Ethnographic research techniques

Well as ideas and arrangements that exist only in people's the perspective of the culture concept,Anthropologists must first treat all these elements as a coherent system and, accordingly,Must record observations with due attention cultural context and the meanings assigned by the culture's demands are met through two major research techniques:Participant observation and key informant ipant observation is based on living among the people under a lenghty period, usually a year, and gathering data through ement in their lives and ethnographer begins systematic observation and keeps daily field notes,In which the significant events of each day are with informants' l observations focus on general, open ended data d from learning the most basic cultural rules and usually the local language as initial orientation process is important not only for providing a background for more narrowly focused investigation but also helps the anthropologist to gain rapport with his/her informants, avoid breaches of etiquette,And test out whether the original research objectives are meaningful and practical in the local author participating in a cocoa harvest in ghana in first research project was located in ghana, west africa and focused on the social and economic organization of a market place system that connected a large commercial town to a rural main economic base of the locality was cocoa production for export,Which was organized through a government marketing board and not the normal marketing system i was investigating. My fellow harvesters were all members of a reciprocal work party,Who help on each others farms in turn during periods of peak labour gh no payments are exchanged, everyone gets a reward of food and the host farmer at the end of the day, and a party atmosphere dominates the day's the initial orientation or entry period,Which may take 3 months or longer,The researcher follows a more systematic program of formal ing questions related to research hypotheses and specialized l different methods of selecting informants are y a few key informants (between 10-20) are selected -depth sessions, since the investigation of cultural y calls for lengthy and repeated open ended ion of such a small number does not allow for strict assurance of entative sample,So the anthropologist must be careful to choose are well informed and raphic researchers will also train systematically report cultural data and icant cultural elements and the interview sequences informant selection is known as judgement sampling and is particularly important for the kind of qualitative research that characterizes pologists will very frequently also need to carry out ch from which statistically validated inferences can be ingly they must construct a either larger random sample or population census for more narrowly focused ing to a closed questionnaire important quantitative data might include direct measurement of such items as farm size, crop yield, daily caloric or protein intake, or even blood pressure or other medical data, depending on the anthropologist's research from written observation and records,Researchers will often provide ethnographic representations in , such as collected artifacts, photographs, tape recordings, films,To illustrate the range of research anthropologists regularyly employ,I can enumerate 5 systematic data gathering procedures that i used a ghanaian marketing system:Intensive open-ended repeated interviews among market their trading practices and their wider social and economic. Of you who would like to find out more about research methods pology can look at two internet based sources:A detailed account from laura tamakoshi of the stages of her ethnography among the gende of papua new initial planning to final reporting:Fieldwork: the anthropologist in the analysis of the ethnographic sampling issue in a published , oswald and h. Russel bernard,1989 short take 13: ethnographic al anthropology methods, volume 1, to next section - objectivity in i: . Russel bernard,1989 short take 13: ethnographic al anthropology methods, volume 1, to next section - objectivity in wikipedia, the free to: navigation, the journal, see ethnography (journal). It is designed to explore cultural phenomena where the researcher observes society from the point of view of the subject of the study. Franz boas (1858-1942), bronislaw malinowski (1858—1942), ruth benedict and margaret mead (1901-1978), were a group of researchers from the united states who contributed the idea of cultural relativism to the literature. Boas's approach focused on the use of documents and informants, whereas, malinowski stated that a researcher should be engrossed with the work for long periods in the field and do a participant observation by living with the informant and experiencing their way of life. Known as the father of history had significant works on the cultures of various peoples beyond the hellenic realm such as nations in scythia, which earned him the title "barbarian lover" and may have produced the first ethnographic of ethnography[edit]. Characterized by van maanen (1988), it reflects a particular instance taken by the researcher toward the individual being studied. Ethnography: is a kind of ethnographic research in which the creators advocate for the liberation of groups which are marginalized in society. Critical researchers typically are politically minded people who look to take a stand of opposition to inequality and domination. The ethnography can be of the entire group or a subpart of involves engaging in extensive field work where data collection is mainly by interviews, symbols, artifacts, observations, and many other sources of researcher in ethnography type of research looks for patterns of the group's mental activities, that is their ideas and beliefs expressed through language or other activities, and how they behave in their groups as expressed through their actions that the researcher ethnography, the researcher gathers what is available, what is normal, what it is that people do, what they say, and how they work. Perhaps how the group works need to be described, or a critical ethnography can expose issues such as power, hegemony, and advocacy for certain groups (qualitative inquiry and research design, 95). Types of information typically needed in ethnography are collected by going to the research site, respecting the daily lives of individuals at the site and collecting a wide variety of materials. Field issues of respect, reciprocity, deciding who owns the data and others are central to ethnography (qualitative inquiry and research design, 95).

Ethnographic research takes place

The researcher begins to compile a detailed description of the culture-sharing group, by focusing on a single event, on several activities, or on the group over a prolonged period of a working set of rules or generalizations as to how the culture-sharing group works as the final product of this analysis. The final product is a holistic cultural portrait of the group that incorporates the views of the participants (emic) as well as the views of the researcher (etic). Ethnographic method is different from other ways of conducting social science approach due to the following reasons:An ethnographer conducting field interviews, valašské muzeum v přírodě. It is conducted in the settings in which real people actually live, rather than in laboratories where the researcher controls the elements of the behaviors to be observed or is personalized. It is conducted by researchers who are in the day-to-day, face-to-face contact with the people they are studying and who are thus both participants in and observers of the lives under is multifactorial. It is conducted through the use of two or more data collection techniques - which may be qualitative or quantitative in nature - in order to get a requires a long-term commitment i. It is conducted by a researcher who intends to interact with people they are studying for an extended period of time. It is conducted by a researcher whose interpretations and findings may be expounded on by the study’s participants while conclusions are still in the process of is holistic. It is conducted so as to yield the fullest possible portrait of the group under can also be used in other methodological frameworks, for instance, an action research program of study where one of the goals is to change and improve the situation. The goal is to collect data in such a way that the researcher imposes a minimal amount of personal bias in the data. Secondary research and document analysis are also used to provide insight into the research topic. 14] in the 21st century, anthropology focuses more on the study of people in urban settings and the use of kinship charts is seldom order to make the data collection and interpretation transparent, researchers creating ethnographies often attempt to be "reflexive". Reflexivity refers to the researcher's aim "to explore the ways in which [the] researcher's involvement with a particular study influences, acts upon and informs such research". Ethnographic research can range from a realist perspective, in which behavior is observed, to a constructivist perspective where understanding is socially constructed by the researcher and subjects. Research can range from an objectivist account of fixed, observable behaviors to an interpretive narrative describing "the interplay of individual agency and social structure. 18] critical theory researchers address "issues of power within the researcher-researched relationships and the links between knowledge and power.

Ethnographic method is used across a range of different disciplines, primarily by anthropologists but also occasionally by sociologists. Anthropology and social anthropology were developed around ethnographic research and their canonical texts, which are mostly ethnographies: e. 23] ethnographers study and interpret culture, its universalities, and its variations through the ethnographic study based on fieldwork. Aw malinowski among trobriand of the ethnographic collection of the međimurje county museum in croatia. Geertz, while still following something of a traditional ethnographic outline, moved outside that outline to talk about "webs" instead of "outlines"[30] of cultural anthropology, there are several subgenres of ethnography. Beginning in the 1950s and early 1960s, anthropologists began writing "bio-confessional" ethnographies that intentionally exposed the nature of ethnographic research. Writing culture helped bring changes to both anthropology and ethnography often described in terms of being 'postmodern,' 'reflexive,' 'literary,' 'deconstructive,' or 'poststructural' in nature, in that the text helped to highlight the various epistemic and political predicaments that many practitioners saw as plaguing ethnographic representations and practices. That is, the ethnographer cannot escape the personal viewpoint in creating an ethnographic account, thus making any claims of objective neutrality highly problematic, if not altogether impossible. 36] this exploration of the relationship between writer, audience, and subject has become a central tenet of contemporary anthropological and ethnographic practice. In certain instances, active collaboration between the researcher(s) and subject(s) has helped blend the practice of collaboration in ethnographic fieldwork with the process of creating the ethnographic product resulting from the research. Urban sociology, atlanta university (now clark-atlanta university), and the chicago school, in particular, are associated with ethnographic research, with some well-known early examples being the philadelphia negro (1899) by w. But even though many sub-fields and theoretical perspectives within sociology use ethnographic methods, ethnography is not the sine qua non of the discipline, as it is in cultural ication studies[edit]. In the 1960s and 1970s, ethnographic research methods began to be widely used by communication scholars. As the purpose of ethnography is to describe and interpret the shared and learned patterns of values, behaviors, beliefs, and language of a culture-sharing group, harris, (1968), also agar (1980) note that ethnography is both a process and an outcome of the research. Studies such as gerry philipsen's analysis of cultural communication strategies in a blue-collar, working-class neighborhood on the south side of chicago, speaking 'like a man' in teamsterville, paved the way for the expansion of ethnographic research in the study of rs of communication studies use ethnographic research methods to analyze communicative behaviors and phenomena. Ethnographic work in communication studies seeks to explain "how" ordinary methods/practices/performances construct the ordinary actions used by ordinary people in the accomplishments of their identities.

39] often this type of research results in a case study or field study such as an analysis of speech patterns at a protest rally, or the way firemen communicate during "down time" at a fire station. American anthropologist george spindler was a pioneer in applying the ethnographic methodology to the pologists such as daniel miller and mary douglas have used ethnographic data to answer academic questions about consumers and consumption. Companies make increasing use of ethnographic methods to understand consumers and consumption, or for new product development (such as video ethnography). Ethnographic methodology is not usually evaluated in terms of philosophical standpoint (such as positivism and emotionalism). Which is a method dedicated entirely to field work, is aimed at gaining a deeper insight of a certain people's knowledge and social raphy's advantages are:It can open up certain experiences during group research that other research methods fail to s that are taken for granted can be highlighted and can tap into intuitive and deep human understanding of and interpretations of (by the ethnographer) the accounts of informants (those who are being studied), which goes far beyond what quantitative research can do in terms of extracting raphy allows people outside of a culture (whether of a primitive tribe or of a corporation's employees) to learn about its members' practices, motives, understandings, and r, there are certain challenges or limitations for the ethnographic method:Deep expertise is required: ethnographers must accumulate knowledge about the methods and domains of interest, which can take considerable training and ivity: the ethnographer is an outsider and must exercise discretion and caution to avoid offending, alienating or harming those being : negotiating access to field sites and participants can be time-consuming and difficult. And cost: research can involve prolonged time in the field, particularly because building trust with participants is usually necessary for obtaining rich : ethnographers bring their own experience to bear in pursuing questions to ask and reviewing data, which can lead to biases in directions of inquiry and ptive approach: ethnography relies heavily on storytelling and the presentation of critical incidents, which is inevitably selective and viewed as a weakness by those used to the scientific approaches of hypothesis testing, quantification and alan fine argues that the nature of ethnographic inquiry demands that researchers deviate from formal and idealistic rules or ethics that have come to be widely accepted in qualitative and quantitative approaches in research. Many of these ethical assumptions are rooted in positivist and post-positivist epistemologies that have adapted over time but are apparent and must be accounted for in all research paradigms. These ethical dilemmas are evident throughout the entire process of conducting ethnographies, including the design, implementation, and reporting of an ethnographic study. Essentially, fine maintains that researchers are typically not as ethical as they claim or assume to be — and that "each job includes ways of doing things that would be inappropriate for others to know". Is not necessarily casting blame at ethnographic researchers but tries to show that researchers often make idealized ethical claims and standards which in are inherently based on partial truths and self-deceptions. 47] based on these assertions, fine establishes three conceptual clusters in which ethnographic ethical dilemmas can be situated: "classic virtues", "technical skills", and "ethnographic self". Debate surrounding the issue of ethics arose following revelations about how the ethnographer napoleon chagnon conducted his ethnographic fieldwork with the yanomani people of south there is no international standard on ethnographic ethics, many western anthropologists look to the american anthropological association for guidance when conducting ethnographic work. 49] the code of ethics recognizes that sometimes very close and personal relationship can sometimes develop from doing ethnographic work. 49] the association acknowledges that the code is limited in scope; ethnographic work can sometimes be multidisciplinary, and anthropologists need to be familiar with ethics and perspectives of other disciplines as well. 50] the eight-page code of ethics outlines ethical considerations for those conducting research, teaching, application and dissemination of results, which are briefly outlined below. Research-when conducting research anthropologists need to be aware of the potential impacts of the research on the people and animals they study.

Of results-when disseminating results of an ethnography, "[a]nthropologists have an ethical obligation to consider the potential impact of both their research and the communication or dissemination of the results of their research on all directly or indirectly involved. 55] research results of ethnographies should not be withheld from participants in the research if that research is being observed by other people. The kindly ethnographer" – most ethnographers present themselves as being more sympathetic than they are, which aids in the research process, but is also deceptive. When ethnographers find they intensely dislike individuals encountered in the research, they may crop them out of the findings. The honest ethnographer" – if research participants know the research goals, their responses will likely be skewed. The unobtrusive ethnographer" – as a "participant" in the scene, the researcher will always have an effect on the communication that occurs within the research site. Following are commonly misconceived conceptions of ethnographers:"the candid ethnographer" – where the researcher personally situates within the ethnography is ethically problematic. The chaste ethnographer" – when ethnographers participate within the field, they invariably develop relationships with research subjects/participants. These relationships are sometimes not accounted for within the reporting of the ethnography, although they may influence the research findings. The individual skills of an ethnographer influence what appears to be the value of the research. Denzin, ethnographers should consider the following eight principles when observing, recording, and sampling data:The groups should combine symbolic meanings with patterns of e the world from the point of view of the subject, while maintaining the distinction between everyday and scientific perceptions of the group's symbols and their meanings with the social methodology should highlight phases of process, change, and act should be a type of symbolic concepts that would avoid casual es of studies that can use an ethnographic approach[edit]. Of ethnography: a form of ethnography that involves conducting ethnographic studies on the ipant observation. From 'reading over the shoulders of natives' to 'reading alongside natives', literally: toward a collaborative and reciprocal ethnography", in journal of anthropologcal research, 57(2):137-149. Of the most influential ethnographies and anthropology raphic praxis in industry , michael (2003) a synthesis of ethnographic on of anthropology, american museum of natural history - over 160,000 objects from pacific, north american, african, asian ethnographic collections with images and detailed description, linked to the original catalogue pages, field notebooks, and photographs are available archive of african raphic material collection from northern anatolia and caucasus -photo zealand museum images of objects from pacific sity of pennsylvania's "what is ethnography? University library southeast asia raphy for the masses 2cv's practical application of ethnography in market polar research institute arctic material culture , otis tufton (1905). Ethnographic hed january 27, er research , product development , product management , : customer research, detailed interviews, ethnography, immersion, observation, persona, shadowing.

Is the fourth post in my customer research word “ethnography” has such a grand sound to it. So your mileage may what exactly is ethnographical research in the context of product development? In the simplest terms, it’s a set of qualitative techniques that places the researcher in the environment and/or the mindset of the subjects. One then derives the needs, wants, expectations and workarounds for the subjects, and uses this information to drive product are three techniques that i am a big fan of (mainly due to their high bang for the buck):Detailed interviews. A researcher asks open ended questions to get the subject to tell a story about the domain of interest. The interview guide tends to be very high level and the researcher is trained to mix things up and respond to new threads that come up in conversation. I like to have two to three researchers at each interview so one person can drive the conversation while the other person mans the audio/video equipment and takes ation or shadowing. Researchers set up their audio/video equipment in the environment where a product or set of products is being used, and simply hang out with the subject while the subject uses the product. The researchers asks questions when necessary, but by and large they behave like flies on the wall. Researchers use the product or a related product for an extended period of time to get a first hand understanding of long term product use. I also like to write a debrief document at the end of the immersion to sum up my key are other techniques too, based more on self-reporting by end users. Since research is done one customer at a time, and best practices suggest we work with 10-20 customers to allow the data to converge and allow time for tweaking the technique and/or the recruitment criteria, it takes corporate level commitment to pull off a project like this. It’s a lot of long nights too since sometimes the research must be done after hours when the customers have time to work with the researchers. 3, 2010 at 10:06 a vey good way to approach ethnographic research but can we add life history longitudinal research problem oriented research to these techniques please er 18, 2010 at 2:51 shakeel, i’m not an expert on these methodologies and would love to learn more. Blog via ial modeling for a new product or ethnographic personas to functional t planning series: planning a new web detailed interviews to build ng (and unbricking) a laptop.. D bloggers like this:Department of anthropology and raphic research code: of study:year 1 taught in:term course provides a post-graduate level introduction to the various methods of enquiry and interpretation used in anthropological research.

After introducing students to the building blocks of ethnographic methods, including participant-observation, interviewing, audio-visual methods and multi-sited research, it explores the relation between research design and research methods with the aim of introducing students to good research practice. The course familiarises students with key debates about the status of anthropological research data and the conditions of its production. The course is intended to provide methodological support for students’ ma dissertation covered include:Anthropology, ethnography and the making of ethnographic methods;. On interview technique) and short fieldwork assignments to generate critical awareness among students of their own observational and data recording : not open to students enrolled in 15panc011, “research methods in anthropology”.