Ethnography is more than a tool for anthropologists. This discussion does not replace the many excellent, detailed references on data collection we refer to several at the end of this chapter. Ethnographic studies focus on large cultural groups of people who interact over time. What follows was my attempt to be clear from the outset regarding the purpose of the interview. The social worker assumes a position of informed notknowing, in which. Descriptive questions are the easiest to ask and they are used in all interviews.
This article focuses on another important qualitative methodology. Ethnography is a form of qualitative research that includes descriptions of people, places, languages, events, and products. This sample paper on sample essay on ethnographic interview immigrant experiences was uploaded by one our contributors and does not necessarily reflect how our professionals write our papers. An ethnographic study is one that comes from ethnographic research, a qualitative method where researchers completely immerse themselves in the lives, culture, or. This paper describes the influence of culture on the interview process and describes an approach to ethnographic interviewing of families of handicapped children. The clinical ethnographic interview cei was developed to provide a userfriendly, engaging, ethnographically sound and thorough exploration of distress and help seeking across the life course. The ethnographic interview ethnography is a form of qualitative research that includes descriptions of people, places, languages, events, and products. Ethnographic interviewing provides a means for the professionals to discover the culture of. If you would like this paper removed from our website, please contact us via our contact us page. Asking descriptive questions james spradley ethnographic interviewing involves two distinct but complementary processes. Ethnography definition, a branch of anthropology dealing with the scientific description of individual cultures. The method that sets anthropology apart from other disciplines is ethnography, the qualitative process of exploring in depth the whys and hows of human culture, behavior, and expression. Effects of culture on the interview process ethnographic interviewing provides a means for the professionals to discover the culture of the family their perceptions of the world, behaviors, values, and beliefs and their strengths. Ethnographic research definition of ethnographic research.
Ethnographic interviewing, they typically discover an enhanced ability to discuss various areas of difference and challenging topics with clients, peers, family members, and coworkers. No attempt is made to control variables within the setting for this could alter or destroy the phenomenon being studied. The text also teaches students how to analyze the data they collect, and how to write an ethnography. It is a pathway into understanding the cultural differences that make us what we are as human beings. The back grounds of many researchers, however, contain little training in. The four types of interview questions below were adapted from j. We incorporated a relatively unusual technique, the ethnographic interview. It is designed to explore cultural phenomena where the researcher observes society from the point of view of the subject of the study. Ethnographic interviews interviewing and observing users wg.
While an ethnographic approach to social research is no longer purely that of the cultural anthropologist, a more precise definition must be rooted in ethnographys disciplinary home of anthropology. Key definitions culture is the acquired learned knowledge that people use to generate behavior and interpret experience. The data is collected by means of observation, interviewing, listening, and immersion with the least amount of distortion and bias. Typical ethnographic research employs three kinds of data collection. Eliciting information fosters the development of rapport. Ethnographic interview informal, guided, or standardized for a onehour interview, plan 4 hours to transcribe notes, recordings, and add elaborations. What is specific about ethnographic research how the ethnographic research process proceeds what are the methodological and ethical principles of ethnographic research how to do ethnographic fieldwork how to analyze and interpret ethnographic research materials. The appendices include research questions and writing tasks. The ethnographic interview process ethnographic interviewing techniques improve our ability to assess family and child strengths and needs in an ecological framework and from the familys perspective. A dictionary definition provides a straightforward explanation of the term as the study of races oxford university press. Interviews can be conducted facetoface or over the. The practitioner is no longer the expert, but a learner. Explore the research methods terrain, read definitions of key terminology. This means you may have to listen to the tape more than once.
Example questions to ask in an ethnographic interview. There is a shift to a critical ethnography denzin and. Apr 14, 20 after you have completed the interview, you will need to listen to the interview and choose a theme or themes which emerged during the interview. Apr 22, 2019 ethnography is defined as both a social science research method and its final written product. Taiwan culture experience 1 ethnographic interview. Applying research techniques from the social sciences, in particular from anthropology, has a number of tangible benefits. Sample essay on ethnographic interview immigrant experiences. Asking the right questions to the right people in the right ways carol e.
A form of interviewing conducted in the context of a relationship with interviewees with whom the researcher has, through an ongoing presence, established relations of rapport and respect sufficient. As a method, ethnographic observation involves embedding oneself deeply and over the longterm in a field site of study in order to systemically document the everyday lives, behaviors, and interactions of a community of people. Spradley 19331982 was a professor of anthropology at macalester college from 1969. To insure that we are hearing from representative groups across. An ethnographic study of culture in the context of.
While there is certainly no exact template, i will share what i used for my semistructured interviews. An ethnographic interview is an informal interview that takes place in a naturalistic setting and is often the result of participant observation. Ethnographic analysis, or the study of ethnography, is a branch of the social sciences that involves the direct study of people and cultures. The explanation was comprised of a variety of ethnographic elements that were defined by james spradley. Contemporary ethnography is based almost entirely on fieldwork and requires the complete immersion of the anthropologist in the culture and everyday life of the people who are the subject of the study. This chapter provides a brief discussion of the primary and the secondary methods to be considered in designing a qualitative study. It involves participant observation and sometimes immersion in a culture or group in order to experience mores and rituals. The ethnographer goes beyond reporting events and details of experience. Spradley wrote or edited 20 books on ethnography and qualitative research including participant observation and the ethnographic interview 1979, wadsworth thomson learning. Ethnography consists of inductive, interactive and repeated collection of.
Researchers who are engaging in ethnography or acting as both participants and observers within a given community or context may utilize ethnographic interviews to find out more about the lives and. Ethnography is defined as both a social science research method and its final written product. Ethnography is defined as the art and science used to describe a. Definition a form of interviewing conducted in the context of a relationship with interviewees with whom the researcher has, through an ongoing presence, established relations of rapport and respect sufficient. Thus, ethnography may be defined as both a qualitative research process or method one conducts an ethnography and product the outcome of this process is an ethnography whose aim is cultural interpretation. Interview fiveseven people about how they identify themselves ethnically. Ethnographic methods are a means of tapping local points of view, households and community funds of knowledge, a means of identifying significant categories of. The interview usually occurs in a oneonone setting with a recorder present. The research demands close, face to face interaction within the researcher and the participants. The ethnographer goes beyond reporting events and details of.
At first i offered an explanation about the interview to informants as they first arrived for the interview. Ethnography from greek ethnos folk, people, nation and grapho i write is the systematic study of people and cultures. Subjects are researched in a natural setting, rather than a laboratory. The four components of an ethnographic interview include. The definitions of an unstructured interview are various. Ethnographic interview, anthropology virtual classroom, soas university of london. Ethnographic research consist of the following key features. Most ethnographers do not actually live with the people they study, for example, residing in the same place and spending time with. Ethnography is a set of qualitative methods that are used in social sciences that focus on the observation of social practices and interactions. The ethnography, the book, was also called a description of the culture of the community, although the culture focus was more characteristic of work in the usa than in europe.
Pdf teaching notethe ethnographic interview as a method in. Plan for this time immediately after the interview. It will be of interest to academics and students across the social sciences but is particularly directed towards novice researchers. The previous articles there were 2 before this 1 in this series discussed several methodological approaches commonly used by qualitative researchers in the health professions. Ethnographic interview questions the four types of interview questions below were adapted from j.
Ethnographic interviewing barbara sherman heyl page 369 researchers in an everincreasing number of disciplinary and applied fields have been turning to ethnographic interviewing to help gather rich, detailed data directly from. Continuing on in my quest to share my unt applied anthropology thesis experience, today i will be discussing questions to ask in an ethnographic interview. In this example, ethnographic research should probably be considered. The ethnographic focal point may include intensive language and culture learning, intensive study of a single field or domain, and a blend of historical, observational, and interview methods. Cultural ethnographic interview paper 1 nhi banh professor. This midterm cultural ethnographic paper is a report on an organization, family or group that you picked tointerview and report the answers to the majority of the questions listed below. To help you prepare for this experience, read the following selection from the ethnographic interview by james spradley. One of the main advantages associated with ethnographic research is that ethnography can help identify and analyse unexpected issues. Culture and ethnography the introduction to part 1 discusses the concept of culture and the nature of ethnographic fieldwork with special emphasis on the following definitions. From academia to intervention of knowing and understanding that are produced through ethnographic practice. Lecture on ethnography, qualitative research, ethnography, culture, research, discovery, naturalism, exploratory, rapport, covert, gatekeeper, marginality, how to. Key characteristics ethnographic education research.
An interview is a conversation for gathering information. Ethnography immerses the project team in participants lives and enables a relationship to develop with research participants over the period of study. Organizational ethnography brings contributions from leading scholars in organizational studies that help to develop an ethnographic perspective on organizations and organizational research. Ethnographic interviews always begin with a sense of uncertainty, a feeling of appre hension. You may wish to include some of the same or similar types of questions when doing your interview to learn more about the experiences that your interviewee had while living in another culture. While this assessment was designed for mental distress, the questions could be used for any distressful condition. Conducting observational research deakin university. An introduction to focused ethnography iiqm 20 gina higginbottom, rn, phd. Taiwan culture experience vntge jayne clark atlanta university communication cultural diversity, professor howell march 14, 2011 2 preconceptions culture is defined as the traditions, customs, norms, beliefs, values and thought patterning passed down from generation to generation jandt 2010. You will be acting like a pseudoanthropologist in the field conducting an ethnographic interview see book for description of this process, and it is an important research effort of this course. Cultural ethnographic interview and paper superioressaypapers. This mutual exploration is an important part of the ethnographic process.
Mar 30, 2016 2009, ethnographic interviews interviewing and observing users, available at. For generations, participant observation has been the prime source of data for cultural anthropologists. The ethnographic interview is a technique used in qualitative research. Ethnography southern illinois university edwardsville. Qualitative interviewing techniques are capable of providing valuable insight. Instead, they rely on social interaction between the researcher and the. Doing sensory ethnography 1 situating sensory ethnography.
Aug 15, 2018 ethnographic analysis is the study of peoples and cultures from a groundlevel view. The ethnographic interview, participant observation james p. Ethnographic research this chapter will provide information on. The data is collected by means of observation, interviewing, listening, and immersion with the least amount of distortion.
A read is counted each time someone views a publication summary such as the title, abstract, and list of authors, clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the fulltext. Ethnographic interview, anthropology virtual classroom, soas university of london duration. Quick tips for ethnographic interviewing a guide for college students the big picture. The use of ethnographic techniques in educational research. A research interview involves an interviewer, who coordinates the process of the conversation and asks questions, and an interviewee, who responds to those questions. Rapport encourages informants to talk about their culture.
The claim processing supported by this system of systems is itself a highly complex process. Taiwan culture experience vntge jayne clark atlanta university communication cultural diversity, professor howell march 14, 2011 2 preconceptions culture is defined as the traditions, customs, norms, beliefs, values and thought patterning passed down from generation to. Using the ethnographic interview for enhancing critical pedagogical practice. The purpose of ethnographic analysis is to allow scientists to observe their subjects on the ground level, interacting with them as another person would instead of creating a scientistsubject relationship. Here spradley provides a sequence of steps for conducting a successful ethnographic interview that will lead to a rich description and, hopefully, greater understanding. Produces an accurate reflection of perspectives and behaviours. This is true for both experienced ethnographers and the beginner. Ethnographic interviewing the sage dictionary of social research methods search form. A userfriendly guide to the cultural formulation of distress and help seeking. In ethnographic research, scholars study groups of people by living among them.
Ethnography also labeled the booklength report that an anthropologist wrote, using intuitive methods of analysis called immersion in the data. A guide for novice researchers abstract the authors present how to construct a mini ethnographic case study design with the benefit of an ethnographic approach bounded within a case study protocol that is more feasible for a student researcher with limited time and finances. The ethnographic interview is a practical, selfteaching handbook which guides students step by step through interview techniques commonly used to research ethnography and culture. Ethnography, descriptive study of a particular human society or the process of making such a study. A theme is defined by the client and interpreted by you. Ethnography, emerging from anthropology, and adopted by sociologists, is a qualitative methodology that lends itself to the study of the beliefs, social interactions, and behaviours of small societies, involving participation and observation over a period of time, and the. To reiterate the definition of ethnography i have suggested elsewhere. Ethnography, spradley explains in this preface, offers all of us the chance to step outside our narrow cultural backgrounds, to set aside our socially inherited ethnocentrism. An ethnographic study of culture in the context of organizational change loizos heracleous national university of singapore the author employed an ethnographic research approach, combined with a clinical element, to explore the nature and role of culture in the context of organizational change. Ethnography definition of ethnography ethnography is a method of research in which the researcher gathers data within a natural setting that involves a dynamic network of interrelated variables.
The ethnographic interview 1979, from which this selection is taken, provides guidelines for students to do ethnography without years of training. Correspondingly, the guidelines for ethnographic inteniewing have been broadly defined with. We do this by asking the client to be a cultural guide. As ethnographic interviews are conducted, researchers will often shift back and forth between asking questions and either observing or taking. It provides background for those who will encounter this methodology in their reading rather than instructions for carrying out such. The use of ethnographic techniques in educational research stephen wilson center for new schools there is a growing interest in the use of anthropological techniques in educational and psychological research. This normally involves residence among ones informants for a long time, typically a year or two, sometimes ten or more. Ethnographic interview essay the goal of ethnographic interviewing is to understand and appreciate experiences and worldviews of people who are different from us.