Ethnographic and Observational Research PDF

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Research Design and Analysis

Dr Emily Nicholls

Ethnographic and Observational Research First slide- Aims and Objectives  Define structured and unstructured observation and appreciate the differences between them  Define ethnographic research, including differences between overt and covert ethnographic observation  Consider relative strengths/limitations and ethical issues associated with observational methods and ethnography Next slide- Content 1. Observation as Method 2. Structured Observation 3. Unstructured Observation 4. Ethnography Next slide- Observation as Method (1)  Empiricism: knowledge based on experience, evidence and observations  Long history in “natural” sciences: o Astronomy o Physics o Biology o Zoology o Anthropology  In social sciences, 2 main types: o Structured/systematic o Unstructured Next slide- Observation in social sciences Observation may be:  Overt: researcher presence and role is known to participants  Covert: researcher presence and role NOT known to participants Researcher role likely to be:  Non-participant/naturalistic Next slide- Structured observation (2) Looking for something:  Typically associated with positivist epistemologies  Predetermined (overt) behaviour  Observation schedules  Systematic therefore replicable  Quantifiable/quantitative data  Good for testing a hypothesis but limited to description

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Research Design and Analysis

Dr Emily Nicholls

Next slide- Unstructured Observation (3) Looking at something:  Typically associated with interpretivist epistemological framework  Exploration of social setting and members  Behaviour recorded and meaning derived directly from data  Unstructured therefore not replicable  Qualitative data “The way people move dress, interact and use space” -Context (Mulhall, 2003:307) Next slide- Strengths of observation Limitations of other methods?  Reponses rates  Subject’s awareness  Subject’s honesty First-hand experience/context Triangulation Next slide- Limitations of Observation  Generalisability?  Reliability  Confirmation bias  Researcher bias if overt  Ethical issues if covert (e.g. deception, lack of consent?)  Can we understand participant motivation, desires, intentions and meanings behind actions? Next slide- Ethnographic Research (4)  Studying people in naturally occurring settings and attempting to discover the social meanings of their actions  Researcher participants directly in the setting and in the activities  Researcher may spend long periods in the field- immersive  Fieldwork often involves collection of detailed fieldnotes and observations  Involves the ‘the ethnographer participating, overtly or covertly, in people’s daily lives for an extended period of time, watching what happens, listening to what is said, asking questions- in fact, collecting whatever data are available to throw light on the issues that are the focus of the research’ (Hammersley and Atkinson, 1995:1) Next slide- Data is likely to be?  Based on extended participations in aspects of lives of those you study  First-hand, intensive, high volume of data  Detailed, rich descriptions of daily living and also events, gatherings, rituals, public and private “thick description” (Geertz)  May also involve mopping spaces, illustrations, researcher diary, statistical or archival data

Next slide- Strengths of Ethnographic Research 2

Research Design and Analysis

Dr Emily Nicholls

'Ethnographic techniques of inquiry provide the advantage of placing the researcher directly into the field of action. She or he thus gains first-hand knowledge, which is embodied, of what it is to be involved in a particular activity’ (Andrews, 2009; 169)  ‘topics which involve examining processes of change, examining negotiated lived experiences, topics which see culture as constructed and reconstructed through actors’ participation’ are especially suited to participant observation and ethnography (O’Reilly, 2005: 29) Next slide- Limitations of ethnographic research  Access issues?  Time-consuming for researcher and produces huge amounts of data  Time-consuming and invasive for participants?  How / when / what to record? Next slide- Ethical issues  Covert research – deception and inability to consent  Overly intrusive?  Researcher safety  Power relations in fieldwork:  Whom do you talk to? Whom do you listen to?  What is your purpose? Advocacy, sympathies, taking sides – ‘going native’  Representation  Writing up – whose voices get heard? Who is silenced?  Inevitably partial knowledge Next slide- Conclusion  Covert and overt observation typically allows us to obtain quantitative (structured observation) or qualitative (unstructured observation) data about practices, actions and behaviours in settings where the researcher does not intervene  Ethnographic research is more immersive and typically involves the researcher participating and engaging in aspects of participants’ lives  Whilst this may produce very rich and detailed data on the realities of people’s lives, ethnography may raise complex ethical questions around the relationships between researcher and participants 

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