Unit 7 DB 1
Characteristics of ethnographic or case study approach
There are multiple characteristics of ethnographic approach. The research is considered to be more of a descriptive type research approach, Which is intended for “in-depth investigation and description of cultural groups, cultures, large organizations and groupings, and their features (Percy, Kostere, & Kostere, 2015, p. 16). This type of research immerses its selves in the organization or culture they are reviewing, and becoming a part of the culture so that we can learn about it from the inside out. Therefore, this methodology often involves longer time frame for information collection, and will f regularly return a number of times to the location where their research to
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The cases in a case study are the object of study, and is a search of a circumscribed system. So, the phrase circumscribed system means that the person to be studied will be easily distinguished from the same phenomenon, because it tends to have a clear boundary that would differentiate it from all others.
Why would we even consider an Ethnography approach?
So, what are the advantages of selecting an ethnographic approach? Well, this learner will list what she considers to be the most important reasons which are: that it can be done entirely by one person and it is considered to be “longitudinal in nature, which allows us to record and see the changes over time and it can be carried out almost at any place” (Sangasubana 2011, p. 528). This approach also focuses on treating them other than objects versus working with others and gives us more of a rich and detailed information base for further writings and investigation.
Report and data collection
Angrosino (2007) stated that there are three modes of data collection within ethnography research, which are: observation, interviewing and archival research. So, observation: is irreplaceable to the researcher because it tends to merge the researcher’s involvement in the lives of the individuals under the study while upholding a professional distance (Fetterman, 1998). Angrosino (2007), stated that the interviewing process is about directing a conversation to collect information, and archival research is all about the
Ethnography is the systematic study of people and cultures, it is designed to explore cultural phenomena where the researcher observes society from the point of view of the subject of the study. It is the best qualitative method for collecting data often used in the social and behavioral sciences. Data are collected through observations and interviews, which are then used to draw conclusions about how societies and individuals function
A researcher can obtain information or data for a case study from many different sources. Some of these sources include direct observation, interviews, documents, archival records, physical artifacts and participant observation (Yin, 1994; Stake, 1995). Direct observation involves studying a subject in a natural environment by multiple observers. Interviews are an important process for gathering data in a case study.
Ethnography tells about a culture and the members that comprise this culture. A definition is the scientific description of the customs and individual people of a culture. The process of doing this assignment allowed me to explore another aspect of a cultural group. I was able to learn extensively about interactions between individuals and how see them as a culture. The group that comprises my ethnography is a cultural group very common to Utah. The culture I focused on was the LDS culture, to be more specific I studied a sub-culture of this group. My subculture was a group of 12 year old adolescents that are a Sunday school class in this culture.
Answer: Ethnographic research is different from other social science approaches to research because it goes more in depth. With an ethnographic research you are required to eat, sleep, and breath what is being studied. In order to get a better understanding you will need to incorporate such living (as that of the culture being studied) into your life. It’s more of a research to gain the knowledge of a current situation as oppose to something that has happened in the past. For example Sterk was researching prostitution. She followed the lives of many
Ethnographic research is the scientific description of specific human cultures, foreign to the ethnographer. Each ethnographer has his or her own way of conducting research and all of these different ideas can be transmitted and understood in a number of different ways. Because there is no one set idea of how an ethnographer should go about his or her research, conflicts arise. In Reflections on Fieldwork in Morocco, Paul Rabinow uses a story like process to discuss his experiences during his research in Morocco. This makes it easier for the reader to understand his ideas then just having a technical book about the many different aspects of Moroccan life that he may have discovered. In Writing Culture: the Poetics and Politics of
Ethnography is a qualitative method of research in which the researcher takes part in the activities of a group such that they are able to complete their observations over a period of time in a natural, real-life environment.
As we begin to go on an excursion through literature, it is important to understand the concept of what an ethnography is. Ethnography is known to be a descriptive type of work that analyzes culture and customs of individual people. James Clifford has implemented this work into his studies and has influenced many others to do the same. I saw through the books I have read, ethnography makes these books become vivacious for a reader.
Ethnographic methodology provides rich and complex data (Brownlow, 2012). In the ethnographic approach a researcher joined the studied group in their natural environment, stayed as a part
The purpose of this reading was to introduce what ethnography is and what exactly do anthropologists do. Ethnography is based on the fact that in order to fully understand a culture, it is best to observe the culture itself and to interact with them over a long period of time. The authors, Monaghan and Just, do fieldwork. Fieldwork is commonly done in small communities with very simplistic lifestyles so to say. In the first chapter, Peter Just did his fieldwork in the Village of Dorro Ntika. In order to be successful with this research, Peter had to build trust and create a good relationship with the people of the native tribe. Meaning Peter was able to learn well beyond the superficial facts. To be an ethnographer one must commit to years
It is first important to define what ethnography is because it is a prominent method that social scientists use in their research (Roy, lecture 4). Professor Roy defines ethnography as looking at culture – a methodological skill of observation in a natural setting. Chambliss was able to do this with his qualitative research at Hanibal. Qualitative research, compared to quantitative, is often characterized by a depth of information from a limited number of cases (Ragin & Amoroso 28). This type of study relies on the human component of interaction in the real world. Chambliss actively engaged with
What intrigued me about this ethnography so far, is the analysis from both the ethnographer and people being observed. An example of this was when the anthropologist described the area for boarder crossers and how to him it seemed so obvious that it was a place for
“Ethnography or field research is a sociological method that explores how people live and make sense of their lives with one another in particular places. The focus might be on understanding (the human race) and the meaning they produce through everyday interactions, or places, and the organizational logics that guide our activities” (columbia.edu).
traditional tendencies tend to depict ethnography as though it were stagnant and exotic. By using
There are multiple characteristics of ethnographic approach. This research is considered to be more of a descriptive type research approach, that is intended for “in-depth research and descriptions of ethnic groups, cultures, large organizations, and their features” (Percy, Kostere, & Kostere, 2015, p. 16). This type of research immerses its selves in the organization or culture they are reviewing, and becoming a part of the culture, so that we can learn about it from the inside out. Therefore, this methodology often involves longer time frame for information collection, and consists of researchers returning a number of times to the location where the research is to acquire more information. Some “doctoral learners tend to avoid ethnographic studies, because of the typical long time-commitments, however, it can be a fruitful approach, even in shorter periods, for understanding the customs, culture, belief systems, and implicit rules of organizations and large groups” (Percy, Kostere, & Kostere, 2015, p. 15)
Qualitative research methods are utilized to study the social and cultural phenomena. So it includes observation, participant observation (field work), interview sessions, documents and texts and finally the researcher’s imitations and feedback. [Myers, 2009]