ETHNOGRAPHY

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
• Ethnography is a type of qualitative research that
involves immersing yourself in a particular community or
organization to observe their behavior and interactions
up close.
• The word “ethnography” also refers to the written
report of the research that the ethnographer produces
afterwards.
• Ethnography is a flexible research method that allows
you to gain a deep understanding of a group’s shared
culture, conventions, and social dynamics.
• Ethnographic research originated in the field of anthropology, and it
often involved an anthropologist living with an isolated tribal community
for an extended period of time in order to understand their culture.
• This type of research could sometimes last for years. For example, Colin
M. Turnbull lived with the Mbuti people for three years in order to write
the classic ethnography The Forest People.
• Today, ethnography is a common approach in various social science
fields, not just anthropology. It is used not only to study distant or
unfamiliar cultures, but also to study specific communities within the
researcher’s own society.
• For example, ethnographic research (sometimes called participant
observation) has been used to investigate football fans, call center
workers, and police officers.
 PRINCIPLES OF ETHNOGRAPHY
• There are four main principals to
ethnography:
• Naturalism
• Understanding
• Induction
• Ethics
 THE FOREST PEOPLE
• The bestselling, classic text on one anthropologist’s incredible experience
living among the African Mbuti Pygmies, and what he learned from their
culture, customs, and love of life.
• In this bestselling book, Colin Turnbull, a British cultural anthropologist,
details the incredible Mbuti pygmy people and their love of the forest,
and each other. Turnbull lived among the Mbuti people for three years as
an observer, not a researcher, so he offers a charming and intimate
firsthand account of the people and their culture, and especially the
individuals and their personalities. The Forest People is a timeless work of
academic and humanitarian significance, sure to delight readers as they
take a trip into a foreign culture and learn to appreciate the joys of life
through the eyes of the Mbuti people.
Women of the Grassfields: A Study of the Economic
Position of Women in Barmenda, British Cameroons
• This classic ethnography examines the social and economic
position of women in Bamena, British Cameroons, in 1944. The field
study was prompted by the conditions in Bamenda, when despite
considerable natural resources, there was underpopulation, a very
high infant mortality, and the status of women was very low. This
rich and engaging study looks at all aspects of life in Bamena, and
includes a number of original photographs.
 The Samburu: A Study in
Geocentracy
• Samburu society is a gerontocracy in which power rests with the
older men; men under thirty may not marry or otherwise assert
their personal independence. This nomadic tribe from the arid
regions of northern Kenya cling to their traditional way of life
despite the rapid change throughout Africa. The author spent
more than two years during the 1960's amongst the Samburu, and
as an adopted member of one of their clans, he perceived how
their values and attitudes are closely interwoven with a social
system that resists change.
 NATURALISM
• The first principle promotes conducting research in a
natural environment. A first-hand account is essential in
ethnographic research.
• You cannot set up an artificial environment and expect to
imitate what people do and how they do it. Everything
needs to be natural and genuine.
 UNDERSTANDING
• According to this principle, you need to understand the
environment and the work that subjects do in their work
environment.
• Without a basic understanding, it can get challenging to
conduct a comprehensive study and gather
information/requirements.
 INDUCTION
• According to this principle, the researcher should not draft a
predefined set of questions and theories before starting
ethnographic research.
• Instead, the research process should begin with a general
interest to understand the behaviors and mechanisms of the
targeted community in the research field.
 ETHICS
• Ethnographic research should showcase empathy and
the human side of things.
• It is about getting to know people in their natural
setup, making them comfortable, and gaining their
trust.
• As part of ethics, it is essential to seek permission from
your subjects if you could use their real names or they
prefer pseudo names in the final research.
 METHODS OF ETHNOGRAPHIC
RESEARCH
Ethnographic research may use one or more research methods
depending on the field, the size of the sample, and the research
goal. There are usually five main ways to do ethnographic research:

• Naturalism
• Participant observation
• Interviews
• Surveys
• Research in archives
 Naturalism
• Naturalism, also known as live and work ethnography research,
involves observing research variables in their natural context to
identify and record behavioral patterns. It may include spending
time in the group’s natural habitat to record their activities.

• Naturalism, the oldest ethnographic research method, may build

rapport between the ethnographer and the variables. The
researcher must minimize subject interference to get the most
objective results when utilizing this method.
• Undisguised naturalistic observation is possible. In disguised
naturalistic observation, people are ignorant of being examined, but
in undisguised observation, they are aware.

• Observing subjects in their native environment in the life and work

technique yields the most accurate and relevant data. Modern
ethnographers, especially in health and education, avoid this
method since it is expensive and time-consuming.
 Participant observation
• Participant observation in ethnography research involves the
ethnographer actively interacting with the research subjects. This
method resembles life and work.
• Participant observation differs from live and naturalistic in that
the ethnographer participates in the group.
• Disguised and undisguised participant observation exists.
• In undisguised participant observation, the ethnographer joins
the gathering and discloses their researcher status. This method
is different from hidden participant observation in that it is
reactive.
• Participant observation gives ethnographers more data. They better
understand the research subjects’ experiences and habits from the
participant’s perspective.
 Interviews
• Ethnographic interviews combine profound observation with one-
on-one discussions to produce the most authentic research results.
The ethnographer talks to the research group while conducting
research-related activities in this design.

• This contextual inquiry collects data about the research group’s

goals and behavior. The ethnographer might ask questions about
the research group while observing it in its natural habitat.
• The researcher’s relationship with the interviewees frequently
leads to an informal, spontaneous ethnographic interview.
Participant observation often leads to the ethnographic interview
when the ethnographer interacts with the research group to learn
about their life.

• An ethnographic interview, a two-way research approach, lets the

researcher get the most relevant and authentic information from
the research group. However, ethnographer-subject relationships
can cause experimental bias.
 Surveys
• Ethnography surveys are inductive research methods used to learn
about the issue. Analytic induction is a research design that uses
survey questions to test hypotheses.
• A survey will assist the ethnographer in obtaining data, analyzing it,
and reaching objective conclusions. Analytic induction seeks to
identify the causes of the research group’s habits and provide
reliable explanations.
• Use multiple question types in your survey to get the most relevant
results. Likert scale, open-ended, multiple-choice, and close-ended
ethnography survey questions are prevalent.
 Research in archives
• Archival research is a qualitative ethnographic research method that
evaluates existing research, records, and other sources concerning
the research group to find useful information.
• Archival research uses ethnography to research connected
historical materials in place of physical presence. It analyzes all
research variable data.
• Since the ethnographer does not have contact with the subjects.The
ethnographer can also use a huge data set for more accurate
findings.
• Archival research may misrepresent the research group due to
randomization. Archival data may be biased, affecting research
results.
 EMIC AND ETIC APPROACH
To study cultures, researchers use two approaches
• The Emic (Actor-oriented)
• The Etic (Observer-oriented)
• An Emic approach investigates how natives think. How do
they perceive and categorize the world? What are their
rules of behavior and thought?
• The researcher seeks the “native view point” and relies on
the culture bearers, the actors in a culture, to determine
whether something they do, say or think is significant or
not.
• The Etic approach shifts the focus of the
researcher from the native categories, expressions,
explanations, and interpretations to those of the
researchers.
• The etic approach realizes that culture bearers are
often too involved in what they are doing to
interpret their culture impartially.
• In this approaches researcher is trained to
differentiate the biases that come from one’s own
personality and the people who are being studied.