ETHNOGRAPHIC RESEARCH

-Areej Shaikh
M.Phil. (English Literature)
2016
Introduction
Ethnos; folk, people, nation, grapho; I write, thus, its a
systematic study of people, cultural phenomena and
interactions between social groups such as families,
organizations etc.

It studies people in their real and natural environment by

being a part of them

Mostly practiced by cultural anthropologists who usually

focus on one phenomenon at a time or fewer ones

In-depth analysis, thick description, time taking

Its about exploring rather than testing

 Qualitative/ Inductive/ unstructured framework/ open-
ended questionnaires, emergent

Interprets the meanings behind a cultural groups verbal,

physical and psychological patterns of beliefs and behaviors

Focuses on how the data is interpreted, rather than how its

collected

Requires extensive field work and field notes (brief history,

interviews, observation of symbols such as artifacts, clothing
or technology etc., patterns of mental activities and behavior)

Holistic (understanding the whole culture by observing their

parts separately)
Approaches

Critical Ethnography (Emic Data):

from the subjects perspective

the researcher is involved

mostly politically minded framework

effective for observing the oppressed, marginalized

groups and their problems to give them a voice

advocates
 Realist Ethnography (Etic Data):

from the researchers perspective

omniscient third-persons view

the researcher objectively reports the observations and analyzes

suggests
Procedure
Determining the validity and relevance of the study

Selecting a group

Selecting cultural themes, issues, theories about that group

Determining the approach

Collecting data (field-work, in the real setting of the subject)

Data analysis (starting by a single activity, routine or behavior)

Conclusion (generalized, holistic portrait of the whole group/

views of both ethnographer and the participants/ either
advocates or suggests)
Why Ethnographic Research?

Highlights the experience factors that are taken for granted

Deep human understanding/ giving voice to the

marginalized groups

Outsiders can learn about a particular culture/group in a

more authentic and organized way

Helpful for setting or changing trends and attitudes in

various cultures
Limitations
Deep expertise is required

Care must be taken regarding offending, alienating, breaching

privacy or harming

Difficulties in access and negotiation

Building trust with the participants may require much time

Costly

Can be biased

Reliability issues, since its mostly descriptive i.e. based

mainly on verbal storytelling and selected practices of the
group
Examples

To study the socio-cultural reasons behind forced child-

marriages in a particular culture.

To observe the recurrent patterns, origins and effects of

bullying in a particular school system.

To examine the changes in peoples interaction patterns

when they are within and without their own cultures.

The End