Ethnography
- 1. ETHNOGRAPHY
- 2. Meaning of Ethnography • Greek word- “Ethnos” meaning folk or people; “Grapho” meaning “I Write”- ethnography means writing about people/groups • It is the systematic study of people and cultures • Designed to explore cultural phenomena where the researcher observes society from the point of view of the subject of the study • Especially used in Anthropology, sociology, communication studies, history etc • In all cases it should be reflexive!
- 3. Why Ethnography • Why do some cultures expect their daughters to marry before the age of 18? • How does a person’s specific family values impact the way he or she acts in public with friends? • There are complicated questions that cannot be answered through a simple survey or other quantitative methods
- 4. Characteristic Features • Ethnographic observation of groups of people or a culture in a natural setting • Observations are the main form of data collection, but interviews are often used to clarify the researcher’s observations • The researcher pays attention to the context, artefacts and environments of the subjects in addition to their interaction with each other • Ethnographies are long-term studies. This allows the researcher to experience the regular patterns and routines of the community of study as well as seeing how it responds to new or different situations
- 5. • The researcher also plays the role of the learner. In most research designs, the researcher is the expert, but in ethnography the researcher assumes a role where he or she know very little and is in the research setting to learn Continues..
- 6. • When searching for meaning of cultural norms and views • When examining or trying to find reasons for certain behaviours or practices • When examining social trends and instances like divorce, illness • When examining social interaction and encounters • And when trying to understand the roles of families, relationships, and organizations When to do ethnography
- 7. • Gaining access to social setting- different kind of classifications • Open Vs Closed (Bell, 1961)- regarding permission • Public Vs Not public (Hammersely & Atkinson, 1995) • Overt Vs Covert Ethnography (Bryman, 2001)- whether to disclose your research identity- covert ensures easy access, no problem of reactivity- disadvantages include; problem of taking notes, anxiety, ethical issues Access
- 8. • Ongoing access- role of researcher- active & passive • gate keepers, key informants • field notes- mental notes, jotted notes or scratch notes, full field notes • Ending ethnographic field research- personal and professional commitments- time, money and energy- principle of saturation • Unstructured nature- writing requires specialised skills- language proficiency
- 9. • Feminist ethnography- documents women’s lives and activities, which were previously seen as marginal and subsidiary to men’s; it understands women from their perspective • Visual ethnography- using photographs, videos • Changing nature of ethnography- micro ethnographers! Recent trends