Pink, in her book Do Sensory Ethnography, encourages the researcher to move from just observing the culture or society they are studying to actively immersing themselves in the society. When the researcher experiences the culture through their own senses it gives them a greater sense of reality and understanding of what they are researching.  Pink states that sensory ethnography, “does not claim to produce an objective or truthful account of reality, but should aim to offer versions of ethnographers’ experiences of reality that are as loyal as possible to the contacts negotiations and intersubjectivities through which the knowledge was produced.”[1]   While the researcher may not be reporting the objective truth, when they immerse themselves in the culture it is realistic truth from their point of view.

This realization reminds me of a phrase that I use, “perception is reality, but it may not be fact or truth.”  I believe this is a very significant and important realization to understand, in that truth is viewed by perception much of the time. People view reality by how they perceive and define it with regards to their culture, social class, education, and genetic factors of their life. For example, some say that Americans have a pre-disposed belief that the rest of the world wants to be just like us.  They believe that everyone wants and should aspire to the American moral and ethical beliefs, and should strive to adopt the western economic structure and lifestyle. This is a very destructive way of thinking and when some Americans travel overseas and try to impose this way of thinking onto other cultures, this tends to generate resentment and alienation.

One thing I learned a very long time ago is that when I travel overseas, I intentionally try to immerse myself into the culture and society in which I am visiting. I have to say that this is not always easy, but it has been very beneficial and that I have generally been accepted in many different cultures and societies that I have visited. I believe Pink is trying to express in her book that if we will submerge ourselves into the subject we are studying, we may gain a better understanding of cultural reality and not just factual reality. For example, when I travel I like to meet and stay with local people instead of the tourist traps. In this way, I am more able to really experience the way others live.  When I do this, I gain more from the experience and grow in my understanding and respect for the diversity of others.  When I relate the experience to others, I am better able to paint a more truthful picture.

Truth is shaped by how we perceive it and how it is used within a society or culture. This is what we must learn to incorporate into our research. We have to be able to evaluate truth and to envision how it is used on an emotional and practical level in a society. We do not live in a world of absolute truth, and if we did, I don’t believe we would like it very much. You cannot experience what it means to be human without emotion. When you can combine emotions and factual truth, you will able to accurately express what you are seeing and feeling.