Two ethnographic researchers embark on a narrative journey

In this article two ethnographic researchers present a life story that emerged, almost against their will, as one of 120 in-depth interviews with Israeli Druze. The ethnographic study was designed to provide understanding of Israeli Druze society today through the discovery of thematic patterns. One interviewee, however, simply refused to follow the loosely structured interview format and told her story. Hana’s story about the importance of her father in her professional success, and about her struggles to abide by the tenets of her religion, shed new light on the ethnographic data and taught these two researchers some new methodological sensibilities.