Ethnographic and Observational Research

Ethnographic and Observational

Research

Introduction to Ethnography

Ethnographic Topics and Field Sites

Data Collection in the Field

Focus on Observation

Basic Ethnographic Analysis


A description of people

• Ethnographic Method • Involves the collection of information about the

material products, social relationships, beliefs, and values of a community

• Ethnographic Product • Is a report that incorporates the information

collected by the method into a holistic description of the culture of the community

A search for Patterns

Ethnography is the art and science of describing a human group - its institutions, interpersonal

behaviours, material productions, and beliefs

Ethnographic researchers are primarily concerned with the routine, everyday lives of the people they

study

Field Based Personalised Multifactorial

Long Term Inductive Dialogic Holistic

Participant observation is not a method in itself, but rather a personal style adopted by field-based researchers who, having been accepted by the study community, are able to use a variety of data collection techniques to find out about the people and their way of life


Developing people’s own perspectives

Define a research problem

Ethnographic research is used to…

Define a research problem


that cannot immediately be expressed in if x, then y teams

Identify participants in a social setting


Document a Process


Design setting-appropriate measures


• Your emotional state • Your physical and mental health • Your areas of competence and incompetence • Your ability to set aside preconceptions about

people, behaviours, or social and political situations

What is…

• The issue you are exploring is likely to be seen in a clear fashion

• The site itself is comparable to others that have been studies but not one that has itself been over-studied

• There is a minimum of ‘gatekeeping’ obstacles • You will not be more of a burden than you are worth to

the community

Select a site where:

• Don’t assume that communities closer to home or with cultures most similar to your own will be easier to work with

• Don’t take too much for granted • Don’t allow yourself to be captured by the first people that

make you feel welcome • Make sure that the people that guide you around the

community are respected and liked • Make every effort to be helpful

Generating Rapport

• Take the time to explain your purposes • Do not be afraid to express your own point of view • Make sure that you recognise and are respectful of social

conventions of the community • Inform people about the parameters of your observation • If you are working as part of a research team, are sure that

you don’t become your own ‘group’

Generating Rapport


Participant observation is not itself a data collection technique, but rather the role adopted by an ethnographer to facilitate his or her collection of data

1. Observation 2. Interviewing 3. Archival Research

Observation is the at of perceiving the activities and interrelationships of people in the field setting through the senses of the researcher

Statement about the particular setting e.g. school, home church, store

Enumeration of the participants number, general characteristics, eg. age, gender

Descriptions of the participantsrendered in as nearly objective a form as possible: ‘the man wore a torn, dirty pair of jeans’, not ‘the man looked poor’

Chronology of events

Description of the physical setting and all material objects involved use great detail, take nothing for granted

Descriptions of behaviours and interactions

avoiding interpretations “The man was weeping and repeatedly struck his head with his fist’, not ‘the man looked deranged’

Records of conversations or other verbal interactions as near to verbatim if possible

Interviewing is a process of directing a conversation so as to collect information

• Try to avoid interjecting yourself too much into the narrative

• Try to monitor and understand non-verbal cues • Spend some time in ice-breaking chit chat • Personalise the interview! • Accept hospitality when offered

Archival research is the analysis of materials that have been stored for research, service, and other purposes both official and unofficial

• Maps • Records of births, deaths, marriages, real estate

transactions • Census, tax, and voting records • Specialised surveys • Court proceedings • Minutes of meetings

There are something to be aware of when conducting archival research:

• Archived data is not always unbiased - who collected it, for what purpose? What might have been left out?

• Computerised databases are not free from error. The data might have been transcribed properly, but was it right to begin with?

• Physical or logistical issues in working with data stored in inconvenient or physically unattractive places

Good ethnographic research relies on a composition of observational, interview, and archival sources.


Observer Participant

Complete Observer

• Detached as possible from the setting being studied • Observers are neither seen or noticed • Can be seen as deception

Cahill (1985) study on the human interaction within public bathrooms (…wtf!?)

Observer-As-Participant

• Researcher conducts observations for brief periods to set the scene for interviews etc,

• Research is known to the ‘subjects’ but only as a researcher

Fox (2001) study on self-change among violent offenders

Participant-As-Observer

• More fully integrated into the life of the group and is engaged with the people

• Seen as a friend or as a neutral researcher

Anderson (1990) study on mixed race communities

Complete Participant

• Researchers becomes a participant and disappears into the setting of the world they are in

• Going Native • A native may receive better rapport with those they are

working with

Observational Process

Site Selection Gain Entrée Begin Observing

If in a team, training may need

to occur first

Take notes(on everything)

Develop Patterns Continue until

theoretical saturation


• Descriptive Analysis is the process of taking the stream of data and breaking it down into its component parts; what patterns, regularities, or themes emerge?

• Theoretical Analysis is the process of figuring out how those component parts fit together; in other words, how can we explain the existence of patterns in the data, or how do we account for the perceived regularities?

Patterns

• Consider each statement that was made by someone in the community you are studying

• Was it made to others in everyday conversation? • Was it elicited by you in an interview?

• For each of the above, consider if it was: • Volunteered by the person • Directed in some way by you

Patterns

• Consider each activity that you observed. • Did it occur when you were along with a single

individual • Did it occur when you were in the presence of a

group

• For each of the above, consider if it was: • Volunteered by the person • Directed in some way by you

Patterns

• Patterns can be discovered though: • Emic Perspective (how do the people under study

understand things?) • Etic Perspective (how can the researcher link data

from the community being studied to similar case studies conducted elsewhere?

Analysis Framework

• There isn’t a clearly set way to do analysis (this is beginning to be a theme here…)

• A lot of it is about picking a process that works for you • But here are some suggestions…

Analysis Framework

Data Management

Overview Reading

Clarification of Categories

Presentation of Data

Classification

Descriptive Comparison Table

Hierarchical Tree

Metaphors

Hypothesis

Keep clearly organised field notes, these can either be computerised or can be pen and paper. No method is better than the other, just depends on how you like to work

Analysis Framework

Data Management

Overview Reading



Classification


Hierarchical Tree

Metaphors

Hypothesis

Read through your notes before beginning with formal analysis. There may be things that you have forgotten since first collecting the data

Analysis Framework

Data Management

Overview Reading



Classification


Hierarchical Tree

Metaphors

Hypothesis

Begin by describing what you hav seen in your notes and then start to take apart the narrative and identify categories or themes

Analysis Framework

Data Management

Overview Reading



Classification


Hierarchical Tree

Metaphors

Hypothesis

Present your data in an easy to understand manner. Matrix, tree, metaphor and hypothesis approaches are all valid






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Ethnographic and Observational Research