What is Ethnography?

(1/3)

• Roots in sociology and anthropology

• Ethno = People
• Graphy = Writing
• Defined as
 The study of people in their own environment through the use of methods such as participant
observation and face-to-face interviewing.
 A method of observing human interactions in social settings and activities
 Describing and understanding another way of life from the native point of view (Neuman, 2007)
• Rather than studying people from the outside, you learn from people from the inside
What is Ethnography? (2/3)

• Ethnographic designs are qualitative research procedures for describing, analysing, and interpreting a
culture-sharing group’s shared patterns of behaviour, beliefs, and language that develop over time
• To understand the patterns of a culture sharing group, the ethnographer typically spends considerable
time in the field interviewing, observing, and gathering documents about the group to understand their
culture-sharing behaviours, beliefs, and language (Creswell, 2012)
• A culture includes language, rituals, economic and political structures, life stages, interactions, and
communication styles.
What is Ethnography? (3/3)

• It studies people, ethnic groups and other ethnic formations, their ethno genesis, composition,
resettlement, social welfare characteristics, as well as their material and spiritual culture.
• The purpose of ethnographic research is to attempt to understand what is happening naturally in the
setting and to interpret the data gathered to see what implications could be formed from the data.
Principles of Ethnography

• Holism
• Focus on relations among activities and not on single task or single isolated individual
• Everything connected to everything else
• Natives’ point(s) of view
• How people see their own world
• Opportunity to engage with customers
• Study people in their native habitat
• E.g., home, school, office, hospital, library, community
When to Use Ethnography (1/2)

• When study of a group provides understanding of a larger issue.

• When you have cultural-sharing group to study
• One that has been together for some time and has developed shared values, belief, and language.
• The culture-sharing group may be:
• Narrowly framed (e.g., teachers, students, staff members)
• Broadly framed (e.g., entire school and their success, innovation, or violence)
• Group may be representative or illustrative of some larger processes, events, or activities (e.g.,
participating in a graduate program)
• Group with shared-practice (e.g., the culture of one fraternity and its practices that rendered
women powerless and mrginalized)
When to Use Ethnography (2/2)

• When you have long-term access to a culture-sharing group so that you can build a detailed record of
their behaviours and beliefs over time.
• You may be a participant in the group or simply an observer, but you gather extensive fieldnotes,
interview many people, and collect letters and documents to establish the record of the culture-sharing
group.
Types of Ethnography (1/7)

Ethnography

Realist Case Study Critical

Ethnography Ethnography Ethnography
Realist Ethnography (2/7)

• An objective account of the situation, typically written in the third person point of view, reporting
objectively on the information learned from participants at a field site.
• The focus is on understanding a culture-sharing group and using the group to develop a deeper
understanding of a culture theme.
• The realist ethnographer narrates the study and reports on observations of participants and their views.
• The ethnographer does not offer personal reflections in the research report and remains in the
background as an omniscient reporter of the facts.
Types- Realist Ethnography (3/7)

• The researcher reports objective data in a measured style uncontaminated by personal bias, political
goals and judgement.
• He may provide ordinary details of everyday life among the people studied
• He also uses standard categories for cultural description (e.g., family life, work life, social networks,
and status system)
• He produces the participants’ view s through closely edited quotations and has the final word on the
interpretation and presentation of the culture.
Case Study Ethnography (4/7)

• An important type of ethnography, although it differs from realist in several ways.

• The focus is on developing an in-depth understanding of a case, such as event, activity, or process.
• The research may focus on a program, event, or activity involving individuals rather than a group
• But, when researchers research a group, they may be more interested in describing the activities of the
group instead of identifying shared patterns of behaviour exhibited by the group.
Case Study Ethnography (5/7)

• The research searches for the shared patterns that develop[ as a group interacts over time.
• Finally, case study researchers are less likely to identify a cultural theme to examine at the beginning
of a study, especially one from anthropology; instead, they focus on an in-depth exploration of the
actual case.
Critical Ethnography (6/7)

• Type of ethnographic research in which the author is interested in advocating for the freedom of
groups marginalized in our society.
Researchers seek to address an inequity in society or schools, plans to use the research to advocate and
call for changes, and typically identifies a specific issue (e.g., inequality, dominance, oppression, or
empowerment) to study.
• E.g., critical ethnographers might study schools that provide privileges to certain types of students,
create inequitable situations among members of different social classes, and perpetuate boys speaking
up and girls being silent participants in class.
• The major components of a critical ethnography re factors such as a value0laden orientation,
empowering people by giving them more opportunity, challenging the status quo, and a concern about
power and control
Methodology

1. Identify intent and the type of design, and relate intent to your research problem (realist, case study
or critical?)
2. Discuss approval and access considerations
3. Use appropriate data collection procedures
4. Analysis and interpret data within a design
5. Write the report consistent with your design
A Good Ethnography

• Pay attention to identify a cultural issue to study

• Select a group to observe or interview over time
• Note shared patterns of behaviour, language, and beliefs that the group has developed over time
• The account needs to both describe the group and identify themes
• Provide evidence of being reflexive about the researcher’s role in study
Modern Day Ethnographic Research Designs
Advantages

• Direct observation
• Internal validity
• Since the researcher is directly involved with members of the group and experiencing what they
are experiencing (i.e. all data collected is first hand evidence), then validity is much more assured,
than relying upon the external observation or other’s experiences and reports
• Detailed data
• Holistic
• The researcher by being a participant over a prolonged period of time, is able to see many facets
of the group/culture, rather than just one or two parts of it, and therefore have a much more
holistic view of group/culture
Disadvantages

• Time consuming
• Difficulty in presenting the results
• Reliability ( the researcher often works alone)
• Invasion of privacy
Personal safety of the researcher in peril
• Requires sustainable effort and engagement
Ethical Concerns in Ethnographic Research

• Informed consent
• Privacy
• Harm
• Exploitation
Let’s do an Ethnography (1/5)

Topic : A story of Secondary School Inclusion

Background of Study
• There must be a better way of educating children with disabilities than a separate special education
system with its separate classes
Problem statement
• Although the momentum for inclusion of children with severe disabilities at the primary school level
was strengthened by research and clinical experience, there was little evidence to guide inclusion
efforts for students with severe disabilities at the secondary school level.
• The process of including students with severe disabilities in general education secondary school
classes has not been sufficiently studied so as to establish guidelines for practitioners
Let’s do an Ethnography (2/5)

Purpose of Study
• To examine the individual roles of the education professionals and parents during the first two years of
secondary school inclusion for a student with severe disabilities in a secondary school.
Research Objective
• To examine the beliefs, attitudes, and experiences of the educational professionals and parents in one case of
secondary school inclusion.
Research Question
1. How do those key individuals, parents and professionals (e.g., school administrators, special education
staff, general education teachers, AEA special education consultants) involved in the process of the
inclusion of a student with severe disabilities in general education secondary school classes define
inclusion?
2. How do they characterise their attitudes toward it?
3. What role did each of them play in preparing for the student’s inclusion?
Let’s do an Ethnography (3/5)

Scope of Study
• The study took place at this secondary school because inclusion of student with severe disabilities was
taking place there for the first time
• The student was 15-16 years old at the time of this study. He has severe disabilities which include
partial paralysis, a visual impairment and a moderate cognitive impairment caused by a traumatic
brain injury.
• For this study a total of 17 people were interviewed at least once over a period of two years.
• The individuals interviewed included two administrators, three special education staff members, eight
general education teachers, two Are Education Agency (AEA) special education consultants, and the
adoptive mother and father of the student with severe disabilities.
Let’s do an Ethnography (4/5)

Significance of Study
• It raises awareness among the people of the importance of school inclusion in educational system.
• It raises awareness among school administrators, special education staff, general education teachers,
Are Education Agency (AEA) special education consultants, and parents about how their goals and
expectations, training and experience, and ultimately successes that affect the implementation of high
school inclusion for any given student
Let’s do an Ethnography (6/5)

Limitation of Study
• This study gave representation of parents who were willing to participate and did not include those
solicited for participation but who did not respond. Those parent may reflect a different point-of-view.
• This study was limited in that it examined the reported perceptions and experiences of educators who
included students with severe disabilities in their classrooms.
• Corroborating data, such as classroom observations and specific student data were not collected as
part of this research.
• The findings from this study are limited to the one school district in a specific region of the country, it
cannot be generalised to greater population, thus no external validity
 • Form groups of three and think of
Class Task a topic for ethnographic research
and discuss its methodology with
the class