In comparison to questionnaires, statistical analyses, interviews and experiments,ethnography tends to be a neglected method in youth participation research and in understanding politicalsocialization and citizen action. This, we suggest, is very unfortunate. Where the concerns and experiencesof researchers do not match those of young people, it is usually the young people's perspectives which remainoutside the frameworks and conclusions. Drawing on original data and insights from two ethnographiesof youth active citizenship initiatives in the UK – My Life My Say and Momentum – collected duringa politically tumultuous 8-month period in 2017, this article argues that ethnography has several advantagesover other methods when it comes to understanding the depth and significance of youth civic participationand its links to peer groups and emotions. We contend that critical and reflexive ethnographies allow scholarsand researchers to ask and probe young people's perceptions, opinions, actions and behaviours throughthe use of open-ended questions in settings where civic action is already taking place, thus triangulatingfindings in natural settings and building a sense of how communities of practice and activism function.In terms of ethics, voice and power, this ethnographic research approach gives young people more controlover their own narratives about participation and affiliation in specific political or civic settings than surveystend to do.