Ethnographic Approach

Question 1

What is ethnographic approach?

Answer 1

• research
• method for observing behaviors in context
• understanding behaviors in terms of culture

Question 2

Culture

Answer 2

Systems of knowledge shared by a relatively large group of people; communication; behavior through social learning; learned behavior; symbolic communication; behavior patterns

• cumulative knowledge
• beliefs
• values
• attitudes
• meanings
• hierarchies
• religion
• notions of time
• roles
• concepts of universe
• material objects/possessions

Question 3

Culture layers

Answer 3

people in same culture still have other layers of mental programming within themselves

• national level
• regional level
• gender level
• generational level
• social class level
• corporate level

Question 4

Vantage effects

Answer 4

• position, values, focus, assumption, chance
• all will after your perception of reality
• w/o specific consciousness, one will perceive their own vantage and ignore effects

Question 5

Why is ethnographical relevant to OT?

Answer 5

• direct, first hand observation of daily participation
• vantage effects may alter our perceptions of others
• broader format to comprehend our client’s telling of “their stories”

Question 6

Ethnographic/observational skills

Answer 6

• questioning
• note taking
• pattern recognition
• imagining alternatives
• attention to individual and group
• self reflection