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Ethnography
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digital ethnography What is ethnography? The history of ethnography Ethnography and analysis Netnography
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QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS OF SOCIAL RESEARCH DATAWEEK 7: ETHNOGRAPHY (AND DIGITAL ETHNOGRAPHY)
, WHAT IS ETHNOGRAPHY?
• Ethnos= folk, people, nation and Graphy= to write
• “…a particular method or set of methods. In its most
characteristic form, it involves the ethnographer
participating, overtly or covertly, in people’s da
lives for an extended period of time, watching wh
happens, listening to what is said, asking questions”
(Hammersley and Atkinson, 1995: 1).
• “Ethnography can be defined as the study of people
naturally occurring settings or ‘fields’ by means
methods which capture their social meanings a
ordinary activities, involving the researcher particip
directly in the setting (if not always the activities) in o
to collect data in a systematic manner, but without me
being imposed on them externally. (Brewer 2003)
, THE HISTORY OF ETHNOGRAPH
• Emerges in the late 1800s amongst European
anthropologists arguing critical of ‘armchair’
anthropology.
• Ethnographers argued that participation in the lif
worlds of communities gave a better understand
of meaning.
• Breaking down hierarchical relationships in resea
contexts.
• Legacy and landscape of colonial power relations
(Ugwu 2017; Sahoo and Kurane 2023)
• Within US Sociology, ethnography is often assoc
with the Chicago school(1915-30s) and ‘urban
sociology’.
, • Participating in people’s daily lives or na
settings (“fields”) to move beyond what
explicitly seen.
• Embed oneself in a community or cultu
“hanging out” or conversing (instead of
formally surveying or interviewing).
• “Thick description” (Geertz, 1973), e.g.
examining mundane details to understan
DEFINED BY context of human behaviour.
• Extended observation (participant obse
without imposing meaning externally th
pre-set codes.
• Relatively long-term data collection pro
(Hammersley 2017).
• Employment of a range of data types.
, ETHNOGRAPHY AND ANALYSIS
Observation of Variety of Directly involved Produces data Implict and explicit ‘insider’s point of
ordinary events techniques with participants (field notes, maps, meanings view’
(flexibility) pictures,
description)
Manages personal
stress/ambiguity/dil
emmas (Neuman
2006)
,• Notes and observations written quickly after
exiting field – date and time.
• Temporary notes as a memory aid allow for
follow up/typing later.
• Record order and length of observations.
• Comprehensible.
• Record small talk and language use if possible.
• Let your feelings flow – not worrying about FIELD NOTES (DATA)
spelling.
• Always use pseudonyms.
• Diagrams, maps of settings, include yourself in
those.
• Avoid summarising and evaluating (e.g. ‘the
house was typically middle class and
participant A was obviously uncomfortable in
it’).
, GOOD THINGS TO INCLUDE IN FIELD
NOTES
• A physical description of the setting.
• Describe interactions.
• Describe as best you can, meanings
that you can observe.
• Describe any impact you had on the
situation.
, ACCESS LADDER
• Ethnographers argue that as time and
of trust increase, access to informatio
does too.
• The longer someone spends with a
community, and as trust increases, mo
sensitive information is revealed.
• Consider however, that this has big
implications for ‘after’ the research.
• Mitchell Duneier and Les Back (2006)
discuss the implications of trust,
racialisation and relationships for
ethnographers during and after resear
, • In depth access
• Time of focus/understanding
• Establishing rapport
• Flexibility
BENEFITS
• Understanding
• Contacts/relationships across
time
• Amount of data
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