lecture 10+ ch 10 Flashcards
ethnography as
a mode of observation
first research Explore
racism and racial conflict through a case
study of a high school in North Carolina
first research examines the social and institutional factors that make race meaningful for
youth in schools and how
they contribute to racial hostility and conflict. We are
particularly interested in how school actors construct
and respond to racism
We aim to show how enacting tools of_____ _____ shapes young people’s shared
understanding of racism while concealing the structural
aspects of racial inequality…
plausible deniability
what was found in research is that the hidden structural aspects of racism, along with the public definition of racism as an individual trait and overt action
confirm definitions of racism as individualistic and blatant
the first research does not have. why
operationalization
- interactions
key concepts of first research
Overt racism
Structural racism
Institutional boundary making
structural racism
Racism is an ideology that supports a racialized social
system that rewards racial groups unequally across a
number of domains.”
high track classes are populated with… and low tracking>?
in high schools across the United States, high-track
classes are overwhelmingly populated by white and
middle-class students, while lower-track classes largely
serve minorities and lower-income students
tracking
the practice of separating students for
instruction based on perceived ability, achievement,
and/or projected future occupation, has the effect of
separating students from one another by race and
class.
tracking does what to group differences
it creates, magnifies, and reinforces group
differences
strength of enthograpghy
learn something they had not thought of
authors did not bring up race,
what did they ask students
We asked students about their academic … and
personal … backgrounds, their school (e.g., how they
like it, whether there are cliques, how students get
along, what students, teachers, and administrators are
like), school rules (e.g., whether they are clear, how
students learn them), and problems (e.g., what kinds
occur, how they are resolved)
We did not set out to study race relations, racism, or
race making, nor did we ask about race or racism
unless the issue was raised by an informant. Yet we
could not ignore the specter of race at Cordington
true
sample of the first study
one purposively sampled school in North
Carolina
Population
American highschool
Units of analysis
schools
Units of observation
individual students and
teachers / administrators
why was the research inductive
We focus on one racially charged incident in particular
because it represents an expression of the culmination
of issues surrounding race and racism reported by
students in the first half of the year. It also emerged as
the most frequently mentioned and salient event in the
students’ narratives (in both formal interviews and
classroom discussions) regarding their perceptions of
school climate in the latter part of the academic year.
Our approach to the analysis, then, was very much
inductive
what were the five findings of the research
- Race and class divisions amongst peers.
- Official tracking and segregation.
- Perceptions of racial harmony.
- Redneck identity and racial conflict.
- Actors’ accounting for racial conflict and racism.
Race and class divisions amongst peers.
- cliques
preppies
rednecks
goths
blacks
mexicans
What stands out in the students’ identification of
peer groups is the salience of the redneck group
teachers and students noted that redneck students
occupied distinct physical spaces in the school
Academically advanced classes appeared
to comprise
primarily middle-class white students,
while minorities and perceived rednecks composed a
large proportion of lower-track classrooms
We emphasize them here
to highlight how tracking students in this way sustains
We emphasize them here
to highlight how tracking students in this way sustains
peer groups
were organized primarily by
race
Perceptions of racial harmony
played down barriers between peer groups,
arguing that divisions were minimal compared to how
well students ‘got along.’ Students and faculty alike
described the school as integrated and cohesive and
better than others in the district, where fighting was
more common”
(the plausible explanation) scapegoating - racial tension was blamed on
the rednecks
Redneck identity and racial conflict
Many white
students appeared to feel comfortable deriding
redneck students, thus marginalizing them within the
school
Grouped with empowered minorities in the lower-
level classes, redneck students found ample
opportunities to make
racially charged remarks and
antagonize black students”
rednecks were overtly
racist
why was the threat of violence not surprising
teachers ignorance - everyone saying eveyrthing is fine
- school administraters did not make statement
Administrators’ and teachers’ silence regarding issues
of race, and their implicit framing of the race riot as an
isolated incident
The explicit racism of redneck students provides an
easy target for blame. It allowed other whites to
draw
further distinctions between themselves and rednecks
and, in doing so, portray themselves as not racist…
The act of defining racism as a characteristic of a
particular individual or group of individuals who display
overt racial prejudice and antagonism sets boundaries
on the meaning of racism, which
conceals institutional
racism and provides an outlet through which whites
can claim to be not racist”
direct interventions
and discussions about race accomplishes three goals
- quelling immediate tension,
- facilitating positive communication, and
- teaching
students that race is a topic appropriate to open
discussion and inquiry
Schools must pay closer attention to
how unequal
structures affect group relations.
Advantages of ethnography
rich data
understanding
flexibility
inductive
Disadvantages of ethnography
Time consuming.
Human resource intensive.
Obtrusive – researcher can influence the reality
being studied.
one way to ease the access problem is to assume a ____ role which means
covert
- do not disclose you are a researcher
“overt versus covert” distinction can vary from context to context even within the same research project explain
Although ethnographers may seek access through an overt route, many of the people with whom they come into contact may be unaware of their status as researchers
retrospective ethnography
using observations that were gathered before the decision was made to conduct a study.
what is preferred, covert or overt? why
overt
ethical consideration
advantages of covert role
Easier access. Adopting a covert role can help with access problems; no special permission to gain entry to a social setting or organization may be needed.
* Less reactivity. Because participants do not know they are being observed by a researcher, they will speak and act more naturally than they would otherwise.
disadvantages of covert
- problem of note taking
- not being able to use other methods
- anxiety
-ethical problems
reflexive
Terms used to refer to social researchers’ awareness of the implications that their methods, values, biases, decisions, and mere presence in the situations they investigate have for the knowledge they generate.
access problems end after the initial content
false
three ways to smooth the path for ongoing access to closed settings:
- Be prepared to adapt how you present yourself. Sometimes it’s helpful to play up your credentials: talk about your past work, your experience, your knowledge of the group, and your understanding of its problems. Other times it’s more conducive to take on a student role, presenting yourself as someone who is interested in learning from the experts as van den Scott did in her research on Inuit
- Don’t give people a reason to dislike you: be non-judgmental when hearing about informal activities or about the organization; make sure that information given to you doesn’t get back to others, whether bosses or peers.
- Don’t give people a reason to dislike you: be non-judgmental when hearing about informal activities or about the organization; make sure that information given to you doesn’t get back to others, whether bosses or peers.
- help out with work, give advice
three ways to smooth the path for ongoing access to public
settings
- Make sure you have a plan for allaying people’s suspicions. Ranasinghe (2017) “tried to ensure that while [he] was conspicuous, [he] was, nevertheless, not obtrusive or obstructive” (pp. 235–236). Over time he found that the emergency shelter’s clients became less fearful and were more receptive to him
2. be prepared for tests of competence or credibility
3. be prepared for changes in circumstances
solicited account can be obtained in two ways
by interviewing (see Chapter 11) or by casual questioning during conversations (though in ethnographic research the boundary between an interview and a conversation is by no means clear).
Key informants can also provide support that helps with the stress of fieldwork. However, undue reliance on them can lead….
researchers to see social reality through their eyes only rather than viewing things from the perspectives of several group members or the group as a whole.
the distinction between open and closed settings is not
hard and fast
Covert observation transgresses two important ethical tenets: _______ of participants and _______.
deception; failure to obtain informed consent
When ethnographers need specific information that cannot be attained through direct observation or “natural” conversations, _______ presents a way forward.
solicited accounts
in order from most involved to least involved research
complete participant, participant as an observer, observer as a participant, complete observer
complete participant
The ethnographer is a fully functioning member of a social setting but one whose true identity is unknown to members: in other words, a covert observer
participant as observer
The ethnographer participates as complete participant expect that members of social setting are aware that the ethnographer is studying them
observer as participant
the researcher is mainly an interviewer and observer, and participates only marginally in the group’s activities.
complete observer
no interaction with the people observed. Most writers do not include this as a form of ethnography, since by definition there is little or no involvement or participation. There may be less risk of reactivity (participants behaving unnaturally because they know they are being observed) because the researcher is at a distance; but there is also greatly reduced potential for understanding because the researcher does not ask questions or try in any way to get into the heads of the people under study.
complete observer less risk of ___ and _____
reactivity
understdnaing
participant as observer carries the risk of
overidentification
Observer s participant role carries risk of
not understanding the social setting and its people - making incorrect inferences
In which ethnographer role is the true identity of the ethnographer unknown to the members of the group being studied?
complete participant
In which ethnographer role is the researcher mainly an interviewer and observer?
In which ethnographer role is the researcher mainly an interviewer and observer?
Which ethnographer role is characterized by a lower risk of reactivity?
Complete observer
types of notes
mental
jotted
full field
Analytic notes help to bridge the gap between
data and the concepts, interpretations, and theories that researchers develop to make sense of what they are observing
Qualitative researchers use visual materials in at least three ways:
as memory aids in the course of fieldwork, where they essentially become components of the ethnographer’s field notes
* as sources of data in their own right
* as prompts for discussion by research participants
distinction between two positions on visual materials
- realist - pictures become facts
- reflexive awareness of and sensitivity to the ways in which researchers themselves determine what the visuals revea
photovoice
participants take photographs of their daily experiences and interpret them in terms of their own perspectives and identities, which transfers a measure of power and control away from the researcher to them
photovoice may be used with people from marginalized communities, those who employ it often do so with the intention of creating social change, which can be undertaken through an exhibition of the photographs. When used in this way, photovoice is a form
participatory action research
participatory action research
Research in which local people affected by a particular social problem collaborate as equals with professional researchers and government officials to generate knowledge pertinent to the problem and to take action to ameliorate it.
institutional ethnography
A type of ethnography that explores how institutional discourses (typically workplace texts) relate to people’s everyday experiences with institutions, and how institutional relationships intersect with larger systems of social control and power in a society.
purposive sampling
A form of non-probability sampling in which cases are selected on the basis of their ability to provide information relevant to the topic of the study.
snowball sampling
A non-probability sample in which the researcher makes initial contact with a small group of people connected to the research topic and then uses them to establish contact with others.
Probability sampling is almost never used in ethnographic research and is rarely employed even in qualitative research based on interviews. In many cases, a probability sample is not feasible because
it is difficult, if not impossible, to map “the population” from which a random sample may be taken
theoretical sampling
used “in order to discover categories and their properties and to suggest the interrelationships into a theory. Statistical sampling is done to obtain accurate evidence on distributions of people among categories to be used in descriptions and verifications”
theoretical sampling is a “defining property of
grounded theory
theoretical sampling can involve not only people but also
settings and events
in theoretical sampling data collection continues until
theoretical saturation
This means, until (a) no new or relevant data seem to be emerging regarding a category, (b) the category is well developed in terms of its properties and dimensions demonstrating variation, and (c) the relationships among categories are well established and validated”
Which sociologist developed the institutional ethnography approach?
smith
Institutional ethnography’s examination of institutional relationships reveals _______ and _______ in a society.
systems of social control; power correct
Institutional ethnography explores how _________ relate to people’s everyday experiences with institutions.
institutional discourses correct
disengagement has to be managed
true
Which approach introduced the notion of “saturation” to qualitative research?
grounded theory
A key issue in organizing ethnography is
gaining access to social settings
If admittance to a group occurs in participant observation, _______ facilitates access to the “back region” activity.
covert operations correct
Where overt research is being conducted,
the researcher may sometimes take on a covert role as part of the tasks associated to the role he or she has adopted. correct
When an ethnographer takes on a covert role, they may experience
anxiety
Which of the following is a techniquethat may be used to maintain ongoing access in public settings?
Be prepared to be tested for your ability to protect the names of people who are engaged in activity. correct
Key informants are helpful to a research project because
they can identify people, places, and situations that will be helpful to the research project. correct
An ethnographic research project should be concluded when
should be concluded if the researcher comes to find that the new data are simply confirming earlier data
For which of the following reasons is theoretical sampling used?
To discover categories and their properties and to suggest the interrelationships into a theory correct
