Ethnography

Method categorization
Quantitative	Qualitative
Inductive	Deductive
Individual	System	Global
Past	Present	Future

Annotation: Ethnography is both a process and an outcome - the final written product - of qualitative research (3). This article will focus on the process, giving an overview of different kinds of ethnographic research and its correlating methods.

Short Definition

Ethnography can be regarded one of the most important qualitative research methods that looks back on a long tradition but also many transitions. Deriving from the discipline of anthropology, ethnology is vital for social sciences, although today it cannot be equated with one specific disciplinary background. Brewer defines ethnography as “the study of people in naturally occurring settings or ‘fields’ by methods of data collection which capture their social meanings and ordinary activities, involving the researcher participating directly in the setting, if not also the activities, in order to collect data in a systematic manner but without meaning being imposed on them externally.” (2)

Key Terms

As you can see in the defining paragraph above, several different parameters or 'ingredients' are needed for conducting ethnographic research. See the following list with short explanations of the key terms:

• Ethnographer: Ethnographers are the researchers studying the meaning of behaviour, language and interaction of people belonging to a specific group. They are always concerned with the social and cultural context of things, they indetify patterns of social organization.
• Culture-sharing group: This is the subject of study - typically a relatively large group of people who share a cultural background of some sort, interact with each other on a regular basis and have done so for some time. Both the wohle group or a subset of it can be studied (3). Traditionally this group was a foreign people, but it could be any formed group such as people working together in an office, a family or people living in a community.
• Field: The field is the ethnographers main place of reasearch. It is the natural and social environment of the studied group. If the ethnographer wants to study how students interact and behave, the field would a school or a classroom.
• Participant Observation: This is the most prominent practice of ethnography. The researcher is immersed in the day-to-day lives of the people in the group and observes their behaviour and interactions - not from an external perspective, but by becoming a member of the group (3).
• Data Collection: Based on the observations the ethnographer collects data - the 'field work'. The success of an ethnography depends on the quality and quantity of data collected. Data can be field notes taken during observation, interview transcripts, written/visual/oral material or objects from the group (1). After collecting data, the researcher needs to analyse it and bring it into social/cultural context.
  

Background

Where ethnography used to be understood as experiencing and studying “foreign cultures” , it is now successfully used in disciplines like cultural and media studies, psychology, studies of work and organizations or education (1).

How the method works

As we now know, there are many different ways of doing ethnography due to different disciplinary and regional approaches. However, there are still steps in the research process that are important to include.

1. The research process begins with the selection of a problem or topic of interest, which guides the research endeavor. "Research problem definition [...] is really a statement about what the researcher wants to know." (4) This is much the same for all types of research in all disciplines; for ethnography it includes identifying a culture-sharing group that will be central for the study.
2. Next, a research method has to be selected. Important for ethnography are two approaches: the basic or the applied approach. The first one is more significant to theory, the concept is made up by the researcher, who will then seek funding for his/her project. Applied research has a large impact on practical application of the results and the project will usually be initiated by an interested sponsor. Of course, there are no strict boundaries between the two approaches. (4)
3. Theory is the basis of all research and for ethnography, there are many different theories that all apply to different topics and problems. The researcher will have to choose those based on the type of problem or topic in question. One major distinction when it comes to theories is the one between two strategies called ideational and materialistic. An ideational approach (viewing the world from mental perspectives) would be Cognitive theory (this "assumes that we can describe what people think by listening to what they say"). A classic example for materialistic research (viewing the world according to observable behaviour patterns) would be Marxism, where economic forces or class conflict are responsible for change. (4)
4. Now the basis for following observations was set and the actual fieldwork comes into play. The researcher enters the field and stays there for a considerable amount of time participating in the everyday life of the group. It is important that he or she feels like a part of the group, not an outsider, while still keeping the research question in mind. This is also the phase where data is collected: The researcher might want to conduct interviews with chosen members of the group, observe customs and interaction, or collect artefacts and written records.
5. An ethnography is not finished when the fieldwork ends. The collected data needs to be analysed and interpreted according to the research question. Here, new questions might come up and more (theoretical) research needs to be done. Finally, the actual ethnography - the written outcome/resuslts - has to be written.

Strengths & Challenges

• Ethnography has deep and diverse roots, includes wide-ranging methods and many applications (1)
• As a method, it pays attention to the realities of everyday life of different groups of people (1)
• Ethnography is very inclusive - no group of people is excluded from ethnographic studies

• The reseach process is very personal and can therefore be influenced by researchers' bias.
• The field is quite broad and diffuse and it is difficult to give a proper definition (1)
• It is not tied to a specific discipline, which can be an advantage, but this leads to various approaches and ultimately contradictions (1)

JOHN HUDDLE 2018, Advantages and disadvantages https://classroom.synonym.com/advantages-disadvantages-ethnographic-research-7603988.html

References

(1) Atkinson, Paul/Delamont, Sara/Coffey, Amanda (2007): Handbook of Ethnography. London et al.: Sage.
(2) Brewer, John D. (2000): Ethnography
(3) Creswell, John (2013): Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design. London et al.: Sage.
(4) Fetterman, David (1998): Ethnography: Step by Step, 2nd ed. London et al.: Sage. [Applied Social Research Methods Series Vol. 17].

---