Considering some less orthodox uses of ethnography, not belonging to the anthropological field, this article proposes a discussion on the specificities of the ethnographical research method, based on reflections and researches undertaken at the Urban Anthropology Nucleus (NAU). Taking a Lévi-Strauss's quotation as its starting point, it examines the ideas of authors like Goldman, Peirano, Da Matta, Favret-Saada, among others, in order to establish parameters to guide the search for specific features in the ethnographic métier. Such a discussion leads to three considerations: ethnography as experience, as practice, and as based on a certain concept of "totality". The report of an ethnography on deaf young people is included in the article as empirical support to the conclusions.
deaf; ethnography; urban anthropology; Urban Anthropology Nucleus (NAU)