Week 10 (Field Research and Ethnography)

Question 1

What is ethnographic research?

Answer 1

-. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject of the study.

-In its most characteristic form…[ethnography] involves the ethnographer participating, overtly or covertly, in people’s daily lives for an extended period of time, watching what happens, listening to what is said, asking questions- in fact, collecting whatever data are available to throw light on the issues that are the focus of the research’

Question 2

What are the 6 steps in the rough guideline for field research?

Answer 2

-Access the field: How are you going to gain access to the field? -Types of relationships related to access: sponsors, gatekeepers, key informants.
-Establish relationships: situating the self and disclosure in the field.
-Become involved in the setting: what role do you want to adopt and how will you participate?
-Collect data: observe, listen, record field notes
-Analyze data
-Exit the field: how do you want to say goodbye? Leave the setting in the manner in which you found it.

Question 3

The four possible roles of an ethnographer:

Answer 3

• Complete Observer (No participation)
  -Observer as a participant (Minimal Participation)
  -Participant observer (Increased participation)
  -Complete participant (Full participation)

Question 4

Advantages and Disadvantages of field research:

Answer 4

Advantages:
Flexibility
Depth of understanding
Observing and verifying what people say and do – Triangulation in ethnography
Relatively inexpensive

Disadvantages:
Lack of representativeness and generalizability
Lack’s reliability

Question 5

Four frameworks for field research:
(Posing and solving problems)

Answer 5

1-Grounded Theory (An inductive approach)
Derive theory from an analysis of the patterns, themes, and common categories observed
Begin observations with no theoretical preconceptions

2-Extended Case Method (Opposite to grounded theory)
Goal of looking for all the ways observations conflict with existing theories
Goal is to look for what Burawoy calls “theoretical gaps and silences”

3-Institutional Ethnography
A research technique that uses the personal experiences of individuals to uncover how institutional relations of power shape everyday lives

4-Participatory Action Research
Critiques the distinction between researcher and participant/subject
Major goal is to produce results that are beneficial to the participant/subjects of the research