A brief history of ethnographic research

Ethnography literally means a description of a people. It is important to under­stand that ethnography deals with people in the collective sense, not with indi­viduals. As such, it is a way of studying people in organized, enduring groups, which may be referred to as communities or societies. The distinctive way of life that characterizes

Sociocultural theory and ethnographic research

As the ethnographic method has spread across disciplines, it has become associ­ated with a wide variety of theoretical orientations: structure-functionalism symbolic interactionism feminism Marxism ethnomethodology critical theory cultural studies postmodernism 1. Structure-functionalism This was the dominant school of anthropology in Britain for much of the twenti­eth century, and it has long had philosophical and

Introduction to ethnography: basic principles, definition and nature

Despite this diversity of positions from which ethnographers may derive, we may still highlight a few important features that link the many and varied approaches: A search for patterns proceeds from the careful observations of lived behavior and from detailed interviews with people in the community under study. When ethnographers speak about ‘culture’ or

Participant observation as style and context

It is certainly possible to use data collection techniques that are typical of ethno­graphic research (see Chapter 4) in ways that do not involve participant observa­tion. For example, it may be more efficient in some cases to ask participants to write out (or tape record) their own autobiographies, rather than have those life stories

Ethnographic methods

1. Ethnographic methods: a general statement of utility As noted in the previous chapter, ethnographic methods have been adopted by scholars from many academic disciplines and professional fields. There are, however, several characteristics that are typical of the situations that lend them­selves to ethnographic research, regardless of discipline. 2. Illustrative ethnographic case studies Throughout

Ethnographic methods: specific research problems

1. Ethnographic research is used to define a research problem Certain well-established research topics attract the researcher because of their extensive bodies of associated literature, which make it possible to formulate rea­sonable working hypotheses that can then be tested using focused data collection tools. Other topics, by contrast, are more amorphous and need to

Ethnographic methods: research settings

Ethnographic research can be done wherever people interact in ‘natural’ group settings. Bringing people together for a specific purpose in controlled laboratory settings is a valid technique for experimental research, but it is not ethnographic. True ethnography relies on the ability of a researcher to interact with and observe people as they essentially go

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Begin the ethnographic research with a personal inventory

It is often said that the one piece of equipment that an ethnographic researcher ultimately relies on is him or herself. It is all very well to enter the field fully loaded with cameras, tape recorders, laptop computers, and so on. But in the last analysis, participant observation means that you as a researcher

Selecting a field site for a ethnographic research

Having subjected yourself to a thorough personal review, you can now apply more objective criteria in deciding where you want to do your research. Some of those objective criteria are scholarly in nature, others purely pragmatic. The fol­lowing pointers may be useful. 1. Select a site in which the scholarly issue you are exploring

Rapport on field site of ethnographic research

It goes without saying that all readers of this book are wonderful, generous, out­going, lovable people who would be welcome in communities around the world. But just in case anyone has doubts about his or her ability to fit in, a few pointers may be in order. Don’t assume that communities closer to home

Data collection in the field for a ethnographic research

1. ‘Facts’ and ‘reality’ Trained biologists looking at cells under a microscope can come up with accu­rate descriptions of the components of those cells. If they have looked at many cells over the course of time, they can determine which are the intrinsic features of a cell belonging to a certain plant or animal,

A definition of observation

We have seen that ethnographic research is a judicious mix of observation, inter­viewing, and archival study. Since other volumes in this series will treat the latter two in some detail (see Kvale, 2007; Rapley, 2007), we will take a closer look at observation here, both in its participant and non-participant aspects. The key role

Types of observational research

Although in its earliest manifestations as a research tool observation was sup­posed to be ‘non-reactive’, in fact observation presupposes some sort of contact with the people or things being observed. Ethnographic observation (as opposed to the sort of observation that might be conducted in a clinical setting) is con­ducted in the field, in naturalistic

The task of observational research

Observational techniques are suitable for research dealing with specific settings (e.g. a shopping mall, a church, a school); events, which are defined as sequences of activities longer and more complex than single actions; they usually take place in a specific location, have a defined purpose and meaning, involve more than one person, have a

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The process of observational research

‘Observation’ rarely involves a single act. Rather, it is a series of steps that builds toward the regularity and precision inherent in our working definition. The first step of the process is site selection. A site may be selected in order to respond to a theoretical question, or because it somehow represents an issue

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The question of validity in observational research

Quantitative researchers can demonstrate both the validity and the reliability of their data through statistical means. ‘Reliability’ is a measure of the degree to which any given observation is consistent with a general pattern and not the result of random chance. ‘Validity’ is a measure of the degree to which an observation actually demonstrates

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Observer bias

Ethnographers in general, and observation-based researchers in particular, are frequently criticized for the subjectivity that informs their work. Even the most apparently unobtrusive observation can have unintended ‘observer effects’ – the tendency of people to change their behavior because they know they are being observed. Most contemporary researchers would agree that it is inadvis­able

Observations in public spaces

One of the most characteristic applications of observational research is that which is carried out in public spaces. Indeed, given the nature of this setting, observation is almost always the preferred technique, given the difficulty of arranging interviews in such a setting and the lack of archival back-up for a shift­ing, heterogeneous, ill-defined population.

Ethics and observational research

General questions of research ethics as they apply to ethnography are treated in a later chapter, but a few special points need to be dealt with in this focused dis­cussion of observation. On the one hand, the relatively unobtrusive nature of observational research lessens the opportunities for unfavorable interpersonal encounters between researcher and ‘subjects’.

Analyzing ethnographic data

1. Patterns How do you recognize a pattern? Basically speaking, a true pattern is one that is shared by members of the group (their actual behavior) and/or one that is believed to be desirable, legitimate, or proper by the group (their ideal behavior). We can systematize the recognition of patterns by going through the