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ETHNOGRAPHY DEFINED:

1. Ethnography is the study of social interactions, behaviors, and perceptions that occur within
groups, teams, organizations, and communities
2. “the name of the attempt to reconstruct the history of culture” (25).
- A.R. Radcliffe-Brown, Anthropologist
3. The central aim of ethnography is to provide rich, holistic insights into people’s views and
actions, as well as the nature (that is, sights, sounds) of the location they inhabit, through the
collection of detailed observations and interviews.
4. As Hammersley states, “The task [of ethnographers] is to document the culture, the perspectives
and practices of the people in these settings. The aim is to ‘get inside ’the way each group of
people see the world.”
5. “The modern concept of ethnography is ‘getting out among the subjects of enquiry’ in such a
way that their perspective is engaged”.
- Professor Lee Harvey
4. “The exclusive and immediate goal of ethnography, as of all social research, is to produce
knowledge”.
- Professor Martyn Hammersley
5. “As a noun, it means a description of a culture, or a piece of culture.
As a verb (doing ethnography), it means the collection of data that describe a culture” (16-17).
- H. Russell Bernard, Ph.D.
Cultural anthropologist

ETHNOGRAPHY as RESEARCH METHOD

“A research method located in the practice of both sociologists and anthropologists, and which should be
regarded as the product of a cocktail of methodologies that share the assumption that personal engagement
with the subject is the key to understanding a particular culture or social setting.”
- The SAGE Dictionary of Social Research
Methods (2006

KEY FEATURES OF ETHNOGRAPHIC RESEARCH

 A strong emphasis on exploring the nature of a particular social phenomenon, rather than setting
out to test hypotheses about it.
 A tendency to work primarily with “unstructured data” —that is, data that have not been coded at
the point of data collection as a closed set of analytical categories.
 Investigation of a small number of cases (perhaps even just one case) in detail.
 Analysis of data that involves explicit interpretation of the meanings and functions of human
actions; the product of this analysis primarily takes the form of verbal descriptions and explanations

WHAT SHOULD I BE LOOKING FOR IN AN ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY?

 Ethnographers typically gather participant observations, necessitating direct engagement
and involvement with the world they are studying. Owing to the complex nature of social
life, ethnographers need to record a variety of elements in their field notes.
  During their observations, ethnographers routinely use informal or conversational
interviews, which allow them to discuss, probe emerging issues, or ask questions about
unusual events in a naturalistic manner. Because of the “casual” nature of this type of
interview technique it can be useful in eliciting highly candid accounts from individuals.
 Ethnographers also gather formal in-depth interviews and documentary data such as
minutes of meetings, diaries, and photographs.
NINE OBSERVATIONAL DIMENSIONS AND THEIR DESCRIPTIONS
1. Space—Physical layout of the place(s)
2. Actor—Range of people involved
3. Activity—A set of related activities that occur
4. Object—The physical things that are present
5. Act—Single actions people undertake
6. Event—Activities that people carry out
7. Time—The sequencing of events that occur
8. Goal—Things that people are trying to accomplish
9. Feeling—Emotions felt and expressed

ANALYSIS OF ETHNOGRAPHIC DATA

 Analysis of ethnographic data tends to be undertaken in an inductive thematic manner:
data are examined to identify and to categorize themes and key issues that “emerge”
from the data. Through a careful analysis of their data, using this inductive process,
ethnographers generate tentative theoretical explanations from their empirical work.

WHAT DOES ETHNOGRAPHER NEED IN ORDER TO GET DATA?

 Reflexivity (that is, the relationship a researcher shares with the world he or she is
investigating) is a central element of ethnographic work, owing to the relationship the
ethnographer shares with participants and the ethical issues that flow from this close
relationship.
 To enhance the quality of their work, ethnographers will often provide a detailed or “thick
description” of the research setting and its participants, which will typically be based on
many hours of direct observation and interviews with several key informants.

WHAT IS TRIANGULATION IN ETHNOGRAPHIC RESEARCH?

 Triangulation is a term linked to navigation or surveying: people discover their position
on a map by taking bearings on landmarks, and where the lines intersect is where they are
positioned.
 As well as methodological triangulation, Denzin outlines three other types:
 Data triangulation, which uses different sources of data to examine a phenomenon
in several different settings and different points in time or space
 Investigator triangulation, which uses multiple researchers to generate a complex
range of perspectives on the data.
 Theory triangulation, in which researchers approach data with different concepts
and theories to see how each helps to understand the data.
 In simple term, ethnographers commonly triangulate (that is, compare and contrast)
interview and observation methods to enhance the quality of their work; this technique is
important as what people say about their behavior can contrast with their actual actions.
WHAT CHOOSE ETHNOGRAPHY?
 Participant observation enables ethnographers to “immerse” themselves in a setting, thereby
generating a rich understanding of social action and its subtleties in different contexts.
 Participant observation also gives ethnographers opportunities to gather empirical insights into
social practices that are normally “hidden” from the public gaze.
 Ethnographic research can identify, explore, and link social phenomena which, on the surface,
have little connection with each other.

ETHNOGRAPHY CAN BE PROBLEMATIC

 Owing to the relatively long periods of time ethnographers spend talking to, it can be difficult to
secure repeated access, especially if institutional gatekeepers are concerned that the research may
cast their organization in a poor light.
 Obtaining formal approval from research ethics committees can be complicated.
 The direct interaction that occurs between ethnographers and patients or clinicians during
fieldwork can be regarded with suspicion, as traditional notions of health services research rest
on researchers’ detachment rather than involvement.
 The direct interaction that occurs between ethnographers and patients or clinicians during
fieldwork can be regarded with suspicion, as traditional notions of health services research rest
on researchers’ detachment rather than involvement.
 In addition, the unpredictability of social (and clinical) life often means that ethnographers have
to be flexible, patient, and persistent in their work, as data collection activities can be disrupted
or access withdrawn as local circumstances and politics change.

WHAT ARE THE COMMON METHODS IN ETHNOGRAPHIC RESEARCH?

• Field research/ Fieldwork- entails the extended residence of the researcher in a field setting
(e.g., community, village, institution), participating and observing the daily activities and
behavior of the people where research is carried out.

• Participant observation- In PO the researcher shares as intimately as possible in the life and
activities of the setting under study. This entails an extended residence period. The purpose is to
develop an insider’s view of what is happening.

• Case studies- In-depth analysis of an individual or a group of people with shared characteristics.
Often includes personal accounts directly from the participants.

• Focus groups- Concentrated group exploration and discussions

OTHER METHODS/STRATEGIES IN COMMUNITY STUDIES

 FILMS, VIDEOS AND PHOTOGRAPHS

 KINESICS- The study of body movements/motion and its accompanying messages
 PROXEMICS- The study of people’s use of space and its relationship to culture.
 THE REVIEW OF DOCUMENTS (CONTENT ANALYSIS)
DATA ANALYSIS STRATEGIES

Analytic Procedures
1. Organizing the data.
2. Generating categories, themes, and patterns.
3. Testing the emergent hypothesis against the data.
4. Searching for alternative explanations of the data.
5. Writing the report.

Organization of Data
1. Reading – and reading once more through the data forces the researcher to become familiar with those
data in intimate ways
2. Coding of data – list on note cards/index cards the data available (color and ) number coding
3. Perform the minor editing necessary to make field notes retrievable, and generally “clean-up” what
seems overwhelming and unmanageable.
4. Organize codes into more inclusive and abstract domains such as methodological notes, analytic
memos, theoretical notes, case summaries, diagrams, charts, and dummy tables.
5. Enter the data into one of the several software programs for the management and/or analysis of
qualitative data.

CONCEPTUAL ORDERING
-General categories, themes and patterns
 This phase is the most difficult, complex, ambiguous, creative, and fun. Identifying salient themes,
recurring ideas or language and patterns of belief that link people and settings together is the most
intellectually challenging phase of data analysis and one that can integrate the entire endeavor.
 The process of category generation involves noting regularities in the setting of people chosen for
study.
 As categories of meaning emerge, the researcher searches for those that have internal convergence
and external divergence –the categories should be internally consistent but distinct from one
another.

WHAT STRATEGIC CHOICES CAN WE APPLY THAT CAN ENHANCE A STUDY’S GENERALIZABILITY?

Validity— establish the “truth value” of the study—the trustworthiness of the data. Credibility

Credibility: How credible are the findings of the study? By what criteria can we judge them?
The inquiry’s goal is to demonstrate that the inquiry was conducted in such a manner as to
ensure that the subject was accurately identified and described.

Transferability- How transferable and applicable are these findings to another setting or group of
people?
The burden of demonstrating the applicability of one set of findings to another context rests more
with the investigator who would make the transfer than with the original investigator.

Dependability. How can we be reasonably sure that the findings would be replicated if the study were
conducted with the same participants in the same context?
The researcher attempts to account for changing conditions in the phenomenon chosen for study
as well as changes in the design created by increasingly refined understanding of the setting.
Conformability. How can we be sure that the findings are reflective of the subjects and the inquiry itself
rather than a creation of the researcher’s biases or prejudices?
Ask whether the findings of the study could be confirmed by another.

LEVELS OF ABSTRACTION USED IN PRESENTATION

I. DATA ANALYSIS STRATEGIES
Descriptive narration: the focus is usually on groups and their activities that change over time. The
narration, in lay language, is a story of events, based on the common sense explanations of the
participants, that synthesizes the reasons the events occurred as they did. A descriptive narration closely
resembles that of an investigative reporting. The study contributes to knowledge by preserving a record
of a past event made by a trained observer. This description may be used in subsequent research.

Descriptive- analytical interpretation: A second level of abstraction is one of description, analysis, and
interpretation. The ethnographer selectively analyzes aspects of human actions and events to provide
explanations. The complexity of the interrelationships of the events, and their influence on human lives
are emphasized. The study contributes to knowledge by providing an understanding of the phenomena
studied. This type of study also enables others to anticipate, but not predict, what may occur in similar
situations.

Grounded-theory research: Other studies go beyond descriptive analysis to add a theoretical

dimension. Concepts induced from observations are derived from data and therefore, are called
grounded theory. Grounded theory differs from quantitative research where theoretical constructs are
deduced from theory identified in the literature review.