Ethnographic-Research-Review

ASYNTHESISOFETHNOGRAPHICRESEARCHBY:MICHAELGENZUK,PH.D.UniversityofSouthernCaliforniaCenterforMultilingual,MulticulturalResearchANETHNOGRAPHYWhenusedasamethod,ethnographytypicallyreferstofieldwork(alternatively,participant-observation)conductedbyasingleinvestigatorwho'liveswithandliveslike'thosewhoarestudied,usuallyforayearormore.--JohnVanMaanen,1996.Ethnographyliterallymeans'aportraitofapeople.'Anethnographyisawrittendescriptionofaparticularculture-thecustoms,beliefs,andbehavior-basedoninformationcollectedthroughfieldwork.--MarvinHarrisandOrnaJohnson,2000.Ethnographyistheartandscienceofdescribingagrouporculture.Thedescriptionmaybeofasmalltribalgroupinanexoticlandoraclassroominmiddle-classsuburbia.--DavidM.Fetterman,1998.Ethnographyisasocialscienceresearchmethod.Itreliesheavilyonup-close,personalexperienceandpossibleparticipation,notjustobservation,byresearcherstrainedintheartofethnography.Theseethnographersoftenworkinmultidisciplinaryteams.Theethnographicfocalpointmayincludeintensivelanguageandculturelearning,intensivestudyofasinglefieldordomain,andablendofhistorical,observational,andinterviewmethods.Typicalethnographicresearchemploysthreekindsofdatacollection:interviews,observation,anddocuments.Thisinturnproducesthreekindsofdata:quotations,descriptions,andexcerptsofdocuments,resultinginoneproduct:narrativedescription.Thisnarrativeoftenincludescharts,diagramsandadditionalartifactsthathelptotell“thestory“(Hammersley,1990).Ethnographicmethodscangiveshapetonewconstructsorparadigms,andnewvariables,forfurtherempiricaltestinginthefieldorthroughtraditional,quantitativesocialsciencemethods.Ethnographyhasitrootsplantedinthefieldsofanthropologyandsociology.Present-daypractitionersconductethnographiesinorganizationsandcommunitiesofallkinds.Ethnographersstudyschooling,publichealth,ruralandurbandevelopment,consumersandconsumergoods,anyhumanarena.Whileparticularlysuitedtoexploratoryresearch,ethnographydrawsonawiderangeofbothqualitativeandquantitativemethodologies,movingfromlearningtotesting(Agar,1996)whileresearchproblems,perspectives,andtheoriesemergeandshift.2Ethnographicmethodsareameansoftappinglocalpointsofview,householdsandcommunity“fundsofknowledge”(Moll&Greenberg,1990),ameansofidentifyingsignificantcategoriesofhumanexperienceupcloseandpersonal.Ethnographyenhancesandwidenstopdownviewsandenrichestheinquiryprocess,tapsbothbottom-upinsightsandperspectivesofpowerfulpolicy-makersatthetop,andgeneratesnewanalyticinsightsbyengagingininteractive,teamexplorationofoftensubtlearenasofhumandifferenceandsimilarity.Throughsuchfindingsethnographersmayinformothersoftheirfindingswithanattempttoderive,forexample,policydecisionsorinstructionalinnovationsfromsuchananalysis.VARIATIONSINOBSERVATIONALMETHODSObservationalresearchisnotasinglething.Thedecisiontoemployfieldmethodsingatheringinformationaldataisonlythefirststepinadecisionprocessthatinvolvesalargenumberofoptionsandpossibilities.Makingthechoicetoemployfieldmethodsinvolvesacommitmenttogetclosetothesubjectbeingobservedinitsnaturalsetting,tobefactualanddescriptiveinreportingwhatisobserved,andtofindoutthepointsofviewofparticipantsinthedomainobserved.Oncethesefundamentalcommitmentshavebeenmade,itisnecessarytomakeadditionaldecisionsaboutwhichparticularobservationalapproachesareappropriatefortheresearchsituationathand.VARIATIONSINOBSERVERINVOLVEMENT:PARTICIPANTORONLOOKER?Thefirstandmostfundamentaldistinctionamongobservationalstrategiesconcernstheextenttowhichtheobserverisalsoaparticipantintheprogramactivitiesbeingstudied.Thisisnotreallyasimplechoicebetweenparticipationandnonparticipation.Theextentofparticipationisacontinuumwhichvariesfromcompleteimmersionintheprogramasfullparticipanttocompleteseparationfromtheactivitiesobserved,takingonaroleasspectator;thereisagreatdealofvariationalongthecontinuumbetweenthesetwoextremes.Participantobservationisanomnibusfieldstrategyinthatitsimultaneouslycombinesdocumentanalysis,interviewingofrespondentsandinformants,directparticipationandobservation,andintrospection.Inparticipantobservationtheresearchersharesasintimatelyaspossibleinthelifeandactivitiesofthepeopleintheobservedsetting.Thepurposeofsuchparticipationistodevelopaninsider'sviewofwhatishappening.Thismeansthattheresearchernotonlyseeswhatishappeningbutfeelswhatitisliketobepartofthegroup.Experiencinganenvironmentasaninsideriswhatnecessitatestheparticipantpartofparticipantobservation.Atthesametime,however,thereisclearlyanobserversidetothisprocess.Thechallengeistocombineparticipationandobservationsoastobecomecapableofunderstandingtheexperienceasaninsiderwhiledescribingtheexperienceforoutsiders.3Theextenttowhichitispossibleforaresearchertobecomeafullparticipantinanexperiencewilldependpartlyonthenatureofthesettingbeingobserved.Forexample,inhumanserviceandeducationprogramsthatservechildren,itisnotpossiblefortheresearchertobecomeastudentandthereforeexperiencethesettingasachild;itmaybepossible,however,fortheresearchobservertoparticipateasavolunteer,parent,orstaffpersoninsuchasettingandtherebydevelopthepe