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Link to beginning section of Introduction to Qualitative Research

Ethnography

Ethnography is the only approach that is also a method. As an approach, ethnography is the study of cultures through close observation, reading, and interpretation. Ethnographers define culture as a shared trait, whether that trait is a belief, understanding, language, behavior, or other facet of the group. Ethnographers strive to understand “how a cultural group works and to explore the beliefs, language, behaviors, and issues” within said culture (Creswell, 2012).

As a method, ethnography is the actual immersion of the researcher in the daily experiences of the group. Ethnographic researchers work “in the field” among the culture they are studying. Successful immersion into a group requires consideration of two key issues related to entering the field which are unique to this type of research. First, identifying and working with a gatekeeper—a known, trusted, and connected member of the cultural group—can ease entry into the group, endorse the researcher among group members, orient the researcher to the group and its workings, and help to interpret and translate data. Second, the researcher must reflect on his/her own behaviors, beliefs, and interpersonal skills and how these will impact the researcher’s behavior in an unfamiliar setting, including but not limited to: forming relationships with group members, collecting necessary data, making sense of observations and cultural understanding, and being an outsider while trying to gain insider perspectives.

The activities ethnographers conduct in the field are referred to as fieldwork. In most instances, fieldwork takes the form of observations, which makes the researcher the primary tool of data collection; however, other approaches can be employed as well. An ethnographer will make jottings, or detailed notes of key components of observed scenes or interactions, while he/she is in the field and will later develop field notes based on expansion and reflection on these jottings. Field notes, or written accounts of what is seen, heard, and experienced in the field, serve as the data that will be analyzed later on in the study process. Therefore, it is critical that the researcher spend adequate time while immersed working field notes so that he/she can leave with copious, thorough, and organized field notes.

With enough time in the field, ethnographers learn how to recognize traits that make up a culture and how to describe the culture to others. Good ethnographers are able to distinguish between participants’ subjective reporting of what they believe and what they do. Analysis of field notes and other data will yield a final product of a cultural portrait of the group that incorporates the views of the participants, through direct quotes, and the researcher.

Example:

Gagnon, et al. used ethnographic procedures to describe effective population interventions related to the pregnancy, birth, and post-birth care of international immigrants. Through in-depth interviews with and participant observation periods of sixteen migrant women living in Montreal or Toronto, the researchers explored the processes used to respond to maternal-child health and psychosocial concerns during and after birth, issues and/or factors influencing resiliency, and suggestions for interventions to address their concerns. The researchers asked four guiding central questions:

  1. What individual processes (e.g. actions, cognitions) are used by migrant women to respond to maternal-child health and psychosocial concerns during the early months and years after birth?
  2. What contextual factors (e.g. physical, social, structural) and related processes enhance or impede their resiliency (i.e. strength to deal with, confront, and endure) to maternal-child health and psychosocial concerns?
  3. What policy and/or program interventions are suggested by them and by key stakeholders to be effective or ineffective for the maternal-child health and psychosocial concerns?
  4. What nursing interventions are suggested by them and by key stakeholders to be effective or ineffective for maternal-child health and psychosocial concerns?

Gagnon AJ, Carnevale F, Mehta P, Rousseau H, Stewart DE. Developing population interventions with migrant women for maternal-child health: a focused ethnography. BMC Public Health. 2013 May 14;13(1):471. [Epub ahead of print]

Challenges to consider when using ethnography:

  • Requires prolonged time in the field
  • “Going native.” The term for when a researcher becomes too ingrained in the culture so as to risk lack of completion of the study or lack of objectivity
  • Necessitates that a researcher be sensitive and respectful of the culture and reflective of the effect of his/her presence on the people and places being studied.