Ethnography and phenomenology.

A CRITIQUE ON ETHNOGRAPHY AS A RESEARCH APPROACH.

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Ethnography and phenomenology.

Ethnography and phenomenology both have roots in grounded theory. What aspects of the
data collection and analysis procedures might prompt psychological researchers to act as
Frost (2011) suggests and discount ethnography as a research approach? Why?

Ethnography is a branch of anthropology that seeks to explain human social behaviors. It entails

studying the influence of people’s cultures and beliefs on their behavior in the society, by

looking at how exactly these people interact in their day to day engagements. Creswell, J. W.

(2011).

Ethnography has been discounted because of several reasons such as; Critics have argued that

Ethnography is quite inappropriate and ineffective in explaining and analyzing some complex

environmental issues whose cause effects could be external to the context in regard to the place

and time of the study such as climate change. The method is prone to biasness, and this increases

the possibility of the researcher to change the natural occurrence of culture being studied because

of being present in the society. Ethnography is discounted because of the fact that it is highly

dependent on a particular researcher’s observations and comprehension. The researcher is often

working alone meaning that nobody is there to countercheck the findings for reliability. Again,

this limitation makes the generalization to be practically nonexistent. The method does not

provide straight-forward answers that that can be quantified. Frost, N. (2011).

Ethnography uses triangulation method meaning that the data collected has to be validated and

verified. In the event that the data collected is deemed insufficient and limited, the results

analyzed will show inconsistent trends. Some scholars have argued that Ethnography breaches

the commonly held scientific principles concerning the nature of data used during research

engagements. The natural science model of research-especially social oriented research will

describe, measure and analyze a social phenomenon using numerate data meaning that numbers
Ethnography and phenomenology.

are assigned to the event but Ethnography is entirely qualitative oriented research- relying on

natural languages and extracts from oral interviews and field notes. Frost, N. (2011).

Phenomenological research is concerned with explaining occurrence of a phenomenal by

studying its essence through examining and analyzing the views of individuals who have

experienced that phenomenon. Somekh, B., & Lewin, C. (2011). Phenomenological research

does not produce quantifiable and generalizable data. It is also difficult to establish reliability

and validity of approaches involved, observations noted, and conclusions reached upon.
Ethnography and phenomenology.

REFERENCE:

Creswell, J. W. (2011). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods

approaches. New Delhi: Sage.

Frost, N. (2011). Qualitative research methods in psychology: Combining core approaches.

Maidenhead: Open University Press.

Somekh, B., & Lewin, C. (2011). Theory and methods in social research. Los Angeles: SAGE.