EthnographyWhat is ethnography?Ethnography is the study of social interactions, behaviours, and perceptions that occur within groups, teams, organisations, and communities. The task [of ethnographers] is to document the culture, the perspectives and practices, of the people in these settings. The aim is to get inside the way each group of people sees the world.(Hammersley)Origin, Influences and Present timesRoots can be traced back to anthropological studies of small, rural (and often remote) in 1900sBronislaw Malinowski and Alfred Radcliffe-Brown participated indigenous societies over long periods to document social arrangements and belief systems. Approach adopted by members of the Chicago School of Sociology (for example, Everett Hughes, Robert Park, Louis Wirth) and applied to a variety of urban settings in their studies of social life.Has come a long way from study of other to study of self, from study of society to study of state, social movements, courtesy, violence, development, markets, virtual. Minimally ethnography isiterative-inductive research (that evolves in design through the study), drawing ona family of methods,involving direct and sustained contact with human agentswithin the context of their daily lives (and cultures);watching what happens, listening to what is said, asking questions, andproducing a richly written accountthat respects the irreducibility of human experience,that acknowledges the role of theoryas well as the researchers own role,and that views human as part object/part subject(Adapted from OReilly, 2008)Ethnography has most of the following features (Atkinson and Hammersley)Peoples actions and accounts are studied in everyday contexts, rather than under artificial conditions research takes place in the field.Data gathered from a range of sources, including documentary evidence of various kinds, but participant observation and/or relatively informal conversations are usually the main ones.Data collection is, for the most part, relatively unstructured, in two senses. It does not involve following through a fixed and detailed research design specified at the start. And categories that are used for interpreting are not built into the data collection process Instead, they are generated out of the process of data analysis.The focus is usually on a few cases, generally fairly small-scale, perhaps a single setting or group of people. This is to facilitate in-depth study.

Methods?If unstructured why methods?Participant observationEthnographic interviewsDocumentsThree kinds of data: quotations, descriptions, and excerpts of documents, resulting in one product: narrative description (Hammersley 1990)Ethnographers Triangulate for Robustness rapid surveys, indepth interviews, documents, signs and symbols (sources), along with observation.

Participant ObservationExamining people in interaction in ordinary settings, looking for patterns of their social worldA focus on words and actions of members of a group what people do (behaviours), what they say (language), social structure its functioning and the tensions withinDrawing from natural sciences structural functionalism, positivism, pragmatism and has evolved furhter since poststructuralism.

the potential tension between what they do and ought to do

Challenges in POPatienceGood rapport building skillsBeing observant keep eyes and ears openParticipant or onlookerBias creeps in?Is participant observation an oxymoron?Tensions between participation and observation

Ethnographic InterviewA form of interviewing conducted in the context of a relationship with interviewees with whom the researcher has, through an ongoing presence, established relations of rapport and respect sufficient for a genuine meeting of minds and that enable a mutual exploration of the meanings the interviewee applies to their social world (Heyl, 2001).Emphasis on duration and frequency of contact the quality of the relationship with respondents on the meaning of actions and events to respondentsaims to grasp the natives point of view Features and uniquenessEthnographic interviews are normally conducted in unstructured formsWhat distinguishes it procedurally from other in-depth interviews is the centrality of rapport based on relatively long-term contactThe investment of time in each round of interviewing and the kind of openness on the researchers part that stimulates an evenhanded relationship. Key feature the idea researcher is there to learn from the respondent rather than imposeDistinguished from other types of interview analytically by their focus on cultural meanings. (Fielding in Sage Dictionary)Field notesDescriptive written accounts of just-observed events, persons, places etc.From broad to specific, focussed, from reflexive to activeIterative back and forth ImportantField notes are a form of texualisation

Field notes and note-takingScratch notes - Writing down all information that you think may or may not be relevant to your research Maintaining an intellectual diary putting together ideas for analysis, maintaining a a distance from you research problem and setting, avoiding over-involvementWriting about research experience, feelings and emotions Malinowski (1967) writing about his personal challenges living with the natives in his diary

It may often become difficult to separate the intellectual diary from the field notes

Note-takingTaking notes diary, small notebook, recorder etc. noting down things to trigger your memoryAdd details who said what, when and where, add background information to aid memory Thick description (Geertz, 1973)If in doubt write it down (OReilly, 2008)Regularity and disciplineSupplementing field notes Videos, voice recordings, photographs. E.g events such as gatherings, processions, speeches

Challenges in note-takingOvert note taking in certain research settings or contexts E.g: casual conversations, situations of conflict, situations heavily laden with emotionsWriting field notes from memoryTime consuming even after the actual field workEthnographic research as iterative-inductive moving back and forthNotes impose a structure on events, shape what you see and hear since everything cannot be recorded.Field notes: However full they are they will never be able to explain fully the intellectual work that went into you determining what to do and write, when and how.

Reporting approachIntroduction (problem, questions)Research procedures (ethnography, data collection, analysis, outcomes)Description of culture/ fieldAnalysis of cultural themesInterpretation, lessons learned, questions raised(Adapted from Wolcott, 1994; Creswell, 2007)Ethics and reflexivity in ethnographyChallenge of anonymity could become literary and fictional.Making researcher visibleWriting self helps but not the only focus creation of knowledgeFieldwork is a highly personal experience both strength and weakness of ethnography

ChallengesExtensive and prolonged fieldworkNarrative writing approach unlike traditional approaches to social science research writingPossibility and risk of going nativeRapport Skills and PatienceSome good texts to readThe Remembered Village. By M. N. Srinivas.Gang leader for a Day by Sudhir VenkateshCultivating Development by David MosseWages of Violence by TB Hansen

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