This infographic is the outcome of an activity in an undergraduate ethnographic methods course. In the activity, I first shared with students that “vignettes function to demonstrate the ethnographer’s presence in the field, a crucial element in establishing the reader’s trust in the ethnographer’s reporting and interpretation of their observations.”

After students had the Ethnographic Printer produce vignettes based on the length they selected, I asked them to highlight one sentence they believed was most important in establishing this trust—that is, the moment in the vignette where the writer succeeded in creating a sense of presence and witnessing the events.

I then asked students to “tape your highlighted vignettes on the board. Then, take a look at others’ vignettes on the board: Did this effect come through dialogue, reflection, sensory description, an encounter, an emotional moment, or something else?”

The vignettes were then categorized, and the results were organized in the infographic below.