Methods: Ethnography

Ethnography

Ethnography is the art and science of describing a group or culture. The ethnographer enters the field with an open mind, not with an empty head. Before asking the first question in the field, the ethnographer begins with a problem, a theory or model, a research design, specific data collection techniques, tools for analysis, and a specific writing style. A series of quality controls, such as triangulation, contextualization, and a nonjudgmental orientation, place a check on the negative influence of bias.

The ethnographer is interested in understanding and describing a social and cultural scene from the emic or insider’s perspective. The ethnographer is both storyteller and scientist; the closer the readers of an ethnography come to understanding the native’s point of view, the better the story and the better the science.

Fieldwork is the heart of the ethnographic research design. In the field, basic anthropological concepts, data collection methods and techniques, and analysis are the fundamental elements of “doing ethnography.” Selection and use of various pieces of equipment— including the human instrument—facilitate the work. This process becomes product through analysis at various stages in ethnographic work—in fieldnotes, memoranda, and interim reports but most dramatically in the published report, article, or book (Given, 2008, p. 288).

Methods: Ethnography

Fieldwork is the hallmark of research for both sociologists and anthropologists—working with people for long periods of time in their natural setting. The ethnographer conducts research in the native environment to see people and their behaviour given all the real-world incentives and constraints. This naturalist approach avoids the artificial response typical of con- trolled or laboratory conditions.

One of the benefits of fieldwork is that it provides a commonsense perspective to data. For example, in a study of schools in the rural South, David Fetterman received boxes of records indicating very low academic performance and high school attendance. This was counterintuitive and contrary to his experience in working with schools in urban areas where students who received poor grades dropped out of school. However, traveling to the school while watching cotton, rice, and soy fields pass by, mile after mile, it became clear to him that the data made sense. There was nothing else to do but show up at school.

1. Participant Observation

Participant observation characterizes most ethnographic research. Participant observation is immersion in a culture. Ideally, the ethnographer lives and works in the community for 6 months to a year or longer, learning the language and seeing patterns of behaviour over time. Long-term residence helps the researcher to internalize the basic beliefs, fears, hopes, and expectations of the people under study.

In applied settings, participant observation is often noncontinuous, spread out over an extended time. In these situations, the researcher can apply ethnographic techniques to the study but cannot conduct an ethnography.

2. Interviewing

The interview is the ethnographer’s most important data-gathering technique. General interview types include structured, semi-structured, informal, and retrospective interviews.

Formally structured and semi-structured interviews are verbal approximations of a questionnaire with explicit research goals. These interviews generally serve comparative and representative purposes— comparing responses and putting them in the context of common group beliefs and themes. A structured or semi-structured interview is most valuable when the fieldworker comprehends the fundamentals of a com- munity from the insider’s perspective.

Informal interviews are the most common in ethno- graphic work. They seem to be casual conversations, but where structured interviews have an explicit agenda, informal interviews have a specific but implicit research agenda. The researcher uses informal appro- aches to discover how the people conceptualize their culture and organize it into meaningful categories.

Retrospective interviews can be structured, semi-structured, or informal. The ethnographer uses retrospective interviews to reconstruct the past, asking informants to recall personal historical information. All interviews share some generic kinds of questions. The most common types are survey or grand tour, detail or specific, and open-ended or closed questions.

3. Questionnaires

Structured interviews are close approximations of questionnaires. Questionnaires represent perhaps the most formal and rigid form of exchange in the interviewing spectrum—the logical extension of an increasingly structured interview.

Online surveys and questionnaires provide an efficient way in which to document the views of large groups during a short period of time. The questions are posted on the web and include yes/no, all that apply, open-ended, and 5-point Likert-type scale questions. Respondents are notified about the location of the survey on the web (with a specific URL), enter their responses, and submit their surveys online. The results are calculated automatically. The responses are often visually represented in a bar chart or similar graphic display as soon as the data are entered.

4. Unobtrusive Measures

The ethnographer attempts to be as unobtrusive as possible to minimize effects on the participants’ behaviour. A variety of measures, however, do not require human interaction and can supplement interactive methods of data collection and analysis such as outcropping, and these unobtrusive measures allow the ethnographer to draw social and cultural inferences from physical evidence.

Outcropping is a geological term referring to a portion of the bedrock that is visible on the surface—in other words, something that sticks out. Outcroppings in inner-city ethnographic research include skyscrapers, burned-out buildings, graffiti, and syringes in the schoolyard. The researcher can quickly estimate the relative wealth or poverty of an area from these outcroppings.

5. Equipment

Notepads, computers, tape recorders, cameras—all the tools of ethnography—are merely extensions of the human instrument; that is, aids to memory and vision. Yet these useful devices can facilitate the ethnographic mission by capturing the rich detail and flavour of the ethnographic experience and then helping to organize and analyze these data. Ethnographic equipment ranges from simple paper and pen to high-tech laptop and mainframe computers, from tape recorders and cameras to digital camcorders. The proper equipment can make the ethnographer’s sojourn in an alien culture more pleasant, safe, productive, and rewarding.

6. Analysis

Analysis is one of the most engaging features of ethnography. It begins the moment a fieldworker selects a problem to study and ends with the last word in the report or ethnography. Ethnography involves many levels of analysis. Some are simple and informal; others require some statistical sophistication. Ethnographic analysis is iterative, building on ideas throughout the study.

Triangulation is basic in ethnographic research. It is at the heart of ethnographic validity, testing one source of information against another to strip away alternative explanations and prove a hypothesis.

Ethnographers look for patterns of thought and behaviour. Patterns are a form of ethnographic reliability. Ethnographers are more confident about the accuracy of their descriptions when they see patterns of thought and action repeat in various situations and among various players.

7. Writing

Ethnography requires good writing skills at every stage of the enterprise. Research proposals, fieldnotes, memoranda, interim reports, final reports, articles, and books are the tangible products of ethnographic work. The ethnographer can share these written works with participants to verify their accuracy and with colleagues to review and consider them.

Performance writing often drives good ethnographic writing. It involves writing for an audience, caring about audience members, and hoping that one’s work will make a difference to them. It is relational in that it treats the readers like a gyroscope or a compass whereby the writer’s words revolve around them.

Writing is part of the analysis process as well as a means of communication. Writing clarifies thinking. In sitting down to put thoughts on paper, an individual must organize those thoughts and sort out specific ideas and relationships. Writing often reveals gaps in knowledge.

8. Ethics

Ethnographers subscribe to a code of ethics that preserves participants’ rights, facilitates communication in the field, and leaves the door open for further research. This code specifies, first and foremost, that the ethnographer do no harm to the people or the community under study. In seeking a logical path through the cultural wilds, the ethnographer is careful not to trample the feelings of insiders or desecrate what the culture calls sacred. This respect for social environment ensures not only the rights of the people but also the integrity of the data and a productive enduring relationship between the people and the researcher. Professionalism and a delicate step demonstrate the ethnographer’s deep respect, admiration, and appreciation for the people’s way of life. Non-invasive ethnography not only is good ethics but also is good science.

Ethnographers must formally or informally seek informed consent to conduct their work. Ethnographers must be candid about their task, explaining what they plan to study and how they plan to study it.

Ethnographers need the trust of the people they work with to complete their task. Ethnographers who establish a bond of trust will learn about the many layers of meaning in any community or program under study.

Conclusion

Ethnography is a deeply immersive and reflexive approach to understanding human cultures and social practices. Rooted in fieldwork and guided by ethical sensitivity, it offers researchers a holistic lens through which to explore the insider's perspective. By combining methods such as participant observation, interviews, visual documentation, and unobtrusive measures, ethnographers are equipped to capture the complexity and richness of lived experiences. The strength of ethnography lies not only in its methodological rigor but also in its commitment to telling authentic, respectful, and meaningful stories. Ultimately, ethnography bridges the gap between narrative and analysis, enabling a profound understanding of people in their natural contexts—an understanding essential for both scholarly insight and social impact.

Work Cited

Given, L. M. (Ed.). (2008). The SAGE Encyclopedia of Qualitative Research Methods (Vol. 1 & 2). Sage Publications. pp. 290-292