This essay examines ethnographic issues, questions the ethics of ethnographic research on marginal and island communities. My aim is to quantify the way in which my own research should be carried out from an ethical, sociological and political standpoint. I will be using existing methodologies, primary research and I will use a range of secondary document sources, both formal and informal as well as personal records to illuminate my ethnography of Lord Howe Island (e.g. official documents, documentaries, videos, newspaper and journal articles, government reports, and life histories). This paper attempts to build on Ellis’s (2004) and Anderson (2006) approach to autoethnography ‘that draws upon postmodern sensibilities and whose advocates …show more content…
Put on Life Jacket. Pull the handle. Open the door. Push door away from the plane. Jump in the sea!
I don’t think so. I can’t swim! I further console myself that we are flying Qantas, they have never had a fatal accident. Later research proves that this is a myth, according to Patrick Smith (2011). This false history was even immortalized by Hollywood, through an exchange between Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman in the 1988 movie Rain Man.
‘“All airlines have crashed at one time or another,”
Cruise says to Hoffman.
“That doesn’t mean that they are not safe.”
“Qantas,” responds Hoffman. “Qantas never crashed.”’
Qantas last had a fatal crash in 1951, since then the carrier’s record has been perfect. (Smith, 2011). Time passes slowly. The throbbing of the engines and vibrations of the aircraft along with blasts from the cold air-conditioning give no opportunity for sleep. Previous sleepless night in Sydney hotel. Inflight refreshments help to break the monotony. Boxes of pre-packaged food are distributed along with tea, coffee, water, wine or beer. The exterior of the cardboard food box is covered with a painted, sickly, saccharin image of a Victorian boating