I appreciate how Murchison’s approach to outlining research topics and design comes to terms with the exploitative nature of past ethnographic studies. She puts emphasis on obtaining the perspectives of informants, their emic perspectives, and aligns with the theoretical position of Marvin Harris. Like Harris, Murchison suggests that in order to have research that gets at the bigger picture, as an ethnographer, one must consider both the emic and etic. Considering only one or the other, we are bound to succumb to preconceptions/biases and disregard possible solutions to the problems at hand. I think too that this stance lends to the hypothesis oriented research design Murchison speaks of in the sense that both assist us in coming to more scientific conclusions. I’m not set on the focus of my research project, but I’m interested in exploring homelessness in Nashville. More specifically, I want to know how our current set of services and non profit organizations assist those who are or have been homeless. As Murchison puts it, I want to get the “complex inner workings” of the structural causes of homelessness while maintaining focus on their lived experiences. I think it would be crucial to also explore the effects of covid, rising cost of rent, and gentrification.