Ethnographic Research

1
Ethnographic Research

• By
• Michael Kotutwa Johnson
• Submitted
• November 9th, 2006
• AED 615
• Professor Franklin

2
Overview

• What is Ethnographic Research?
• Applied Topics and Examples
• Sampling and Data Collection
• Advantages and Disadvantages
• Sample of an Ethnographic Study
• References

3
Ethnographic Research is

• An attempt to attain as holistic a picture as
  possible of a particular society, group,
  institution, or situation. The emphasis in
  ethnographic research is on documenting or
  portraying the everyday experiences of
  individuals by observing and interviewing them
  and relevant others.(Frankel Wallen, 2006)

4
What is Incorporated into the Ethnographic
ProcessThree Step Process

• Provides a detailed description of
  culture-sharing group being studied.
• An analysis of the group in terms of perceived
  themes or perspectives.
• Interpretation of the group by the researcher as
  to the meanings or generalizations about the
  social life of human beings in general.

5
Applied Topics and Examples

• Those that by their nature defy simply
  quantification (for example, the interaction of
  students and teachers in classroom discussions).
• Those that involve the study of individual or
  group activities over time (such as changes that
  occur in the attitudes of at-risk students as
  they participate in a specially designed, year
  long, reading program).
• Those involving the study of formal organizations
  in their totality (for example, schools, school
  districts, and so forth.)
• Those that can best be understood in a natural
  (as opposed to opposite) setting (for example,
  the behavior of students at a school event.)

6
Sampling and Data Collection
7
Sampling

• De Facto Sample
• Sample Size Typically Small
• No Generalization of Results
• Replication of Findings can Best be Determined by
  Replication of Their Work in other Settings or
  Situations by other Researchers.

8
Ethnographic Data Collection

• 1. Participant Observation
• a. Field Notes
• b. Field Jottings
• c. Reflective Field Notes
• 2. Interviewing
• a. Structured
• b. Semistructured
• c. Informal
• d. Retrospective

9
Advantages and Disadvantages
10
Advantages

• Richer Comprehensive Prospective.
• Lends Itself Well to Research Topics that are not
  Easily Quantified.
• Particularly Appropriate to Behaviors that are
  Best Understood by Observing Them within their
  Natural Settings.
• Especially Suited to Studying Group Behavior over
  Time.

11
Disadvantages

• Highly Dependent on the Particular Researchers
  Observations and Interpretations.
• No Numerical Data Provided Leads to Checking of
  Validity of the Researchers Conclusions.
• Single Situations Usually Observed Leads to
  Non-Generalizable Results.
• Inevitable Ambiguity that Accompanies this
  method, Preplanning and Review by Others are much
  less Useful than in Quantitative Studies.
• Variables and Relationships are hard to Define
  due to Research Usually beginning without and
  Hypothesis.

12
Sample of an Ethnographic Study

• The permeable institution An ethnographic study
  of three acute psychiatric wards in London
• By
• Alan Quirk, Paul Lelliott and Clive Seale
• Published in 2006

13
What is the Study About?

• This paper examines the issue of permeability to
  the outside world from within a modern
  psychiatric world. It involves interviews with
  patients, patient advocates and staff on 3
  psychiatric wards.

14
References

• Ellen, R.F. (1984) Ethnographic research A guide
  to general conduct. London
• Academic Press Inc.
• Fraenkal, J.R. Wallen, N.E. (2006). How to
  design and evaluate research and education. New
  York McGraw Hill.
• Genzuk, M. (1999). A synthesis of ethnographic
  research. Retrieved October 29, 2006, from
  http//www.rcf.usc.edu/genzuck/Ethnographic_Resea
  rch.html
• LeCompte, M.D., Goetz, J.P. (1982). Problems of
  reliability and validity in ethnographic
  research. Review of Education Research, 52(1),
  31-60.
• Quirk, A., Lelliot, P., Seale, C. (2006). The
  permeable institution An ethnographic study of
  three acute psychiatric wards in London. Social
  Sciences Medicine, (63), 2105-2117.
• Werner, O., Schoepfle, G.M. (1987) Systematic
  fieldwork Ethnographic analysis and data
  management. Newbury Park SAGE Publications.

15
Questions