Ethnography Flashcards
Ethnographic concepts
-Inductive method
-each study take a year or more
Ethnographic roles
- Complete participant
-Observer as Participant
-Participant as Observer
-Complete observer
Complete observer
-Others do not know they are being observed
-No Interaction between the researcher and participants
-Gives the greatest objectivity
- Reduces potential insight
-Sticking out may cause a distraction
Observer as Participant
-People know they are being observed
-Some participation by the researcher
-Minimize reactivity, and increase chances of getting reliable data
-Objectivity is lower and your considered a marginal member
Participant as observer
- Participants know there is a researcher
-Researcher is a full member
-Learn all the rituals
-bias could occur since involved, may not be able separate self to be subjective
Complete Participant
-Fully involved as researcher
-The group does not know about a researcher
-First-hand knowledge, minimizes objectivity
-No interviews, researcher may be biased, deceptive
Researcher as instrument
-Who we are will impact the perceptions we have
- May miss what is happening when taking notes
-We notice the presence and absence of what matters to us
Low impact observing
-Hang out
-Observe
-Critical Instances
-Blend in
-Decrease obtrusiveness
Hang out
Lowers the reactivity
checking out setting before hand
lowers the impacts when observing
Blend in
-clothes
-hair style
-Makeup
-Following social norms
Less obtrusiveness
-How to take notes
-When to go
Steps to conduct Ethnography study
1.)Participant observation
2.)Take observational notes
3.)Writing field notes
3.5)Interviews (maybe)
4.)Piling
5.)Moving to Theory, Writing your arguments
6.)Member checks/interviews
Participant Observations
-Choose an activity, People, or setting
-Negotiate access
-Choose a Role
-Hang out, observe, critical instances, blend in, reduce obtrusiveness
3 things to look for during observations
- Social actions
-Context and setting
-Actors and state of mind
Take Observational Notes
-Note Emotions, shocking interactions, Breaking of rules, Biases, saturation
-Exact words and include non-verbals
-looking for critical instances (social action, and moments of communication)
-they may not make sense
-Tie in theories and use flashy language
Theoretical Saturation
When you see no new patterns emerge and the study is done
Writing Field notes, composing the episode
-little stories
Grounded theory analysis, piling
-sorting data into piles
-want as many different piles
-Data can be duplicated to fit in several piles
-Rank piles best to worse data peice
-Have another person check piles for reliability
Moving to Theory,Writing your Arguments
Include evidence
Tie in previous literature
Member checks/Interviews
A.) key informants, snowballing, natural environment, unstructured
Key informants
Someone willing to and able to give reliable candidates to interview also makes introductions
structure
the researcher should prepare a few open-ended questions but let the participant lead the discussion
setting
Somewhere the participant feels comfortable and convenient location
stimulated recall
When a participant is in a familiar setting so it can help them recall what happened better
