Ethnography Exam

What is ethnography?

The study of an entire social setting through extended, systematic fieldwork to understand the social world from insiders’ perspectives.

What is the main goal of ethnography?

To uncover participants’ perspectives, priorities, and systems of meaning.

How does ethnography differ from other research methods?

It emphasizes insider viewpoints and reflexivity over detached, external analysis

What are the four levels of involvement in ethnography?

Complete observer, observer as participant, participant as observer, and complete participant.

Complete observer

the researcher is behind a one-way mirror or taking on an “invisible role” such as an eavesdropping janitor

Complete participant

the researcher acts as a member and shares secret information of insiders

Observer as participant

the researcher is known from the beginning but has limited contact

Participant as observer

the researcher is overt and an intimate friend of participants

What are key tasks of a field researcher?

Observe everyday activities, engage with participants, maintain an insider perspective with outsider objectivity, write detailed notes, and handle stress and ambiguity.

Explicit aspects

recognized, conscious, spoken

Tacit aspects

less recognized, implicit, unspoken

What is reflexivity in ethnography?

Constant awareness of one’s role and influence in the research, reflecting on “what I know and how I know it.”

What is defocusing?

Consciously starting fresh and questioning assumptions to see the field openly.

What are the two types of defocusing?

(1) Casting a wide net to see the broader setting, and (2) going beyond the narrow researcher role.

What does adopting an “attitude of strangeness” mean?

Viewing everyday life as unfamiliar to question norms and assumptions.

Martian perspective

 sees everything as strange and question assumptions

Covert perspective

accepts everything and wants to become a believer

What is diagnostic ethnography?

Treating research like a medical diagnosis—using theory to interpret field “symptoms” and identify the best explanation.

What is the researcher’s role in diagnostic ethnography?

To apply and possibly refine theory based on observed data.

What is the relationship between theory and observation in ethnography?

Theory should guide but not dominate; ethnographers balance theory with lived experience.

Why is uncertainty valuable in ethnography?

Acknowledging it reflects honest and reflective scholarship.

What are the five criteria of quality ethnography?

Substantive contribution, aesthetic merit, reflexivity, impact, and expression of reality.

Substantive contribution

What does this research add to sociology and our understanding of the social world?

Aesthetic merit

Is the work engaging and artistic?

Impact

Has this work affected the reader emotionally and intellectually

Expression of reality

Has this work demonstrated itself as credible and does it seem valid

What are the five stages of fieldwork?

(1) Getting in, (2) Becoming invisible, (3) Watching/listening/learning, (4) Analyzing data, (5) Disengaging

Getting in

Accessing the field, finding appropriate guides and gatekeepers, negotiating research bargains

Gatekeeper

People or groups who are in positions to grant or deny access to a research setting

Guides and informants

Indigenous persons found among the group and in the setting to be studies who extends their credibility to cover the researcher as well

Becoming invisible

Reducing researcher reactivity and becoming a normal (unnoticed) fixture of a community/culture, while avoiding the dangers of ethnographic research

Ambient risks

comes from doing research

Situational risks

arises from negative reactions caused by the researcher’s presence.

Watching, listening, and learning

Developing relationships, taking field notes, tracking, observing, and asking questions, and beginning the first stages of analysis

What are the four types of fieldnotes?

Cryptic jottings, detailed descriptions, analytic notes, and subjective reflections.

Cryptic jottings

Short notes taken in the field

Detailed description

Longer, more detailed descriptions of fieldwork taken after leaving the field

Analytic notes

Preliminary analysis

Subjective reflections

Your reflections on fieldwork

Analyzing data

Identifying and analyzing themes through coding

Unstructured interviews

Interview questions arise during conversation

Content analysis

Detailed, systematic examination and interpretation of secondary data

Narrative accounts

A complete picture of events, people, rules of activities, and social contexts using observation and fieldnotes

Typologies

A systematic method for classifying similar events, actions, objects, people, or places into groupings that are exhaustive and mutually-exclusiv

Sociograms/ social map

a visual representation of relationships

Spatial vs temporal maps

1. Spacial maps: a visual representation of the physical setting

2. Temporal map: a visual representation of the day’s schedule

Metaphors

Descriptions that reveal aspects of the subject through comparison with other subjects

Disengaging

Honor participants and your relationships, but get out!