappropriate considering their
mutual unfamiliarity. Consider the f o l l o w i n g example, taken f r o m my latemorning go-along w i t h Gilmore Junction resident Cam.
Cam tells me that i n the early morning there are usually many neighbors o u :
on the streets; you can see them jogging or walking their dogs. Very soon
afterwards, we pass a young woman vrfth a dog. Cam says ' H i ' to her w i t i i
a friendly tone of voice. She smiles and says ' H i ' in retum. Cam does not
comment on the woman when-we are out of earshot and I am almost certain
that they did not know each other.
Here, C a m informs me that people on local streets w h o are j o g g i n g or
w a l k i n g dogs are usually neighbors. TWs piece o f i n f o r m a t i o n turns into a
self-fulfilling prophecy when Cam affords a w o m a n w h o he does n o t seem
to k n o w a neighborly greeting, presumably because she could be a neighbor.
Other observations corroborate this interesting pattern. Even some obvious
strangers can expect to be treated w i t h select friendliness, as i f locals
welcomed them as guests i n their home territory. I n contrast, on streets that
were n o t part o f their parochial territory, the same Informants refrained
f r o m showing neighborly kindness towards strangers.
The observed phenomenon o f 'stranger inclusion''^ clearly demonstrates
the transformative power o f place. Conducting go-alongs i n neighborhoods
and other parochial spaces provides ethnographers w i t h the opportunity to
observe first-hand and w i t h o u t seriously distorting the principles o f
communal interaction. The analysis o f all the social realms that together
make up the 'interaction order' (Goffman, 1983) is a project o f priman/importance to symbolic interactlonlsts. The go-along method contributes to
this goal by sensitizing researchers to the substantial role o f place i n
everyday social reality.

Conclusion

I do n o t wish to i m p l y that go-alongs can or should displace traditional

ethnographic tools. Go-alongs are clearly u n f i t to explore the many sites
and activities that do n o t accommodate conversation, such as physically
exhausting activities or rituals that require silence. Further, the unique
potential o f the go-along method cannot be f u l l y developed when applied
to settings In w h i c h informants pursue stationaiy, internal activities that do
not require engaging the environment. I n these cases, the more general
practice o f 'hanging out' w i t h informants while they engage i n natural
activities w o u l d still provide advantages over off-location interviews or

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E U - n c ^ - a p l - y 4(3)

unattached observations. A t the m i n i m u m , subject-centered research can

stimulate and focus ruture field trips and interviews. Settings that ethnographers cannot or should not physically access, f o r example very dangerous
or private activities, also l i m i t the applicability and practicability o f goalongs.
Above, I discussed a variety o f themes that go-alongs are particularly
suited to explore, sui;h as parochial realms as opposed to public realms, and
I n f o r m a l networks as opposed to strong social ties. Moreover, go-alongs
provide unique access to biographies by taking a spatial versus a chronological approach; they emphasize the many contexts and symboUc quaUties
o f everyday spatial fractlces; and they render visible some o f the filters that
shape individual environmental perception. AU o f these topics are firmly
grounded i n the three-dlmensionaUty o f the l i f e - w o r l d . By Uluminating h o w
people get Into and frame settings, and h o w settings f o r conduct become
routine parts o f the self, we clarify the Importance o f place as a fundamental
category o f everyday experience and practice.
Go-alongs develop phenomenological themes by placing researchers i n
the mobile habitats o f their informants, thus facilitating access to their
experiences and practices as they u n f o l d i n real time and space. This unique
positioning counterbalances some o f the narrative and Interactional
dynamics that restrict interview situations, and i t anchors observations. By
tracking the natural sequence o f places i n practical everyday Ufe, go-alongs
enhance our unders iandlngs o f h o w individuals connect and integrate the
various regions o f their daUy Uves and identities, w h i c h sociologists, including symboUc interacllonists, too often treat as separate, autonomous entities
(for a rare exception see Nippert-Eng, 1995).
The go-along method also brings greater phenomenological sensiblUty to
ethnography by aUowing researchers to focus on aspects o f h u m a n experience that tend to re n a i n hidden to observers and participants aUke. They
make visible and InrelUgible h o w everyday experience transcends the here
and now, as people weave previous knowledge and biography into immediate situated action. Because they can help blur the seemingly static boundaries between individuals and environments, and between subjects and
objects o f perception (Merieau-Ponty, 1968), go-alongs ultimately point to
the fundamental reexivity o f human engagement w i t h the w o r l d .

Acknowledgemenf.

This material is based upon w o r k supported by the National Science Foundation

under Grant N o . 0109665.

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an armed kidnapper - an event that remained vivid i n the memories of

locals f o r weeks. These and other shared experiences provided opportunities to get to k n o w people, to initiate discussions, and to pass as a local.
Yet they did not save me the w o r k of documenting the meaning of these
events f o r other residents i n their own practical lives.

Notes

Schutz surrounds the subjective position of the self w i t h a set of roughly

concentric zones. While there is no doubt that everyone's environment is,
to some extent, structured i n terms of its varying accessibility (constituting
distinct zones), the Schutzian model overloofa important aspects of lived
experience, f o r instance that we orient towards the surrounding w o r l d in
terms of specific places, not primarily zones. Environmental experience
transcends the geographic dimensions of space and i t also overcomes the
zones of accessibility as described by Schutz. Subjectively, we can feel far
away f r o m nearby places (such as when walking towards our home i n heavy
rain) and simultaneously hold very close faraway places that no longer
exist.
The research project 'Everyday Perceptions of Disorder, Self-protection
against Crime, and Community Policing' was funded by a grant received
f r o m the National Institute of Justice in 1996. Jack Katz was the Principal
Investigator and Peter Ibarra was the third member of our research team.

3 Holstein and Gubrium (1994: 269) conclude that: '[A]ll told, the range of
qualitative research approaches manifesting phenomenological sensibility
has grown considerably.' The authors suggest that 'phenomenological sensibility' was brought to sociology by Garfinkel via his Interpretations and
empirical t u m of Schutz's w o r k . While this is a popular view, i t glosses over
the European lineage of Schutz's interpretations, and i t neglects crediting
other phenomenologists who continue to influence sociological theory and
research. A n updated overview of studies and approaches displaying such
phenomenological sensibility is overdue, especially since sociologists today
(symbolic Interactionists and ethnomethodologists included) rarely situate
their w o r k w i t h respect to its phenomenological implications.
There are few exceptions f r o m this rule. James Ostrow's Social Sensitivity (1990). f o r Instance, is an attempt to move 'beyond Schutz' as he
states in the conclusion of his book. Ostrow develops his phenomenological
analysis of intersubjectivity by mainly drawing on the w o r k of Maurice
Merieau-Ponty. Jack Katz's book H o w Emotions
Work (1999) integrates
symbolic interactionism and pragmatism w i t h a phenomenological
approach to the embodied experience of emotions i n everyday life. Like
Ostrow's work, Katz's concepts and ideas go 'beyond Schutz' in their
appreciation of the aesthetic and transformative elements of feelings.
4 Being a resident i n Melrose opened unique access to situations that helped
me to understand the locals and local life to a greater degree than I was
able to do i n Gilmore Junction. Just like some Melrose neighbors, I got wet
feet after torrential rainfalls caused a flash flood over a foot deep on our
street. Like others, I was alarmed when a police helicopters circled low over
the neighborhood f o r several hours, officers shouting down commands to

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5 There are always exceptions. In 1959, Lynch and Rivkin claimed to have
conducted the first study 'where respondents have been recorded while
actually moving through tiie city itself' (Lynch and Rivkin, 1970: 631). This
is i n fact not quite correct. The researchers sent 20 subjects - some of them
familiar w i t h the area, others not - on a walk around an urban block i n
Boston and questioned them afterwards
about what they experienced.
Lynch and Rivkin are aware that this technique 'intensifies, and possibly
distorts the usual day-by-day perception of the city' but still assert that i t
has advantages over other approaches. Katz (1999) employs a variety of
ethnographic methods to capture the lived experience of emotions. One
chapter discussing road rage is based on student interviews w i t h Los
Angeles drivers, quite a number of them conducted wtiile driving. This gave
the student interviewers the opportunity to triangulate what they leamed
f r o m their subjects about vehicular behavior w i t h their own observations.
See also Patricia Paperman's article in this issue, where she notes that i t was
only when she accompanied a third team of subway police that she could
access their w o r k i n process.
6

Over the course of the research, as I leamed many intimate details about
the lives of my informants, I had to monitor myself carefully not to use this
vast stock of knowledge as a conversational resource in developing bonds
w i t h new or difficult informants. Some realized that I knew a lot and were
eager to find out intimate details about their neighbors and I had to
consciously resist the tendency to share such information. Because I did not
act in accordance w i t h the rules of casual conversations, go-alongs were
not quite like chats that could have occurred between neighbors. Yet they
were neither very formal nor problematic encounters, even though some
Informants were obviously less comfortable discussing their experiences
and practices w i t h me than others.

7 Goffman's famous remarks on how to conduct fieldwork seem to suggest

a similar point. He was recorded saying: '[Jackie] takes seriously what
people say. I don't give hardly any weight to what people say, but I t r y to
triangulate what they're saying vrith events' (Goffman, 1989: 131).
8

Uexkuell (1957) examined how our perception of objects i n the environment is Intimately connected w i t h their practical use. Objects carty a certain
'tone' that corresponds to their culturally speciflc, habitual use. To us,
chairs carry a 'sitting tone' and ladders a 'climbing tone' because we automatically associate the act of sitting w i t h chairs and the act of climbing w i t h
ladders. Individuals and cultures that do not share our use of these artifacts

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Street phenomenology

might perceive them in completely different ways. Heidegger's concept of

'handedness' points i n the same direction.
9 Seamon (1979: 99) defines such encounters as 'any situation of attentive
contact between a person and the world at hand'.
10 Other ways of amplifying the experiential depth of spatial practices an;
presented by the many planned and unplanned interactions w i t h others,
what Lofland (1998) refers to as 'interactional pleasures'.
11 A paper by Michael Angroslno entitled ' O n the Bus w i t h Vonnie Lee' Ulustrates a SimUar point. Angroslno carefully uncovers the symbolic meaning
of riding the bus f o r an -ex-mental patient named Vonnie Lee. He
concludes:
The bus - to the 'nice' people the symbol of poverty, the despised underside
of the glittery urban lifestyle touted by the city's boosters - was for Vonnl;
Lee a potent symbol of empowerment. Coming from a famUy that was too
poor even to take the bus was a humiliation that had scarred his young life.
He spent his years grimly walking, learning the detaUs of the streets and yet
yearning for the me when he could be chauffeured high above those streets
in the style to wliich he felt himself entitled. For Vonnie Lee. the payoff for
all his hard work in overcoming both his background and his numerous
'break up' reversals was neither the apartment nor the job but the fact that
he was finally deemed worthy to learn how to ride the bus between the twC'.
(Angrosino. 1994: 22, emphasis in original)
12 Seamon (1979: 78ff.) discusses the phenomenological quality of 'a1homeness' and describes its various components: 'rootedness', 'appropriation', 'regeneration', 'at-easeness' and 'warmth'. This description is similar
to what Tuan (1974) calls 'topophUia' and Relph (1976: 44ff.) describes as
the 'insideness of place'.
13 During our walks, the local activists among my informants not only pointed
to past achievements of their neighborhood association, they also noticed
unsolved or new problems that they would like to see addressed i n the
future. A speeding car, for instance, reminded Cam that the neighborhood
organization should push f o r the installation of four-way stop signs at this
particular intersection. Other places around the city reminded my subjects
of their professional ambitions and goals. Jenny, a stiuggUng Melrose
actress, mentions the M a r k Taper Forum i n downtown Los Angeles w i f h
much admiration and respect. She tells me that whenever she sees it, she
dreams of standing on its stage one day. For Eric and Zoe, a young Gilmore
Junction couple, seeing the Hollywood HiUs f r o m their front yard is a
constant reminder that, one day, they want to be successful and affluer.t
enough to own a house and live there as well.
14 Numerous studies of place attachment have shown that sites can even
become social beings themselves (e.g. Altman and Low, 1992). This by itseT

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is an interesting phenomenological finding. Consider the foUowing

example, taken f-om a casual conversation w i t h an informant on her front
porch. Margaret, a teacher i n her late 50s, is one of the most proUfic neighborhood activists in Gilmore Junction. WhUe commenting on having to
retreat from her active involvement i n local issues, she conveys the extraordinary meanin;g that the neighborhood has taken on f o r her in the following fieldnote.
You know, I ar.r the first one to say that nobody is indispensable. And I think
that's true. I just know i f I am going to retreat from this [the neighborhood
newsletter], it is going to be difficult! It is like having a baby. You Imow, this
neighborhood, all eight blocks, have been something lil^e a baby for me in
the last years.
Margaret Imows that 'it wiU change' when she gives up some of her activities and aliows other people to take oven She admits being a littie concerned,
yet she aiso Itr.ows that she did it long enough; that she did 'her part'. 'But
it is going to te difficult for me!' Margaret repeats with a smile.
For Margaret, who does not have chUdren, the entire neighborhood has
become an exten sion of her home and even a part o f herself Margaret cares
for the neighborhood just like a mother would care for a child. A n d just as
a parent stiuggles to let go of a chUd once i t has grown up. Margaret anticipates how painful i t wiU be to withdraw f r o m her active role i n the neighborhood organization after nurturing her 'baby' for such a long time.
15 'Suspicious' stiajigers who do not look like potential neighbors or guests
can expect to r j n into open hostility that often goes weU beyond the
negative treatment of strangers typically occurring i n public. This pattem
of parochial 'sfranger exclusion' proves the same point about the power of
place i n shaping interactions.

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Street phenomenology

Sociology', i n L. Embree (ed.) Worldly Phenomenology:

The 'Continuing
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DC: Center f o r Advanced Researcli in Phenomenology and University Press
of America.

M A R G A R E T H E K U S E N B A C H is Assistant Professor in Sociology

at t h e University o f South Florida, Tampa. She recently completed
her PhD dissertation e n t i t l e d 'Neighboring: A n Ethnographic Study
of C o m m u n i t y In Urban H o l l y w o o d ' at t h e University o f California,
Los Angeles, which led t o a number o f presentations and
publications. Her present research interests center around t h e
multiple uses and meanings o f urban public spaces such as parks
and museums, and t h e i r impact o n social relationships. She is
currently preparing a n e w research project in this area t h a t w i l l
f u r t h e r explore t h e applicability and advantages o f go-alongs as an
ethnographic research t o o l . Address: University o f South Florida,
Department o f Sociology, 4202 East Fowler Ave., CPR 107, Tampa,
FL 33620-55550, USA. [email: mkusenba@cas.usf.edu] a

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