nomadready.blogg.se - The ethnographic principal definition

Covert ethnography allows access to environments where the group would not welcome a researcher….

This means that the researcher does not tell participants about their research, and comes up with some other pretense for being there.

…but people may behave differently with the awareness that they are being studied.

Overt ethnography is typically preferred for ethical reasons, as participants can provide informed consent….

In an overt approach, the ethnographer openly states their intentions and acknowledges their role as a researcher to the members of the group being studied.

…but gaining access is tougher the ethnographer may have to negotiate their way in or acquire some role in the organization.

A closed group’s boundaries are clearly defined and the ethnographer can become fully immersed in the setting….

This may be for example a business, a school, or a cult.

…but it may be harder to become immersed in a less clearly defined group.Ī closed or private setting is harder to access.

Gaining initial access to open groups is not too difficult….

For example, you might consider a community of people living in a certain neighborhood, or the fans of a particular baseball team. The setting of your ethnography-the environment in which you will observe your chosen community in action-may be open or closed.Īn open or public setting is one with no formal barriers to entry. Each approach has its own advantages and disadvantages. There are a few key distinctions in ethnography which help to inform the researcher’s approach: open vs. Different approaches to ethnographic research If you do decide to do ethnography, it’s generally best to choose a relatively small and easily accessible group, to ensure that the research is feasible within a limited timeframe.

How exactly will you conduct your research, and over what timespan?.

How difficult will it be to gain access to the community you want to study?.Could the information you need be collected in another way (e.g.If you’re a student who wants to use ethnographic research in your thesis or dissertation, it’s worth asking yourself whether it’s the right approach: Should you use ethnography in your research?

There are often also ethical considerations to take into account: for example, about how your role is disclosed to members of the group, or about observing and reporting sensitive information. Writing an ethnography involves subjective interpretation, and it can be difficult to maintain the necessary distance to analyze a group that you are embedded in. This long-term immersion can be challenging, and requires careful planning.Įthnographic research can run the risk of observer bias. In order to embed yourself in the setting and gather enough observations to build up a representative picture, you can expect to spend at least a few weeks, but more likely several months. Disadvantages of ethnographyĮthnography is a time-consuming method. Rather than aiming to verify a general theory or test a hypothesis, it aims to offer a rich narrative account of a specific culture, allowing you to explore many different aspects of the group and setting.

It is a useful approach for learning first-hand about the behavior and interactions of people within a particular context.īy becoming immersed in a social environment, you may have access to more authentic information and spontaneously observe dynamics that you could not have found out about simply by asking.Įthnography is also an open and flexible method. The main advantage of ethnography is that it gives the researcher direct access to the culture and practices of a group. It is used not only to study distant or unfamiliar cultures, but also to study specific communities within the researcher’s own society.įor example, ethnographic research (sometimes called participant observation) has been used to investigate gangs, football fans, call center workers, and police officers. Today, ethnography is a common approach in various social science fields, not just anthropology. Turnbull lived with the Mbuti people for three years in order to write the classic ethnography The Forest People. This type of research could sometimes last for years. Observing the group and taking field notesĮthnographic research originated in the field of anthropology, and it often involved an anthropologist living with an isolated tribal community for an extended period of time in order to understand their culture.Different approaches to ethnographic research.