One type of qualitative (descriptive) research that holds promise for studying gifted education is the ethnographic approach, which focuses on the students' and teachers' points of view and considers their social and cultural interaction. The process of ethnographic research demands several components, such as: theory (shared sets of explanations regarding what is occurring and what it means to others present), use of multiple tools in fieldwork (such as observation, interviews, written sources, and unwritten records), an extended time span, the use of the researcher as the research instrument, and a research cycle. The final product of the ethnographic approach is a description of what is going on and how it makes sense to those involved. The report may be macro or micro oriented and may focus on one or more of six aspects: (1) the whole, (2) the meaning from the participant's viewpoint, (3) behavior, (4) the topic, (5) hypotheses generation, or (6) theory. Sample research topics for ethnographic research with the gifted include the social roles gifted children play during their education and social interactional consequences of varying innovations in gifted education. Ten references are listed. (CL)