Recording and Organizing of Data

Use of field notes - descriptive information

and reflective information
Interview - explicit purpose, ethnographic
explanations, ethnographic questions
Surveys
Audio recording
Photography and video recording
Transcription of elicited data
Storage of data
Data Analysis
Description
Analysis
Interpretation
Advantages of ethnography
can account for complexity of group behaviors
reveal interrelationships among dimensions of
group interactions
provide context for behaviors
Disadvantages of ethnography
time-consuming
bias of the researcher
financial issues
Ethical issues in ethnography
Bias of the researcher
Consent of the participants
Confidentiality
Respect of culture

Ethnography
What is Ethnography?
Ethnography is concerned with the
study of a particular culture and relies, either
partially or mainly, on participant observation
(where the researcher immerses himself / herself
in the customs and lives of the sample
population under exploration and notes his / her
observations in extensive fieldnotes) (Crowley Henry 37).
Ethnography usually involves the
ethnographer participating, overtly or covertly, in
people's daily lives for an extended period of
time, watching what happens, listening to what
is said, and/or asking questions through informal
and formal interviews, collecting documents and
artefacts - in fact, gathering whatever data are
available to throw light on the issues that are the
emerging focus of inquiry (Hammersley and
Atkinson 3).
History of Ethnography
Ethnography originated as a research strategy
in the field of anthropology.
Early ethnography consisted of white male
ethnographers from US and Europe
These ethnographers aimed to study cultures
which are geographically distant
Use of comprehensive wide-ranging accounts
Sources of Data of Ethnographers
Observation
Participation
Use of related documents