Ethnographic Research PDF

Research Methodology and Skills Ethnographic Research Building Competence. Crossing Borders. Prof. Dr. Anna Lupina-Wegener; Dr. Jeremy Dela Cruz [email protected] Agenda 0 Introduction...

Research Methodology and Skills Ethnographic Research Building Competence. Crossing Borders. Prof. Dr. Anna Lupina-Wegener; Dr. Jeremy Dela Cruz [email protected] Agenda 0 Introduction 1 Features of Ethnographic Research 2 Ethnography as a Research Methodology 3 “Doing” Ethnography 4 Writing an Ethnography 5 Methodological Considerations 2 C3IB | Prof. Dr. Anna Lupina-Wegener 6 Summary Session Learning By the end of this session, you will be able to… Objectives 1. Understand how ethnography complements traditional IB research methods. 2. Explain the principles of ethnography and applications in IB contexts. 3. Apply ethnographic research methods by conducting participant observation and field note-taking.. 4. Analyze ethnographic data by identifying patterns, evaluating contextual influences, and reflecting on researcher bias and positionality. 5. Create ethnographic reports by synthesizing findings and employing different writing styles, including realist, confessional, and impressionist narratives. 3 C3IB | Prof. Dr. Anna Lupina-Wegener Agenda 0 Introduction 1 Features of Ethnographic Research 2 Ethnography as a Research Methodology 3 “Doing” Ethnography 4 Writing an Ethnography 5 Methodological Considerations 4 C3IB | Prof. Dr. Anna Lupina-Wegener 6 Summary Features of 1. Participant observation (immersion in community Ethnographic life, detailed fieldwork, rapport) or participating Research actor (auto-ethnography). 2. Thick (ethnographic interpretation vs. thin (surface-level) description; documenting social behaviors. 3. Variety of styles in reporting of the results. 4. Implications for IB – capturing the cultural context. 5 C3IB | Prof. Dr. Anna Lupina-Wegener Agenda 0 Introduction 1 Features of Ethnographic Research 2 Ethnography as a Research Methodology 3 “Doing” Ethnography 4 Writing an Ethnography 5 Methodological Considerations 6 C3IB | Prof. Dr. Anna Lupina-Wegener 6 Summary  Ethnography – turning point by Bronislaw Malinowski (1884 – 1942) “The fieldworker must learn the meaning of actions, words, and expressions from the actors themselves.” “To understand a social system, one must live in it, observe it from within, and see how it functions in practice.” 7 C3IB | Prof. Dr. Anna Lupina-Wegener Ethnographic Research Activities Sangasubna, 2001 Before Problem Selecting a Gaining Formulation Setting Access During Presenting Gathering Yourself Data After Leaving the Preparing Field Data 8 C3IB | Prof. Dr. Anna Lupina-Wegener Before… 1. ls the issue of your research accessible to Sangasubna, 2001 observation? 2. Where will it “happen”, which type of situation or interaction will make it “visible?” 3. Which other methods (e.g., in/formal interviews, etc.) will you need for studying your issue? 4. lf your issue has to do with virtual communication, how and where would you find it for a virtual ethnography? 5. How will you design your relation to the field and its members-participation or just observation? 6. How will you manage ethical issues like informed consent in your observation? 7. What is important to document in field notes as the data in your research? 9 C3IB | Prof. Dr. Anna Lupina-Wegener During There are three modes of data collection Ethnographic Data 1. Observation: Participant observation is unique in Collection that it combines the researcher’s participation in 1Fetterman, 1998; Angrosino, 2007 the lives of the people under study while also maintaining a professional distance 2. Interviewing: Interviewing is the process of directing a conversation to collect information 3. Archival research: The analysis of existing materials stored for research service or other purposes officially and unofficially 10 C3IB | Prof. Dr. Anna Lupina-Wegener Interviews Types of questions: Fetterman, 1998 1. Survey or Grand tour : designed to elicit a broad picture of the participant’s world; map the cultural landscape; inform a global understanding. 2. Specific: probe further into an emergent or established category of meaning or activity; Refine and shape that understanding 3. Open-ended: allows participants to interpret the question as they see it; often used in the discovery phase of a research project 4. Close-ended: useful in quantifying behavior patterns; often used during conformational periods of a research project 11 C3IB | Prof. Dr. Anna Lupina-Wegener During Gathering & Recording Information Singleton & Straits, 2005 - Running description: This is the record of the day’s observations. The objective is to record accurately what you observe. You should also avoid analyzing persons or events while in the field because there is no time and to watch for? The setting, the people, individual actions and activities, group behaviors, and perspectives. - Forgotten episodes: These are accounts of previous episodes that you have forgotten but are remembering again while you are in the field. - Ideas and notes for further information use: These refer to spur-of-the moment ideas related to data analysis, data collection, speculations about relationships, etc. These are notes that you write to and for yourself, for example, plans for future observations, specific things or people to look for. - Personal impressions and feelings: These refer to recordings regarding the subjective reactions you had while working the field. They may provide clues to biases which might be clouding your observations. 12 C3IB | Prof. Dr. Anna Lupina-Wegener During Details that may seem unimportant in the moment Field Notes may turn out to be important during later analysis; it is therefore crucial that field researchers make note of these observations when conducting field research Top-tips: - Note observations straightforwardly - Recording data can be done manually, mechanically, or electronically - Observation is deliberate - Compile field notes as soon as possible, while the experience is still fresh in your mind 13 C3IB | Prof. Dr. Anna Lupina-Wegener During Methodological notes are any ideas related to the Methodological Notes techniques you used to conduct research, (e.g. Roper & Shapira, 2000 difficulties you have in collecting data, biases that might be introduced by the data collection techniques, changes in how you can make and record observations, etc.) The data analysis should also begin while the data are being collected so that the researcher can discover additional themes and decides whether to follow those leads for more intense investigation. 14 C3IB | Prof. Dr. Anna Lupina-Wegener Flashback! After Coding Processing Data Method(s) Selection Ford, 2104 Explain Code Significance Generation Test List Codes Categories Categorize Code Lists 15 C3IB | Prof. Dr. Anna Lupina-Wegener Agenda 0 Introduction 1 Features of Ethnographic Research 2 Ethnography as a Research Methodology 3 “Doing” Ethnography 4 Writing an Ethnography 5 Methodological Considerations 16 C3IB | Prof. Dr. Anna Lupina-Wegener 6 Summary Ethical 1. Purpose of the research: get the right considerations permissions (locations, introductions, access, etc.) 2. How their answers might be used 3. Will their identity be protected: Don’t use the ethnographic (or any other) research to criticize a group. You are there to see things through their eyes. 4. Details of the project 5. Sensitivity to subject group’s norms and behavior 17 C3IB | Prof. Dr. Anna Lupina-Wegener Fieldwork in IB: 1. Organizational ethnography examples 2. Multi-sited ethnography 3. Digital ethnography 4. Critical ethnography 5. Autoethnography 18 C3IB | Prof. Dr. Anna Lupina-Wegener Ethnographic 1. Entrée and rapport. relationships 2. Culture shock. 3. Longitudinal relationships. 4. Fieldwork and field relationships. 19 C3IB | Prof. Dr. Anna Lupina-Wegener Agenda 0 Introduction 1 Features of Ethnographic Research 2 Ethnography as a Research Methodology 3 “Doing” Ethnography 4 Writing an Ethnography 5 Methodological Considerations 20 C3IB | Prof. Dr. Anna Lupina-Wegener 6 Summary Ethnographic … in a realistic mode are de-personalized, objectively Stories told… rendered portraits provided by an emotionally neutral analyst - even if he or she was an emotionally engaged participant during the conduct of the research itself. … in a confessional mode are those in which the ethnographer becomes a central player and the story of the community under study is explicitly told through his or her particular viewpoint. … in an impressionistic mode openly embrace literary - or other appropriately artistic - devices, such as the use of dialogue, elaborate character sketches, evocative descriptions of landscape or decor, flashback or flash- forward narrative structure, use of metaphors, etc. 21 C3IB | Prof. Dr. Anna Lupina-Wegener Writing 1. A metaphorical and narrative exploration of managerial life. 2. Uses storytelling to illustrate management and leadership challenges. 3. Emphasizes identity, meaning, and culture in organizations. 4. Beyond rationality. Monika Kostera et al. (2022). Learning to Fly: On teaching the ethnographic craft 22 C3IB | Prof. Dr. Anna Lupina-Wegener The Ethnographic 1. Introduction: capture the readers’ attention and Report presents the significance of the study 2. Setting: describe the research context and how the data was collected. Present the details, emotions and nuances of social relationships to create a “feeling” of the scene and not only its superficial characteristics 3. Analysis: a coherent set of social/cultural patterns, that make sense to the people and their community, is drawn together from the rich, descriptive detail 4. Conclusion: summarization of the main points and suggestion of the research to a wider body of knowledge 23 C3IB | Prof. Dr. Anna Lupina-Wegener Agenda 0 Introduction 1 Features of Ethnographic Research 2 Ethnography as a Research Methodology 3 “Doing” Ethnography 4 Writing an Ethnography 5 Methodological Considerations 24 C3IB | Prof. Dr. Anna Lupina-Wegener 6 Summary Considerations and Reactivity: degree to which your presence, as a Issues with researcher affects your research subjects Ethnographic Reliability: degree of internal and external Research Fetterman, 1998 consistency and credibility Validity: degree of confidence in your ability to collect and analyze data accurately (i.e., representing your research subjects) 25 C3IB | Prof. Dr. Anna Lupina-Wegener Challenges of 1. Labor intensive and time-consuming; because field Ethnographic research is rarely an entirely detached observation, field Research participation often becomes a question of “how much?” 2. Finding a balance between observing and participating can be very difficult; risk of losing objectivity as a researcher; over-identification with the study group. 3. Field work lacks the level of structure and control found in laboratory settings that may help ensure objectivity. If you are not careful, your personal values and attitudes may lead to bias. 4. Ethical issues and dilemmas: confidentiality, privacy, accidental revelation of identities, self-deception &/or misrepresentation, engaging in or permitting illegal/immoral/unethical activity as a participant or observer, etc. 26 C3IB | Prof. Dr. Anna Lupina-Wegener Triangulation - Test one source of information against another to Fetterman, 1998 eliminate alternative explanations. - Works with any topic, in any setting, on any level. - May contradict, support, or expand the argument. - Results are not always clear. 27 C3IB | Prof. Dr. Anna Lupina-Wegener Ask yourself…. - Who are you writing for? Why should they care? Bethel College, n.d. - What do you want this report to do? (i.e., impact policy? Educate? Describe a phenomenon? Clarify domains and language for a structured survey?, etc.) - What will the product of this research look like? Where would you like to situate the results on the continuum: No findings; Topical Survey; Thematic Survey; Conceptual/thematic Description; Interpretive Explanation? 28 C3IB | Prof. Dr. Anna Lupina-Wegener Agenda 0 Introduction 1 Features of Ethnographic Research 2 Ethnography as a Research Methodology 3 “Doing” Ethnography 4 Writing an Ethnography 5 Methodological Considerations 29 C3IB | Prof. Dr. Anna Lupina-Wegener 6 Summary Self-Assessment 1. Have you been able to achieve an in-depth Questions understanding of ethnographic research method, including context, tools, application, relevance, etc.? 2. Can you perform a short ethnographic research project? 3. Can you analyze, evaluate, and report on findings based on ethnographic research methods? 4. Can you apply Ethnography as a Research Method? 5. Can you describe the Ethnographic Research Process? 6. Can you write an Ethnography? 30 C3IB | Prof. Dr. Anna Lupina-Wegener