Ethnography
Providing insight on the relationships between the contexts and processes of human social life, and the ʺmeaningʺ that humans attach to social and physical phenomena (Denzin 1970:30‐31).
the complexity of the human circumstances
while the predominant methods paradigm of ethnography is qualitative, ethnography is more than simply a qualitative research method.
Denzin, N.K. 1970). The Research Act .
Denzin, N.K. and Y.S. Lincoln (1994), “Introduction: Entering the Field of Qualitative Research” in Handbook of Qualitative Research. Denzin and Lincoln (eds.) Thousand Oaks, CA, Sage Publications:
the strengths or attributes of ethnography:
- (1) includes both qualitative and quantitative methods, and both classical and
non‐classical ethnographic approaches.
- (2) is more than simply methods, but has ontological and epistemological properties.
- (3) is a holistic approach to the study of cultural systems.
- (4) is the study of the socio‐cultural contexts, processes, and meanings within
cultural systems.
- (5) is the study of cultural systems from both emic and etic perspectives.
- (6) is greatly dependent on field work.
- (7) is a process of discovery, making inferences, and continuing inquiries in an attempt to achieve emic validity.
- (8) is an iterative process of learning episodes.
- (9) is an open‐ended emergent learning process, and not a rigid investigator
controlled experiment.
- (10) is a highly flexible and creative 1 process.
- (11) is an interpretive, reflexive, and constructivist process.
- (12) requires the daily and continuous recording of field notes.
- (13) may be carried out by individual investigators, or by teams of investigators.
- (14) presents the world of its host population in human contexts of thickly described case studies.