Ethnographic
Research
Every child is born to
a family, culture, state or nation. Culture is an innate thing to a human
person but it gets modified when we interact with other cultures. We often hear
people saying that ‘American or European cultures are better than Indian or Sri
Lankan cultures’. People cannot judge as to which culture is the best or the
worst because each culture or ethnic group have got their own uniqueness just
like every human being is unique in their own way.
Ethnographic Research
which is also known as Ethnographic Field Research is a concept developed by
Malinowski, Evans-Pritchard, Mead and Boas. The word ‘Ethnography’ is derived
from the Greek word ‘ethnos’ which means ‘folk, people, nation’ and ‘grapho’
which means ‘I write’. Research is a systematic investigation of a particular
thing, event, or incident, culture and so on in order to arrive at new logical,
reliable conclusions and to establish new facts. Ethnographic Research is
therefore, a systematic study of a particular culture or culture of an
individual. It is a branch of anthropology that describes the culture of an
individual or group through close observation, reading, and interpretation. Ethnography is the study of social
interactions, behaviours, and perceptions that occur within teams,
organisations, and communities.
Ethnographic Research
is qualitative in nature. In this form of research, researchers observe,
conduct interviews and surveys of smaller populations and groups is done in-depth.
The results of the study of one particular culture will not be applied to other
cultures. Statistical methods of quantifying data collected are not used in
this method. The researcher is involved in the field to be studied and thus
they know the ideas, values, habits, ways and action patterns of the community
in the field.
Ethnographic Research is Subjective in nature. According to
ethnographers Bonnie Sunstein and Elizabeth Chiseri-Strater, “when someone says
“that’s really weird” or “aren’t they strange”, a fieldworker hears these
comments as signals for investigation.”
Culture is inborn and cultivated in us in us and we tend to act and
behave accordingly. When we step into a new culture, we bring with us our
previous experiences, preconceptions, and ideas of our culture. When we act,
judge or interact with others our culture will guide us knowingly or
unknowingly. The ethnographer is always present in the research he or she
conducts and the texts he or she creates.
The questions that an ethnographic researcher needs to ask should
include qualitative and descriptive questions. They should ask not only what
they see but also the opinion, interpretation or explanation of the respondent.
According to Sunstein and Chiseri-Strater, “An ethnographer and a journalist
may both gather information about the same event but write up their accounts
very differently. A standard daily newspaper reporter, for example, conducts
research in an attempt to be objective: to give the who, what, where, when, and
why of an event for a readership that expects facts without too much
interpretation. As a fieldworker, your purpose is to collect and consider
multiple sources of information, not facts alone, to convey the perspective of
the people about the culture you study.”
Participation, personal encounter, direct observation and experience are
the primary tool for data collection. Identifying, clarifying, negotiation,
refining and elaborating are pivotal tools for ethnographic research.
Ethnographic research is cyclical in nature: data collection, analysis and
interpretation are a continuously interrelated and inseparable process. The
methods used for collection data could be visible or open-ended (frontstage),
invisible or close-ended (backstage), and overt (straightforward) or covert
(not openly). In ethnographic research the dichotomy observation-participation
is used. An open-ended question is one
that cannot be answered with a simple “yes” or “no.” According to Rafoth in
order to help interviewers develop their answers further, researchers need to
keep the following in mind. Extending questions: “What led to that?” “How did
that start?” Filling in detail: “Could you ‘walk me through the event?” Identifying
key actors and agents: “Who else was involved?”Inner events, “How did that make
you feel?”
Secondary data add texture and broaden the work of an ethnographer by
studying about cultures in larger historical, geographical, and political
contexts. When primary and secondary data are combined together an ethnographer
or readers will get a comprehensive view about culture. The range of subjects
for ethnographic research is unlimited and we can study the mundane or the
exotic, the ordinary or the extraordinary.
In mass communication studies, ethnographic field research has become
the standard procedure used to study the working of media institutions and more
recently, has gained ground in audience research. Participant observation has
been the key method of enquiry for several decades, particularly in the area of
news. The other major strand of communication studies in which participant
observation has taken a prominent position is audience research.
In mass communication Ethnographic
research relies on techniques such as observation, video diaries, photographs,
contextual interviews, and analysis of artefacts. Observations can be made at
home, at work, or in leisure environments. People can be studied with their
family, on their own, with work colleagues, or as part of a group of friends.
In ethnographic research the role of the researcher determines his/her social
location in the community/group under study.
Data analysis and interpretation should be seen as a process, ‘with
fieldwork, data-text translation, coding and conceptualising all go ahead at
the same time. Analysis implies breaking up the research material into separate
units, then searching for patterns, categories and holistically looking at the
data. Analysis is not simply ‘wet-finger’ theorising. Jorgen suggests several
analytic strategies such as identify the basic components of a phenomenon, look
for patterns and relationship among facts, compare and contrast, ask different
questions and rephrase them and consult exist literature.
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