Ethnography Approach Assignment

Ethnography Approach Assignment

Ethnography Approach Assignment

Read chapters 3 and 4.

Objectives:

Differentiate between ethnography and phenomenology.

Contrast data collection and analysis methods employed in ethnography and phenomenology.

Approaches to Qualitative Research: Ethnography and Phenomenology

Introduction

Ethnographic studies are considered a special case of phenomenological study when the phenomenon observed is a specific culture (Geertz, 1973). Their use ranges from the study of remote primitive cultures by participant-observers to urban marketing studies of the nature of demand for products using focus groups.

Ethnography

The ethnographic approach studies the social interactions of a group to learn the mechanisms by which individuals develop understanding of their everyday life-world. This is the identification of the ways and means used to create dynamic social equilibrium in their group (Garfinkel, 1967). These ways and means enable group members to have fairly accurate expectations of others’ behavior and a basis for comprehending expected and unexpected behavior. The product of an ethnographic study is an explicit description of these ways and means.

With this knowledge, researchers can begin to understand how the group’s members make sense of the world in which they exist. If successful, it may be possible to determine what events (e.g., the immigration of foreigners or the gain of a new local industry) and conditions (e.g., prolonged drought or growth in incomes over a couple of decades) to which the group may adapt well and to what they may have difficulty adapting. Two key variables here are the expectation (from fully expected to unexpected) and the comprehensibility (from fully comprehensible to incomprehensible).

Thus, the idea of making sense of everyday life is decomposed into two properties (expectation and comprehensibility) that give a richer description of what ethnographers seek. This is an example of increasing the richness of a description, another goal of ethnographic studies (Geertz, 1973). Another example is a study of fire prevention strategies for the National Science Foundation, where Armstrong and Vaughn (1974) replaced housing stock (number of residential units) in New York City with average persons per unit and total population. The data from two sources instead of one were used, enriching the study by this same method of decomposition.

Increasing descriptive variables, where logical, is only one way of enriching a study. There is no simple or formulaic way to achieve richness, but Geertz (1973) provides excellent and detailed guidelines. Review of data, reconsideration of findings, discussions of meaning, or use of the Delphi procedure (Dalkey, 1969) can all be used. Delphis are not just for ethical review, but for study of any complex issue. Ethnography Approach Assignment.

Denzin and Lincoln (2005) recommend certain actions of the ethnographer:

1. Combine symbolic meanings with patterns of interaction.

2. Observe the world from the point of view of the subject, while maintaining the distinction between everyday and scientific perceptions of reality.

3. Link the group’s symbols and their meanings with their social relationships.

4. Record all behavior.

5. Focus on phases of process, change, and stability.