In "Ethnography and popular music studies," Cohen stresses the importance for people to study music using a holistic approach, examining music and how it plays a part in people's lives, cultures, and societies. Ethnographic study goes beyond textbook learning and studying theory and requires fieldwork: coming into direct contact with the people being studied, their interactions with each other, their attitudes and perspectives. Cohen cites Ruth Finnegan's use of the word "pathways" as a better term to describe the overlapping, fuzzy boundaries of music worlds, stressing more the flow of musical processes rather than different types of music being unrelated to each other.
Discussion Question: What are ways to ensure that an ethnographer holistically examines a music culture? How should setbacks be handled?
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