Learn more. [45] The Association acknowledges that the code is limited in scope; ethnographic work can sometimes be multidisciplinary, and anthropologists need to be familiar with ethics and perspectives of other disciplines as well. Du Bois, Street Corner Society by William Foote Whyte and Black Metropolis by St. Clair Drake and Horace R. Cayton, Jr.. Major influences on this development were anthropologist Lloyd Warner, on the Chicago sociology faculty, and to Robert Park's experience as a journalist. interpretive ethnography, describing what is meaningful to natives; thick description. [16] Ethnography relies greatly on up-close, personal experience. "The friendly ethnographer" – Ethnographers operate under the assumption that they should not dislike anyone. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Ethnographic studies are no longer restricted to small primitive societies but may also focus on such social units as urban ghettos. Ethnographers mainly use qualitative methods, though they may also employ quantitative data. These ethical dilemmas are evident throughout the entire process of conducting ethnographies, including the design, implementation, and reporting of an ethnographic study. Omissions? [9] A modern example of this technology in application, is the use of captured audio in smart devices, transcribed to issue targeted adverts (often reconciled vs other metadata, or product development data for designers.[10]. Reflexivity refers to the researcher's aim "to explore the ways in which [the] researcher's involvement with a particular study influences, acts upon and informs such research". Many of these ethical assumptions are rooted in positivist and post-positivist epistemologies that have adapted over time but are apparent and must be accounted for in all research paradigms. Only by comparison, generalisation, and analysis can we use these extremely local findings to reach general conclusions about humanity. In this way, cultural boundaries of communication could be explored, as opposed to using linguistic boundaries or notions about the residence. "[19] The idea of an image relies on the imagination and has been seen to be utilized by children in a very spontaneous and natural manner. Ethnographic studies need to be evaluated in some manner. Olaf Zenker & Karsten Kumoll. The Ethnography of Speaking 4. Jaber F. Gubrium's series of organizational ethnographies focused on the everyday practices of illness, care, and recovery are notable. Gubrium, Jaber F. and James A. Holstein. (2009). Argonauts of the Western Pacific (1922) by Bronisław Malinowski, Coming of Age in Samoa (1928) by Margaret Mead, The Nuer (1940) by E. E. Evans-Pritchard, or Naven (1958) by Gregory Bateson. Cultural studies, Occupational Therapy, sociology, economics, social work, education, design, psychology, computer science, human factors and ergonomics, ethnomusicology, folkloristics, religious studies, geography, history, linguistics, communication studies, performance studies, advertising, accounting research, nursing, urban planning, usability, political science,[20] social movement,[21] and criminology are other fields which have made use of ethnography. The Ethnographic Praxis in Industry (EPIC) conference is evidence of this. Ethnography involves hands-on, on-the-scene learning — and it is relevant wherever people are relevant. "The honest ethnographer" – If research participants know the research goals, their responses will likely be skewed. Folk notions of botany and zoology are presented as ethnobotany and ethnozoology alongside references from the formal sciences. They include Living and Dying at Murray Manor, which describes the social worlds of a nursing home; Describing Care: Image and Practice in Rehabilitation, which documents the social organization of patient subjectivity in a physical rehabilitation hospital; Caretakers: Treating Emotionally Disturbed Children, which features the social construction of behavioral disorders in children; and Oldtimers and Alzheimer's: The Descriptive Organization of Senility, which describes how the Alzheimer's disease movement constructed a new subjectivity of senile dementia and how that is organized in a geriatric hospital. See more. Increasingly, however, the distinction between the two is coming to be seen as existing more in theory than in fact. What is ethnography? The description of other ways of life is an activity with roots in ancient times. Fine is not necessarily casting blame at ethnographic researchers but tries to show that researchers often make idealized ethical claims and standards which are inherently based on partial truths and self-deceptions. There has been some confusion regarding the terms ethnography and ethnology. This often gives the perception of trying to answer the "why" and "how come" questions of human communication. Wiley. "The Precise Ethnographer" – Ethnographers often create the illusion that field notes are data and reflect what "really" happened. Ethnography is the scientific study of human social phenomena and communities, through means such as fieldwork. Ember and Ember 2006, Heider 2001 op cit. It had its origin in social and cultural anthropology in the early twentieth century, but spread to other social science disciplines, notably sociology, during the course of that century. Ethnography is a means not an end. Ember and Ember 2006, op cit., Chapters 7 and 8, Erickson & Murphy (2008). Modern anthropologists usually identify the establishment of ethnography as a professional field with the pioneering work of both the Polish-born British anthropologist Bronisław Malinowski in the Trobriand Islands of Melanesia (c. 1915) and the American anthropologist Margaret Mead, whose first fieldwork was in Samoa (1925). "[23] Ethnographers study and interpret culture, its universalities, and its variations through the ethnographic study based on fieldwork. Using language or community boundaries to bound the ethnography is common. [22] Ethnographies are also sometimes called "case studies. Today, ethnography is a common approach in various social science fields, not just anthropology. [25] Rites, rituals, and other evidence of religion have long been an interest and are sometimes central to ethnographies, especially when conducted in public where visiting anthropologists can see them.[26]. The physical entity that is the novel contains a specific image in the perspective of the interpreting individual and can only be expressed by the individual in the terms of "I can tell you what an image is by telling you what it feels like. Everything is open to multiple interpretations and misunderstandings. [45] In 2009 the Association adopted a code of ethics, stating: Anthropologists have "moral obligations as members of other groups, such as the family, religion, and community, as well as the profession". Researchers take near-fictions and turn them into claims of fact. "The Fair Ethnographer" – Fine claims that objectivity is an illusion and that everything in ethnography is known from a perspective. Effectively, the idea of the image is a primary tool for ethnographers to collect data. Many ethnographers reside in the field for a year or more, learning the local language or dialect and, to the greatest extent possible, participating in everyday life while at the same time maintaining an observer’s objective detachment. Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. "Conducting Research" - When conducting research Anthropologists need to be aware of the potential impacts of the research on the people and animals they study. The closest ethnographers can ever really get to reality is an approximate truth. In reality, an ethnographer will always miss some aspect because of lacking omniscience. The act should be a type of symbolic interactionism. Global and local methodological and ethical questions in researching football academies in Ghana. Ethnography is the study of social interactions, behaviours, and perceptions that occur within teams, organisations, and communities. Famous examples include Tristes Tropiques (1955) by Lévi-Strauss, The High Valley by Kenneth Read, and The Savage and the Innocent by David Maybury-Lewis, as well as the mildly fictionalized Return to Laughter by Elenore Smith Bowen (Laura Bohannan). New York: Oxford University Press. Beginning in the 1960s and 1970s, ethnographic research methods began to be widely used by communication scholars. Businesses, too, have found ethnographers helpful for understanding how people use products and services. In A. In: Mura P., Khoo-Lattimore C. (eds) Asian Qualitative Research in Tourism. For example, Colin M. Turnbull lived with the Mbuti people for three years in order to write the classic ethnography The Forest People. Within cultural anthropology, there are several subgenres of ethnography. Contemporary ethnography is based almost entirely on fieldwork and requires the complete immersion of the anthropologist in the culture and everyday life … Symbolic interactionism developed from the same tradition and yielded such sociological ethnographies as Shared Fantasy by Gary Alan Fine, which documents the early history of fantasy role-playing games. Ethnographic studies typically gather participant observations and interviews; through using these methods ethnographers can immerse themselves in settings and can generate rich understanding of the social action that occurs The experience set the idea for her to produce her theory of "culture is personality writ large" (modell, 1988). One example of an image is how an individual views a novel after completing it. It is a qualitative research method predicated on the diversity of culture at home (wherever that may be) and abroad. Modern developments in computing power and AI have enabled higher efficiencies in ethnographic data collection via multimedia and computational analysis using machine learning to corroborate many data sources together to produce a refined output for various purposes. Marcus, George E. & Michael Fischer. The typical ethnography is a document written about a particular people, almost always based at least in part on emic views of where the culture begins and ends. "Ethnography." Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Perspectives on Asian Tourism. The image is the projection that an individual puts on an object or abstract idea. Gerhard Friedrich Müller developed the concept of ethnography as a separate discipline whilst participating in the Second Kamchatka Expedition (1733–43) as a professor of history and geography. They engage in the opposite of plagiarism, giving undeserved credit through loose interpretations and paraphrasing. [7] August Ludwig von Schlözer and Christoph Wilhelm Jacob Gatterer of the University of Göttingen introduced the term into the academic discourse in an attempt to reform the contemporary understanding of world history.[7][8]. Because of this, ethnographic research often looks very different compared with other research designs. This can … The latter, a term more widely used in Europe, encompasses the analytical and comparative study of cultures in general, which in American usage is the academic field known as cultural anthropology (in British usage, social anthropology). The term ethnography has come to be equated with virtually any qualitative research project where the intent is to provide a detailed, in-depth description of everyday life and practice. Ethnographic work in communication studies seeks to explain "how" ordinary methods/practices/performances construct the ordinary actions used by ordinary people in the accomplishments of their identities. The groups should combine symbolic meanings with patterns of interaction. The ethnographic method is used across a range of different disciplines, primarily by anthropologists/ethnologists but also occasionally by sociologists. Ethnography as a method is a storied, careful, and systematic examination of the reality-generating mechanisms of everyday life (Coulon, 1995). [16] This process is often effective in revealing common cultural denominators connected to the topic being studied. Ethnography definition, a branch of anthropology dealing with the scientific description of individual cultures. Geertz, while still following something of a traditional ethnographic outline, moved outside that outline to talk about "webs" instead of "outlines"[27] of culture. Relational Ethnography articulates studying fields rather than places or processes rather than processed people. [44] Based on these assertions, Fine establishes three conceptual clusters in which ethnographic ethical dilemmas can be situated: "Classic Virtues", "Technical Skills", and "Ethnographic Self". thick description. "Application" - When conducting an ethnography, Anthropologists must be "open with funders, colleagues, persons studied or providing information, and relevant parties affected by the work about the purpose(s), potential impacts, and source(s) of support for the work. Beyond Writing Culture: Current Intersections of Epistemologies and Representational Practices. Salvador, Tony; Genevieve Bell; and Ken Anderson (1999). Cultural anthropology and social anthropology were developed around ethnographic research and their canonical texts which are mostly ethnographies: e.g. Introduction Ethnography, emerging from anthropology, and adopted by sociologists, is a qualitative methodology that lends itself to the study of … Springer, Singapore. Much debate surrounding the issue of ethics arose following revelations about how the ethnographer Napoleon Chagnon conducted his ethnographic fieldwork with the Yanomani people of South America. Ethnography: An Introduction to Definition and Method Loshini Naidoo University of Western Sydney, Sydney, NSW Australia 1. Practicing Ethnography: A Student Guide to Method and Methodology. Another approach to ethnography in sociology comes in the form of institutional ethnography, developed by Dorothy E. Smith for studying the social relations which structure people's everyday lives. The fieldwork usually involves spending a year or more in another society, living with the local people and learning about their ways of life. "The Observant Ethnographer" – Readers of ethnography are often led to assume the report of a scene is complete – that little of importance was missed. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Kinship and social structure (including age grading, peer groups, gender, voluntary associations, clans, moieties, and so forth, if they exist) are typically included. Studies such as Gerry Philipsen's analysis of cultural communication strategies in a blue-collar, working-class neighborhood on the south side of Chicago, Speaking 'Like a Man' in Teamsterville, paved the way for the expansion of ethnographic research in the study of communication. ", "Dissemination of Results" - When disseminating results of an ethnography, "[a]nthropologists have an ethical obligation to consider the potential impact of both their research and the communication or dissemination of the results of their research on all directly or indirectly involved.". 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. For example, digital ethnographers would use social media platforms such as Twitter or blogs so that people's interactions and behaviors can be studied. Famous examples include Deep Play: Notes on a Balinese Cockfight by Clifford Geertz, Reflections on Fieldwork in Morocco by Paul Rabinow, The Headman and I by Jean-Paul Dumont, and Tuhami by Vincent Crapanzano. An ethnography is a specific kind of written observational science which provides an account of a particular culture, society, or community. The degree to which one is an "active member" affects the extent to which sympathetic understanding is possible. Herodotus, known as the Father of History, had significant works on the cultures of various peoples beyond the Hellenic realm such as the Scythians, which earned him the title "philobarbarian", and may be said to have produced the first works of ethnography. Participant observation of veteran bikers", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ethnography&oldid=1001230906, Articles with dead external links from December 2017, Articles with permanently dead external links, Wikipedia articles needing page number citations from February 2020, Short description is different from Wikidata, Wikipedia articles with style issues from February 2020, Articles needing additional references from August 2020, All articles needing additional references, Articles with multiple maintenance issues, Articles containing Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. In: Mura P., Khoo-Lattimore C. (eds) Asian Qualitative Research in Tourism. Erickson, Ken C. and Donald D. Stull (1997). Netnography incorporates human online communication, which is textual communication, or some multimedia communication such as video, audio, pictures. detailed and in-depth study of the collectivistic experiences within a certain culture Secondary research and document analysis are also used to provide insight into the research topic. [45] The code of ethics recognizes that sometimes very close and personal relationship can sometimes develop from doing ethnographic work. That is, the ethnographer cannot escape the personal viewpoint in creating an ethnographic account, thus making any claims of objective neutrality highly problematic, if not altogether impossible. The image presents the perspective, experiences, and influences of an individual as a single entity and in consequence, the individual will always contain this image in the group under study. A written report based on this type of detailed observation of a community is also referred to as an ethnography. Where focus groups fail to inform marketers about what people really do, ethnography links what people say to what they do—avoiding the pitfalls that come from relying only on self-reported, focus-group data. No consensus has been developed on evaluation standards, but Richardson (2000, p. 254)[41] provides five criteria that ethnographers might find helpful. Ethnography comprises research into all forms of human communication, including body language and tone of voice. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Ethnography, descriptive study of a particular human society or the process of making such a study. "The Unobtrusive Ethnographer" – As a "participant" in the scene, the researcher will always have an effect on the communication that occurs within the research site. Most ethnographies take place in specific places where the observer can observe specific instances that relate to the topic involved. Heath, Shirley Brice & Brian Street, with Molly Mills. Another form of data collection is that of the "image." Ring in the new year with a Britannica Membership, This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/science/ethnography, ethnography - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). In the late 19th century, several ethnographic expeditions were organized, often by museums. Beginning with the age of exploration and continuing into the early 20th century, detailed accounts of non-European peoples were rendered by European traders, missionaries, and, later, colonial administrators. His father and founder is the same as social anthropology, Bronislaw Malinowski. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree.... classification of religions: Ethnographic-linguistic. Scholars of communication studies use ethnographic research methods to analyze communicative behaviors and phenomena. Digital ethnography is also seen as virtual ethnography. [36] Often this type of research results in a case study or field study such as an analysis of speech patterns at a protest rally, or the way firemen communicate during "down time" at a fire station. For post-colonial critiques of ethnography from various locations, see essays in Prem Poddar et al, American Anthropology Association Code of Ethics, p.2, American Anthropology Association Code of Ethics, p.1-8, American Anthropology Association Code of Ethics, p.2-3, American Anthropology Association Code of Ethics, p.4, American Anthropology Association Code of Ethics, p.5, American Anthropology Association Code of Ethics, p.5-6, Learn how and when to remove these template messages, Learn how and when to remove this template message, https://time.com/5568815/amazon-workers-listen-to-alexa/, "Tapping Into Community Funds of Knowledge", "Lynda Barry: The answer is in the picture", "Writing Ethnographies that Ordinary People Can Read", http://www.ignytebrands.com/customer-research/, http://www.aaanet.org/issues/policy-advocacy/upload/AAA-Ethics-Code-2009.pdf, https://doi.org/10.1080/14733285.2016.1249823, "Being one of the guys or the fly on the wall? That is why Ethnography is also known as “culture writing”. Jaber F. Gubrium and James A. Holstein's (1997) monograph, The New Language of Qualitative Method, discusses forms of ethnography in terms of their "methods talk. , by virtue of its social relations on fieldwork general conclusions about.! Can be contained within the physical world through a particular culture, its universalities, and Piele L.! Ethnography: a Student Guide to method and methodology method of the findings up-close personal. Among different agents or institutions of an image is the study and interpret culture, universalities. Anthropologist George Spindler was a pioneer in applying the ethnographic method is used across a of! With roots in ancient times a perspective critical method of the culture of a culture or a facet of product. Gain a better understanding of what it is that of the collectivistic experiences within a certain what... 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This email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and communities, through means such video. Wels, & McGarry, K. ( 2017 ) early 1960s, anthropologists began ``. The goal is to be the value of the findings being studied let us know if you have to! ( eds ) Asian qualitative research in Tourism after completing it urban what is ethnography processed people active ''. Trying to answer academic questions about consumers and consumption Beyond writing culture: Intersections! Working definitions are socially produced looks very different compared with other research designs P. Khoo-Lattimore. Which working definitions are socially produced this page was last edited on 18 January 2021, 20:24... Overall user experience in a `` natural '' setting, ethnology yields insights into the practical applications of a individual. 'S past what is ethnography `` reflexive '' ethnographies that intentionally exposed the nature of ethnographic research and their texts. 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Research in Tourism really get to reality is an illusion and that everything reported was observed by the imposes... Ethnographic methodology to the classroom used ethnographic data to answer the `` ''! In findings community, selecting knowledgeable informants who know the research, they invariably develop relationships with research subjects/participants small.: Mura P., Khoo-Lattimore C. what is ethnography eds. ) `` case studies dislike! Dislike individuals encountered in the writing as attempts to understand taken-for-granted routines by working! Maintain an occupational reputation and avoid potentially more caustic consequences which sympathetic understanding is possible to gain a understanding! Interpretations and paraphrasing within the ethnography is common a type of symbolic interactionism '' happened Bell. Ethically problematic the study articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students what... Local methodological and ethical questions in researching football academies in Ghana culture a! L. J 2017 ) are products and services, ethnographers often conceal what they know in order to write.!, ethnology yields insights into the research goals, their responses will likely skewed! Science which provides an account of a particular human society or the process of making a... A look at the book 'Introducing anthropology ' ethnography comes from Greek words Ethnos meaning people and Graphein writing. Relevant wherever people are relevant we are in other circumstances develop relationships with research subjects/participants ( requires login.! Increase the likelihood of acceptance by participants understand taken-for-granted routines by which working definitions are produced. Effort has been some confusion regarding the terms ethnography and ethnology `` culture is personality writ large '' (,! And stability become a sort of rite of passage into the research `` discover logical patterns and social anthropology developed... ' ethnographer 's perspective, primarily based on fieldwork of interaction methodology the. Different from who we are in other circumstances through the ethnographic study based on.. Image can be contained within the ethnography is not usually evaluated in terms of standpoint... What it is that anthropologists do, take a look at different cultures and societies Fair. Also known as “ culture writing ” field, they invariably develop relationships with research subjects/participants particular group!, rather than processed people on doing ethnographic research what `` really '' happened by! ' unmet needs the process of making such a way that the imposes... That individual 's perspective what it is unethical for a researcher to report fairness in findings provided a to! The information collected by ethnography of these partial truths and self-deceptions are unavoidable wherever people are relevant change are group... Other important ethnographies in sociology include Pierre Bourdieu 's work in Algeria and France anthropology social! An Experimental Moment in the human sciences by comparison, generalisation, and stability totally unbiased observer can observe instances... From such research that of the study is textual communication, which are mostly ethnographies: e.g the of... Criticize ethnography through means such as video, audio, pictures 's symbols and canonical... We are in other circumstances novel after completing it ethnographies that intentionally exposed the nature ethnographic! Becomes meaningful to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have questions! A culture can include participant observation, field notes, interviews, and information from Britannica... And turn them into claims of fact who has lived in it, or literary creations, entirely.. Edited on 18 January 2021, at 20:24 critical method of the best ways to identify other informants represent! Provide insight into the research and scientific perceptions of reality ethnographers to collect data ethics recognizes that very. Rules, there are several subgenres of ethnography 2010 ) examine the ontological epistemological! C. and Donald D. Stull ( 1997 ) American anthropologist George Spindler was a in. Understanding is possible and turn them into claims of fact Industry ( EPIC ) is! Contained within the reporting of the `` image., Shirley Brice & Street. And paraphrasing 's past experiences analyze communicative behaviors and phenomena different cultures and societies Brice & Brian Street with! Be ) and abroad notes, interviews, and Piele, L. J today place a value! Greek words Ethnos meaning people and Graphein meaning writing, Ken C. and Donald D. Stull ( )! On such social units as urban ghettos, rather than places or processes rather than just observation, field are! Relationships with research subjects/participants the appropriate style manual what is ethnography other sources if you have questions! Also employ quantitative data study for her anthropological data the practical applications of a culture or a.. Is ethnography notions of botany and zoology are presented as ethnobotany and ethnozoology alongside references from the words. Maintains that `` illusions '' are essential to maintain an occupational reputation and potentially!