Understanding Ethnography

Ethnos (group)

• The term ‘ethnography’ comes from Greek and broadly means ‘writing about people’, but has a narrower meaning of writing about particular groups of people, that is to say ethnically, culturally or socially defined groups.

• An ethnographic text is an interpretive and explanatory story about a group of people and their sociality, culture and behaviours, but it is not a fictional account; it is a narrative based on systematically gathered and analysed data.

Emic / Etic — Insider / Outsider

• Another key characteristic of ethnography is that it attempts to find a relationship between an ‘emic’ and ‘etic’ understandings of human behaviour.

• An emic perspective is one that reflects the insiders’ or research participants’ point of view

• An etic perspective is one that echoes the outsiders’ or researchers’ point of view

What is ethnography?

Ethnography means “writing about people” or “writing an account of the way of life of a particular people.”

• Aim to be descriptive account of distinctive social or cultural features of a particular society/culture/group

• A collection, combination or mixture of methods

• “Description resides at the core of ethnography and however this description is constructed it is the intense meaning of social life from the everyday perspective of group members sought” (Hobbs,2006:101)

Distinctive features 1

• Exploratory: Exploration of groups/cultures/institutions that are hidden or difficult to locate. Derives meaning from social lives that would otherwise be hidden and unexamined.

• Naturalism: The study of a social group ‘in their natural setting’. Assumption that every social group is distinctive, and to explore a social group, researchers must engage with their group on its own ground

• ‘Complete immersion’ in the research field. An intense relationship between the researcher and the field

Distinctive features 2

• Unstructured data collection/open-ended approach:

  • No fixed and detailed design to ensure flexibility and capture nuances.

  • No preplanned data analytic strategy. Analysis is data driven.

• Few cases: focus on few cases to allow for in-depth analysis

• Focus on emic (insider) over etic (outsider) perspectives.

• Interpretation: focus on meaning making

• Key tools/strategies: taking field notes, working with key informants

Role of the ethnographer

• To observe: Understand, document, capture lives of those they are studying

  • Participants observation/informal conversation are primary means of data collection

• To become part of the social world they are study: immerse themselves in the research field. To gain an insider perspective.

• To gain trust, to build rapport, to become accepted.

• To maintain ‘critical distance’: avoiding becoming native.

Covert or overt

• Covert ethnography: The researcher joins a group/organization and assumes a covert role in order to observe the functioning of the daily life

• Overt ethnography: The group knows the identity of the researcher/ nature of the research

Different types of ethnography

Auto ethnography

• Challenge to objectivity and positivist, and emphasis on ‘science’

• These approaches “discourage any form of biographical or emotional intrusion by the researcher” (Jewkes 2011: 65)

Auto-ethnography 1

“A form of self-narrative that places the self within the social context (Reed-Danahay,2006:15)

• A qualitative research method that uses the researcher’s personal
  experiences as primary data in order to describe, analyse and interpret the sociocultural meanings

• Auto-biographical reflections: the biographies of researchers themselves – the ‘insider’s ethnography’

• Greater consideration of the biographic and emotional self

• The relationship between the field experience, biography and emotions

Auto ethnography 2

“Analytic auto-ethnography is not an exercise in narcissistic self-absorbed reflection…it is a method by which the further consideration of emotions, biography and their intersections through research can enhance understandings of any given subject” (Wakeman,2014:709)

Being with people

• Ethnography is a qualitative social science practice that seeks to understand human groups (or societies, or cultures, or institutions) by having the researcher in the same social space as the participants in the study.

• Ethnography is typically face-to-face, direct research. It is a practice that values the idea that to know other humans the ethnographer must do as others do, live with others, eat, work and experience the same daily patterns as others. This approach is called participant observation, and it has been a fundamental aspect of ethnographic research over the past century.

Writing about people

• A great deal of practical work and planning goes into producing
  ethnographic texts and rendering them as reliable as possible.

• As such, ethnography is not just an act of writing; ethnography is both a practice (framed by a methodology) and the textual product of that practice. It is the doing of social research and the final product that comes from writing up that research.

How is Inductive Analysis Used in Qualitative Research

• Inductive analysis in qualitative research refers to working “up” from the data. The process of inductive analysis assumes that the researcher is not starting the data analysis with any kind of pre-established hypothesis about the data. Inductive analysis is the process of moving from the specific to the general. However, it is acceptable and understandable that the researcher has subjectivities which are to be documented and analyzed as a source of data.

• Merriam (1998) notes that an ethnography provides a vivid and lifelike experience within a contextual situation; knowledge of the culture/phenomenon under study is developed by the reader’s interpretations and insights. Merriam, S. B. (1998). Qualitative research and case study applications in education (2nd ed.). Jossey-Bass Publishers

Whar is fieldwork? How to define the ‘field’?

• The "field" refers to the physical or social setting where the researcher immerses themselves to observe and interact with the community or phenomena being studied.

• It is a cultural construct shaped by the researcher's perspective and disciplinary norms.

• Berger points out that the actual practice and discussion of fieldwork in anthropological discourse itself has become “so common place as to seem beyond comment”(Berger 1993:174).

• The notion of the field itself needs to be addressed critically because it reflects power relations that are deeply embedded in anthropology, which is characterised by the endurance of coloniality in the definition of who researches and who is being researched.

Colonial Roots of Anthropology 

Anthropology's emergence as a discipline is closely tied to the colonial
project, with many early anthropologists conducting research in colonized regions.

• The discipline often reinforced colonial power dynamics by classifying and studying "the other," thus contributing to the colonial enterprise of knowledge production.

• Reference: Edward Said's concept of “Orientalism” (2003) critiques how Western knowledge about non-Western societies supported imperialism by constructing cultural hierarchies.

• Said, E. W. (2003). Orientalism. Penguin Classics.
  

Fieldwork in ethnography (Wolcott, 1995)

Definition: Fieldwork involves the researcher immersing themselves in the social activities of individuals or groups being studied.

Classical Ethnography:

• Total immersion in local communities (24/7 for extended periods, e.g., one year).

• Aims to understand spatial and socio-cultural dynamics and how they change over time.
  

Contemporary Ethnography:

• Immersion in non-community settings (e.g., workplaces), where 24/7 presence is unnecessary.

• Importance remains on spending substantial time in settings where relevant routines and activities occur.

Multi-sited ethnography (Marcus, 1995)

Multi-sited ethnography expands research across multiple locations to
understand complex social phenomena that transcend a single site.

Key Aspects:

• Investigates connections and relationships between different field sites.

• Captures how social, cultural, and economic practices are shaped across diverse geographical locations.

• Particularly useful in a globalised world where social issues and cultural phenomena often span multiple, interconnected contexts.

Main dimensions of ethnographic research

• The routines and rules observed in social situation may sometimes provide clues regarding broader socio-cultural contexts (e.g. observations at a disco could yield patterns of dancing that reflect broader socio-cultural norms regarding male-female behaviour).

• The routines and rules observed in social situations may sometimes provide clues regarding deep structural, as well as surface functioning (e.g. the observation of informal social interactions in a neighbourhood bar might expose informal networks that contribute to both criminal activity (e.g., drug dealing) and social control (e.g., community-based conflict resolution).

• What people say they do and what they actually do frequently differ. The objective of focused observation is to be able to discern the real from the ideal, the tacit from the explicit, and the back from the front.

• The emotional and intersubjective dimensions are essential for the co-creation of ethnographic knowledge (Mai 2018), which is a sensuous scholarly practice in sense of data gathering, analysis and dissemination (Stoller 1997).

What should I observe

• Space: The nature of the space utilized in the social setting.

• Objects: The material culture found in the social setting, and how this material culture is organized.

• The Individual Actors within that setting, and their specific characteristics

• The Social Systemic Context of the Actors in the Setting (i.e. Actor Groups)

• The Behaviors that are being carried out in a socio-cultural setting (acts, activities, and events).

• The Language used by the actors in the space

• Other Forms of Expressive Culture found in the social setting beyond general language(e.g., music, song, dance, art, architecture, etc.).

What to look for

• Patterns of Interaction carried out by the actors within the social setting.

• Discourse Content of the Setting as reflected in the language, expressive culture, and social -interactions the actors in the social setting

•  Emotional Level of the Discourse

• Ideational Elements (Beliefs, Attitudes, Values, significant symbolisms) that appear to be present in a Social Setting

• Broader Social Systems that might influence the actor, behaviors, and ideations found in any specific social system.

• Physical Environmental Elements present within or surrounding a specific social setting.

• The Goals, Motivations, or Agendas of the various individual and groups of the actors within the social setting.

• Human Need fulfillment that is attempted or met within the social setting or interaction.

Thick description

• Clifford Geertz (1973) emphasizes the importance of “thick description” in ethnography, advocating for deep, contextual understanding of cultural practices across various settings.

• Gary Shank also recommends that the first step in data analysis should be mastering description and thick description (Shank, 2006, p. 78). Thick description should contain expressive details that are not only observable information but also integrated with cultural interpretation

What are ethnographic methods?

• Participant observation

• Interviews 

• Auto ethnography

• Visual anthropology 

Participant observation

• Participant observation is a whole-of-body experience that has us observing with our eyes as we participate, but we also ‘observe’ with all our senses.

• Touch, smell, taste, sound and sight come together to form the framework for memories, jottings and consolidated notes that form the evidentiary basis of ethnographic writing.

• Good ethnographers will use their whole body as an organic recording device. The challenge for ethnography is to adequately record these senses as data and then to be able to stand back from the bodily experience and analyse, interpret and draw conclusions from these ethnographic experiences.

Participant observation vs observation 

ethnographers generally view ethnographic observations as being of two types:

1. Observations without the ethnographer participating in the activities being observed;

2. And observations with participation in the community activities in addition to observation, a concept deemed participant observation in ethnography.

• Participant Observation is a qualitative research method where the researcher immerses themselves in the social setting they are studying, participating in the daily activities of the group while observing their behaviours, interactions, and cultural practices.

• This method allows researchers to gain a deeper understanding of the group's social reality from an insider's perspective, while also maintaining an analytical distance to interpret their observations.

Limitations

• Some people’s worlds are hard and unpleasant to experience.

• It requires great effort and determination to learn the language and understand what people mean.

• All the other techniques mentioned above can be used in participant observation.

• The skill is combining structured data collection with relaxing and
  participating in the flow of events and relationships around you as the researcher.

Ethnographic interview

• Definition:

  • A qualitative research method where the interviewer engages with participants in an open-ended, conversational manner to gather deep insights into cultural and social practices.

• Purpose:

  • Understand participants' perspectives, values, and everyday life
    within their cultural context.

  • Explore meaning-making processes and social interaction

Key aspects:

• Flexible & Open-Ended: Questions evolve based on the flow of
  conversation.

• Context-Specific: Focuses on the participant’s lived experiences within their social environment.

• Deep Engagement: Requires rapport-building and immersion in the participant’s world.

• Benefits: uncovers hidden cultural knowledge and captures the
  complexities of social life

The subjectivity / objectivity debate

• Is it possible to be truly objective?

• Participant observation might sound like an oxymoron (how does one observe while participating?), but it isn’t.

• Postmodernism – relativism – self-reflexivity => the reflexive turn

• Clifford, J. and Marcus, G. (1986) Writing Culture. The Poetics and Politics of Ethnography. University of California Press.

• Anthropologists began asking themselves if it was possible to create an objective study of a culture when their own biases and epistemologies were inherently involved. in her own study that affects the final work.

• The reflexive turn forced anthropologists to tell the story of their integration and interactions within the community they were studying. This challenges the anthropologist to not let their story create an impartial view of the culture they are studying.

• POSITIONALITY   ← →  SELF-REFLEXIVITY

Ethics: Roles and relationships 

• What should the researcher tell any ‘gatekeepers’ about exactly why she/he wants to become part of a community’s life?

• If you gain permission from someone ‘senior’ or important, can you assume that everyone else will know what you are doing and agree to your presence or be happy with it?

• Should she/he immediately divulge the intricacies of her/his project to initial and later contacts or wait until relationships have been developed in which such revelations may more easily be made?

• Will community members care very much what they are?

• Will they (mis)understand the language the researcher uses, and vice versa?

• Is it likely that a researcher will or should have the same purpose at the end of their fieldwork as at its beginning?

Writing ‘during’ research

Initial field notes

• Researchers take brief notes based on observations.

Full field notes

• Vivid and clear. Detailed summaries of events, behaviours, location

• Initial reflections or analytical insights

Methodological notes

• Record reflections/observations on research process (‘barriers and breakthroughs’)

Writing up: representation and power

• Writing up as ‘craft’: Analysis and theorization (generalization?)

“In narrating events we show how people act and react in particular social circumstances. In doing so, we reveal and reconstruct those social actors as ‘characters’ or social ‘types’” (Hammersley and Atkinson,1995:249)

“The author/ethnographer has implicitly claimed a positon of omniscience and the authority to speak unequivocally of and for the people in question” (Hammersley and Atkinson,1995:253)

Writing culture: reflexivity, ethics and power

• Crisis of Representation: Rethink cultural representation to avoid oversimplification => cultures are not fixed but constantly evolve.

• Reflexivity: Ethnographers should critically examine their influence on research

• Ethnographic Authority: Question and deconstruct the ethnographer's authoritative stance.

• Polyvocality: Incorporate multiple voices and perspectives in texts by using narrative, dialogue, and metaphor to enhance ethnographic writing

• Ethics and Politics: Navigate power dynamics ethically and represent cultures accurately.

• Cultural Critique: Engage with broader contexts and contribute to social justice.

• Conclusion: Transform ethnographic writing to be more ethical, politically aware, and collaborative, acknowledging the complexity and dynamism of cultures

Decolonising anthropolohy

Contemporary scholars emphasize the need to decolonize anthropology, challenging the discipline’s role in reproducing colonial power relations.

• Decolonization involves acknowledging the power dynamics in fieldwork, rethinking ethnographic authority, and engaging with the voices and knowledge systems of previously marginalized communities.

• Talal Asad’s critique (1979) highlights how anthropological knowledge has been historically tied to structures of colonial domination, calling for more reflexive practices.

• Asad, T. (1979). Anthropology and the Colonial Encounter. In G. Huizer & B. Mannheim (Ed.), The Politics of Anthropology: From Colonialism and Sexism Toward a View from Below (pp. 85-94). Berlin, New York: De Gruyter Mouton.
  

Postcolonial and decolonial shifts

• Anthropology today increasingly engages with postcolonial theories and decolonial approaches to challenge the legacies of colonialism and centre indigenous and non-Western perspectives.

• Linda Tuhiwai Smith’s Decolonizing Methodologies (2012) advocates for research methods that empower indigenous peoples and challenge colonial epistemologies.

• Anthropology must critically engage with its colonial past to foster more equitable and inclusive knowledge practices.

• Smith, L. T. (2012). Decolonizing methodologies (2nd ed.). Zed Books