Professional Documents
Culture Documents
AS METHOD
OF RESEARCH
PRESENTED BY:
QUALITATIVE
RESEARCH
DR. SONIA ARENILLO
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 peoples 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
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
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.
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 insiders 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.
CONCEPTUAL ORDERING
WHAT STRATEGIC CHOICES CAN WE APPLY THAT CAN ENHANCE A STUDYS GENERALIZABILITY?
Validity establish the truth value of the studythe trustworthiness of the data. Credibility
Credibility: How credible are the findings of the study? By what criteria can we judge them?
The inquirys 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 researchers biases or prejudices?
Ask whether the findings of the study could be confirmed by another.