2023-2024, Block 1 GW4003MV. Advanced Research Methods
WEEK 5
Ethnography
Inhoud
Knowledge clips................................................................................................................................................2
Knowledge clip 1. Ethnography.................................................................................................................2
Lecture 5 (29 sept)............................................................................................................................................4
Part 1. Ethnographic case: nursing work in the Covid-pandemic..................................................................4
Part 2. Introduction ethnography in healthcare research.............................................................................6
Part 3. Ethnography and theory....................................................................................................................7
Part 4. Conducting ethnography / Taking ethnography into the field...........................................................9
Part 5. How to assess quality in qualitative research..................................................................................10
Gap-spotting and problematization........................................................................................................12
Workgroup meeting 6.....................................................................................................................................13
Homework assignment...............................................................................................................................13
Assignment 1 (during the workgroup)....................................................................................................13
Workgroup meeting 7.....................................................................................................................................19
Homework assignment...............................................................................................................................19
Assignment 1 (prepare at home)............................................................................................................19
Assignment 2 (during the workgroup)....................................................................................................21
Literature........................................................................................................................................................22
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,2023-2024, Block 1 GW4003MV. Advanced Research Methods
Knowledge clips
Knowledge clip 1.Ethnography
Ethnography is a research method that involves studying groups of people and their believes, values,
cultures, in a way they live their lives. Ethnographers aim to achieve this by fully engaging and emerging
themselves in the day-to-day experiences of the people that they study. So they usually play the role of
‘participant observers’.
In addition they can also use interviews and documents to get a more deep and comprehensive
understanding of people’s day-to-day lives, actions and how they perceive and reflect to their own
experiences.
The origins of ethnography:
The roots of ethnography can be traced back to the field of
anthropology. In the early 1900s anthropologists pioneer to practice of
ethnographically mapping foreign cultures by actively merging
themselves in the people they were studying. Over time ethnography
has evolved and found implication in a way range of disciplines.
Ethnography in a nutshell:
It is practice oriented: emphasis on behavior and actions of individuals; emphasis on being there,
hanging out at particular local and social context, merging with real-life experiences of the study
population.
Emic perspective: aiming to comprehend a culture or a social group from within. It places a focus on
specific values and symbols and practices that are important to that particular culture. So it depicts a
perspective from insiders.
Therefore it is also considered naturalistic: the study is done in a real-world setting. The primary
objective is to document behavior, practices and actions of the people how they unfold in a natural way.
So it places its emphasis on understanding, rather than explaining, social action.
Which stands quite in contrast to the ethic perspective, which is an outsider viewpoint that relies more on
external criteria to analyse and describe culture. Embracing the emic perspective means: striving to provide
and comprehend the dept and context of people’s experience from an insider’s viewpoint.
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, 2023-2024, Block 1 GW4003MV. Advanced Research Methods
The role of theory in ethnography:
In ethnographical research, prior knowledge and theory play an important role. There are however ongoing
debates and different perspectives on what role theory plays in ethnographical research, as well as in
qualitative research more broadly (these different views are discussed in the literature of this week).
The overarching trend in this discussion is the notion that in ethnographic research, theory and field-work
go hand in hand. Why and how so? Firstly, theory equips the research with various lenses/perspectives to
better understand the complex situations encountered during their fieldwork. Secondly, theory enables the
researcher to direct their attention to different aspects or layers of the data and offers a framework for the
analysis.
Yet, since ethnographers came to explore the insider’s/emic perspective they usually avoid relying on these
predetermined, rigid, fixed theoretical frameworks. When stepping into the field, there is always this
inherent uncertainty or unpredictability and as an ethnographer you remain receptive to whatever you may
come across. Often it is the unforeseen and unique, local experiences and practices that prove to be the
most surprising.
Therefore, instead of using these more ethic concepts, ethnographers rely on ‘sensitizing concepts’ and
engage in a dynamic interplay between theory, fieldwork and theory (‘theory-field-theory’). So sensitizing
concepts are rather flexible in guiding ideas that assist the ethnographer in making sense of their
observations and data. These concepts can be a wide range of ideas and are often rooted in a specific field
of interest and are specific epistemic approaches. The key idea here is that as an ethnographer you use
these guiding notions as you enter the field, all while retaining the flexibility to adapt and refine your
theoretical framework based on the observations you encounter.
Taking ethnography into the field:
Immersion: ethnographers are onsite, it entails attending to the complexities of daily life by
documenting first-hand, field-based observations and experiences. So ethnographers immerse
themselves into the environment and also the perspectives of research participants. They really aim to
voice their interpretations.
Observations: how to do ^this? This happens mostly through participatory observations. So this
typically does not involve passive observations, but also by actively participating in the activities and
events of participants.
Interviews (formal and conversational): in addition to these observations, ethnographers also collect
data through documents or interviews. Particularly regarding aspects that may not be directly
observable or to unpack certain teams in your observation in more dept.
Fieldnotes: fieldnotes play a vital role in the fieldwork. Serving as detailed documentations of your
observations, interactions and experiences in the field. When creating such fieldnotes, the goal is to
capture and describe firsthand experiences, insights and reflections. These fieldnotes are taken during
or completely after conducting fieldwork. In these fieldnotes you want to document a wide range of
details, by drawing on recalled moments, written down words or sentences, movements or particular
background settings, etc.
Observational dimensions: there have been various tools of
framework developed to structure your observations and
provide you as a researcher with a sense of direction. The 9
observational dimensions written by a colleague is an example
of this. Although it can be very handy, in practice conducting
observations can be quite a messy and unpredictable process
(sometimes also awkward).
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