Individual methods which are available within an ethnographic study include:
participant observation, interviews and surveys
. All of these ethnographic methods can be very valuable in gaining a deeper understanding of a design problem.
What is the most common ethnographic approach?
Ethnography is an extremely broad area with a great variety of practitioners and methods. However, the most common ethnographic approach is
participant observation
as a part of field research. The ethnographer becomes immersed in the culture as an active participant and records extensive field notes.
What are ethnographic field methods?
Ethnographic Fieldwork. Ethnographic fieldwork is
how anthropologists gather data
. Fieldwork is the process of immersing oneself in as many aspects of the daily cultural lives of people as possible in order to study their behaviors and interactions. … Anthropologists enter the field location much like a newborn child.
What are examples of ethnographic methods?
- Observing a group of children playing. …
- Observing employees in a corporate office. …
- Observing medical personnel in a high-volume hospital. …
- Observing an indigenous village. …
- Observing a high school classroom. …
- Observing motorcycle riders.
What are the types of ethnography?
There are several types of ethnographic research, namely;
business, educational and medical ethnographic research
. All based on different fields of human endeavor and each type is defined by specific characteristics.
What are the three meanings of ethnography?
Ethnography (from Greek ἔθνος ethnos “
folk, people, nation
” and γράφω grapho “I write”) is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures.
What is the goal of ethnography?
Ethnography is a study through direct observation of users in their natural environment rather than in a lab. The objective of this type of research is
to gain insights into how users interact with things in their natural environment
.
What is the strengths of ethnographic study?
Advantages of ethnography
One of the main advantages associated with ethnographic research is that
ethnography can help identify and analyse unexpected issues
. When conducting other types of studies, which are not based on in-situ observation or interaction, it can very easy to miss unexpected issues.
What is the weakness of ethnography?
Ethnographic research has several disadvantages to consider as well. Ethnography is time consuming and requires a well-trained researcher.
It takes time to build trust with informants in order to facilitate full and honest discourse
. Short-term studies are at a particular disadvantage in this regard.
What is one limitation of the ethnographic method?
Another limitation of ethnographic research is that it is
usually a field study from a particular setting
so that the result might only be applicable for that single setting. Therefore, it is difficult to generalize the findings of the ethnographic research.
What are the key features of ethnographic fieldwork?
- …
- Produces an accurate reflection of perspectives and behaviours.
- Ethnography consists of inductive, interactive and repeated collection of unstructured data and analysis to build local cultural theories. …
- Data are mostly collected from fieldwork experiences.
What is unique about ethnographic fieldwork?
The Unique Aspect of Ethnographic Fieldwork
Ethnography is
qualitative research
, not quantitative. Ethnographers focus on the study of individual groups of people and cultures, often studying a specific aspect like language, geography or economics.
How do you write an ethnographic method?
- A thesis. The thesis establishes the central theme and message of your research study. …
- Literature Review. A literature review is an analysis of previous research now on your research topic. …
- Data Collection. …
- Data Analysis. …
- Reflexivity.
What are the steps of ethnographic research?
- Identify Research Question. Determine what problem you are seeking to better understand. …
- Determine Location(s) for Research. …
- Formulate Presentation Method. …
- Acquire Permissions and Access. …
- Observe and Participate. …
- Interview. …
- Collect Archival Data. …
- Code and Analyze Data.
Where is ethnography used?
It is used not only to study distant or unfamiliar cultures, but also
to study specific communities within the researcher’s own society
. For example, ethnographic research (sometimes called participant observation) has been used to investigate gangs, football fans, call center workers, and police officers.
What is ethnography in simple terms?
ethnography,
descriptive study of a particular human society or the process of making such a study
. Contemporary ethnography is based almost entirely on fieldwork and requires the complete immersion of the anthropologist in the culture and everyday life of the people who are the subject of his study.
