Ethnography: Both a Method and a Perspective

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Ethnography is a field of study that is popular as an approach to social research. It is a qualitative research method used primarily by sociologists and anthropologists in the line of social-cultural anthropology.

Areas of Ethnography

Anthropology of religion
Ecological anthropology
Economic anthropology
Evolutionary anthropology
Forensic anthropology
Media anthropology
Medical anthropology
Transpersonal anthropology
Urban anthropology
Visual anthropology

Key Concepts of Ethnography

Culture
Society
Prehistory
Evolution
Kinship and descent
Marriage
Family
Material culture
Gender
Race
Ethnicity
Functionalism
Colonialism
Postcolonialism

Sometimes referred to as ethnology, ethnography might appear deceptively simple, as it is often categorized as a descriptive type of research. However it employs non-descriptive aspects of anthropology as criteria required in order to analyze and theorize.

Ethnography, or an ethnographic study, employs a distinct method or sets of methods. The ethnographer spends an extended period of time with the group to be studied, either participating directly or indirectly, overtly or covertly. People are observed within their environment, performing social activities and interacting with each other.

The ethnographer observes, listens, asks questions and gathers data which is subsequently recorded. Once the data has been documented, methods of analysis take place within the perspective of current theories and research information.

The methodology utilized for the ethnographic study comprises a well planned modus operandi. At the same time the ethnographer is open to the fluid way in which the events and research can unfold, allowing the experience to yield its own pattern or flow.

The basic preparatory outline and action plan revolves around what is termed fieldwork. Fieldwork involves research carried out ‘in the field’, which may be within a community that is close by and known, or one that is completely outside one’s normal frame of reference.

Prior to going out into the field the ethnographer devises a research design, which is then updated and adapted in the actual study. Problems, cases and samples of the field study are raised and addressed. Aspects such as access to the field are considered, as well as field relations. The way the researcher conducts his or herself in the focus community requires thought especially when social and cultural issues are at stake. Practical arrangements are made to enter the field and if necessary to live within the environment for the research period. Equipment needed to conduct the research has to be put together. While it might seem basic, without recording equipment that functions, or writing materials or a computer to write up data, the ethnographer will be at a loss to gather essential and critical information.

The ethnographer may have an insider knowledge if part of the community, or may be an outsider and not part of the community, or may be a combination of both. Listening is a crucial part of the observation. Questions are conducted informally or formally, sometimes through questionnaires and largely through the interview process.

Documents are compiled and the recording and organizing of data takes place. The study then proceeds to the process of analysis, after which the ethnography is written.

The goal of ethnography is to gain a fuller understanding of an individual or a group and their set of activities within a specific cultural context and their interactions. How this is done is dependent on both methods used as well as the role of perspective, both of the researcher and those being researched.

The ethnographer describes the actions and behaviors and through observation and interviews adds the impressions and opinions of the community members. At the same time the ethnographer is aware that as much as one might try to be objective, each person naturally comes with his or her own biases and perspectives which automatically affect the way the observations are documented. This aspect of perspective is stated when writing, and understood within ethnographic studies.

When analyzing and writing up the research, ethnographers frame their research within perspectives aligned with the current academic theories they choose to reference. There is thus a meeting point with the natural perspectives of who the researcher is on a personal cultural level and the academic research perspectives. Combined with these are the perspectives of the individuals and community being observed which come to the fore through questions and interviews.

This interplay and interaction of methods and perspectives further informs the ethnography. The open-ended qualitative nature of the research creates an interesting interface between methodology comprised of observation, documentation and analysis, with the understanding required of the multiple perspectives appearing within the field.

Resource by F.Rosseti

I am a teacher in Michigan. I grew up in Florida and have lived here in MI for close to 15 years. I enjoy writing and skiing in my spare time.

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