Policy making through thick and thin: Thick description as a methodology for communications and democracy

This paper proposes the use of anthropologist Clifford Geertz's 'thick desc ription' as a methodology for communications policy making. Ethnographies e mploying thick description give voice to the concerns of ordinary citizens. They also help make policy more accessible, enhancing prospects for meanin gful public participation in policy making and, thus, democracy. This is of particular concern in policy making involving communications technology be cause of the relationship between communications and democracy. A literatur e review found no instances of authors explicitly employing thick descripti on in communications policy making research, although journalists, authors and others have employed the methods of thick description while investigati ng such areas as the environment, automobile safety, and business. Concerns regarding thick description in policy making, as with most qualitative res earch, relate to its time-consuming nature and questions regarding its vali dity.