types of qualitative research ethnography

• - Google Chrome

Intended for healthcare professionals

• My email alerts
• BMA member login
• Username * Password * Forgot your log in details? Need to activate BMA Member Log In Log in via OpenAthens Log in via your institution

Search form

• Advanced search
• Search responses
• Search blogs
• Qualitative research...

Qualitative research methodologies: ethnography

• Related content
• Peer review
• Scott Reeves , associate professor 1 ,
• Ayelet Kuper , assistant professor 2 ,
• Brian David Hodges , associate professor and vice chair (education) 3
• 1 Department of Psychiatry, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, Centre for Faculty Development, and Wilson Centre for Research in Education, University of Toronto, 200 Elizabeth Street, Eaton South 1-565, Toronto, ON, Canada M5G 2C4
• 2 Department of Medicine, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, and Wilson Centre for Research in Education, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada M4N 3M5
• 3 Department of Psychiatry, Wilson Centre for Research in Education, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada M5G 2C4
• Correspondence to: S Reeves scott.reeves{at}utoronto.ca

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. This article focuses on another important qualitative methodology: ethnography. It provides background for those who will encounter this methodology in their reading rather than instructions for carrying out such research.

What is ethnography?

Ethnography is the study of social interactions, behaviours, and perceptions that occur within groups, teams, organisations, and communities. Its roots can be traced back to anthropological studies of small, rural (and often remote) societies that were undertaken in the early 1900s, when researchers such as Bronislaw Malinowski and Alfred Radcliffe-Brown participated in these societies over long periods and documented their social arrangements and belief systems. This approach was later adopted by members of the Chicago School of Sociology (for example, Everett Hughes, Robert Park, Louis Wirth) and applied to a variety of urban settings in their studies of social life.

The central aim of ethnography is to provide rich, holistic insights into people’s views and actions, as well as the nature (that is, sights, sounds) of the location they inhabit, through the collection of detailed observations and interviews. As Hammersley states, “The task [of ethnographers] is to document the culture, the perspectives and practices, of the people in these settings. The aim is to ‘get inside’ the way each group of people sees the world.” 1 Box 1 outlines the key features of ethnographic research.

Box 1 Key features of ethnographic research 2

A strong emphasis on exploring the nature of a particular social phenomenon, rather than setting out to test hypotheses about it

A tendency to work primarily with “unstructured data” —that is, data that have not been coded at the point of data collection as a closed set of analytical categories

Investigation of a small number of cases (perhaps even just …

Log in using your username and password

BMA Member Log In

If you have a subscription to The BMJ, log in:

• Need to activate
• Log in via institution
• Log in via OpenAthens

Log in through your institution

Subscribe from £184 *.

Subscribe and get access to all BMJ articles, and much more.

* For online subscription

Access this article for 1 day for: £50 / $60/ €56 ( excludes VAT )

You can download a PDF version for your personal record.

Buy this article

Have a language expert improve your writing

Run a free plagiarism check in 10 minutes, generate accurate citations for free.

• Knowledge Base

Methodology

• What Is Ethnography? | Definition, Guide & Examples

What Is Ethnography? | Definition, Guide & Examples

Published on March 13, 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on June 22, 2023.

Ethnography is a type of qualitative research that involves immersing yourself in a particular community or organization to observe their behavior and interactions up close. The word “ethnography” also refers to the written report of the research that the ethnographer produces afterwards.

Ethnography is a flexible research method that allows you to gain a deep understanding of a group’s shared culture, conventions, and social dynamics. However, it also involves some practical and ethical challenges.

Table of contents

What is ethnography used for, different approaches to ethnographic research, gaining access to a community, working with informants, observing the group and taking field notes, writing up an ethnography, other interesting articles.

Ethnographic research originated in the field of anthropology, and it often involved an anthropologist living with an isolated tribal community for an extended period of time in order to understand their culture.

This type of research could sometimes last for years. For example, Colin M. Turnbull lived with the Mbuti people for three years in order to write the classic ethnography The Forest People .

Today, ethnography is a common approach in various social science fields, not just anthropology. It is used not only to study distant or unfamiliar cultures, but also to study specific communities within the researcher’s own society.

For example, ethnographic research (sometimes called participant observation ) has been used to investigate  football fans , call center workers , and police officers .

Advantages of ethnography

The main advantage of ethnography is that it gives the researcher direct access to the culture and practices of a group. It is a useful approach for learning first-hand about the behavior and interactions of people within a particular context.

By becoming immersed in a social environment, you may have access to more authentic information and spontaneously observe dynamics that you could not have found out about simply by asking.

Ethnography is also an open and flexible method. Rather than aiming to verify a general theory or test a hypothesis , it aims to offer a rich narrative account of a specific culture, allowing you to explore many different aspects of the group and setting.

Disadvantages of ethnography

Ethnography is a time-consuming method. In order to embed yourself in the setting and gather enough observations to build up a representative picture, you can expect to spend at least a few weeks, but more likely several months. This long-term immersion can be challenging, and requires careful planning.

Ethnographic research can run the risk of observer bias . Writing an ethnography involves subjective interpretation, and it can be difficult to maintain the necessary distance to analyze a group that you are embedded in.

There are often also ethical considerations to take into account: for example, about how your role is disclosed to members of the group, or about observing and reporting sensitive information.

Should you use ethnography in your research?

If you’re a student who wants to use ethnographic research in your thesis or dissertation , it’s worth asking yourself whether it’s the right approach:

• Could the information you need be collected in another way (e.g. a survey , interviews)?
• How difficult will it be to gain access to the community you want to study?
• How exactly will you conduct your research, and over what timespan?
• What ethical issues might arise?

If you do decide to do ethnography, it’s generally best to choose a relatively small and easily accessible group, to ensure that the research is feasible within a limited timeframe.

Receive feedback on language, structure, and formatting

Professional editors proofread and edit your paper by focusing on:

• Academic style
• Vague sentences
• Style consistency

See an example

There are a few key distinctions in ethnography which help to inform the researcher’s approach: open vs. closed settings, overt vs. covert ethnography, and active vs. passive observation. Each approach has its own advantages and disadvantages.

Open vs. closed settings

The setting of your ethnography—the environment in which you will observe your chosen community in action—may be open or closed.

An open or public setting is one with no formal barriers to entry. For example, you might consider a community of people living in a certain neighborhood, or the fans of a particular baseball team.

• Gaining initial access to open groups is not too difficult…
• …but it may be harder to become immersed in a less clearly defined group.

A closed or private setting is harder to access. This may be for example a business, a school, or a cult.

• A closed group’s boundaries are clearly defined and the ethnographer can become fully immersed in the setting…
• …but gaining access is tougher; the ethnographer may have to negotiate their way in or acquire some role in the organization.

Overt vs. covert ethnography

Most ethnography is overt . In an overt approach, the ethnographer openly states their intentions and acknowledges their role as a researcher to the members of the group being studied.

• Overt ethnography is typically preferred for ethical reasons, as participants can provide informed consent…
• …but people may behave differently with the awareness that they are being studied.

Sometimes ethnography can be covert . This means that the researcher does not tell participants about their research, and comes up with some other pretense for being there.

• Covert ethnography allows access to environments where the group would not welcome a researcher…
• …but hiding the researcher’s role can be considered deceptive and thus unethical.

Active vs. passive observation

Different levels of immersion in the community may be appropriate in different contexts. The ethnographer may be a more active or passive participant depending on the demands of their research and the nature of the setting.

An active role involves trying to fully integrate, carrying out tasks and participating in activities like any other member of the community.

• Active participation may encourage the group to feel more comfortable with the ethnographer’s presence…
• …but runs the risk of disrupting the regular functioning of the community.

A passive role is one in which the ethnographer stands back from the activities of others, behaving as a more distant observer and not involving themselves in the community’s activities.

• Passive observation allows more space for careful observation and note-taking…
• …but group members may behave unnaturally due to feeling they are being observed by an outsider.

While ethnographers usually have a preference, they also have to be flexible about their level of participation. For example, access to the community might depend upon engaging in certain activities, or there might be certain practices in which outsiders cannot participate.

An important consideration for ethnographers is the question of access. The difficulty of gaining access to the setting of a particular ethnography varies greatly:

• To gain access to the fans of a particular sports team, you might start by simply attending the team’s games and speaking with the fans.
• To access the employees of a particular business, you might contact the management and ask for permission to perform a study there.
• Alternatively, you might perform a covert ethnography of a community or organization you are already personally involved in or employed by.

Flexibility is important here too: where it’s impossible to access the desired setting, the ethnographer must consider alternatives that could provide comparable information.

For example, if you had the idea of observing the staff within a particular finance company but could not get permission, you might look into other companies of the same kind as alternatives. Ethnography is a sensitive research method, and it may take multiple attempts to find a feasible approach.

All ethnographies involve the use of informants . These are people involved in the group in question who function as the researcher’s primary points of contact, facilitating access and assisting their understanding of the group.

This might be someone in a high position at an organization allowing you access to their employees, or a member of a community sponsoring your entry into that community and giving advice on how to fit in.

However,  i f you come to rely too much on a single informant, you may be influenced by their perspective on the community, which might be unrepresentative of the group as a whole.

In addition, an informant may not provide the kind of spontaneous information which is most useful to ethnographers, instead trying to show what they believe you want to see. For this reason, it’s good to have a variety of contacts within the group.

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

The core of ethnography is observation of the group from the inside. Field notes are taken to record these observations while immersed in the setting; they form the basis of the final written ethnography. They are usually written by hand, but other solutions such as voice recordings can be useful alternatives.

Field notes record any and all important data: phenomena observed, conversations had, preliminary analysis. For example, if you’re researching how service staff interact with customers, you should write down anything you notice about these interactions—body language, phrases used repeatedly, differences and similarities between staff, customer reactions.

Don’t be afraid to also note down things you notice that fall outside the pre-formulated scope of your research; anything may prove relevant, and it’s better to have extra notes you might discard later than to end up with missing data.

Field notes should be as detailed and clear as possible. It’s important to take time to go over your notes, expand on them with further detail, and keep them organized (including information such as dates and locations).

After observations are concluded, there’s still the task of writing them up into an ethnography. This entails going through the field notes and formulating a convincing account of the behaviors and dynamics observed.

The structure of an ethnography

An ethnography can take many different forms: It may be an article, a thesis, or an entire book, for example.

Ethnographies often do not follow the standard structure of a scientific paper, though like most academic texts, they should have an introduction and conclusion. For example, this paper begins by describing the historical background of the research, then focuses on various themes in turn before concluding.

An ethnography may still use a more traditional structure, however, especially when used in combination with other research methods. For example, this paper follows the standard structure for empirical research: introduction, methods, results, discussion, and conclusion.

The content of an ethnography

The goal of a written ethnography is to provide a rich, authoritative account of the social setting in which you were embedded—to convince the reader that your observations and interpretations are representative of reality.

Ethnography tends to take a less impersonal approach than other research methods. Due to the embedded nature of the work, an ethnography often necessarily involves discussion of your personal experiences and feelings during the research.

Ethnography is not limited to making observations; it also attempts to explain the phenomena observed in a structured, narrative way. For this, you may draw on theory, but also on your direct experience and intuitions, which may well contradict the assumptions that you brought into the research.

If you want to know more about statistics , methodology , or research bias , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

• Normal distribution
• Degrees of freedom
• Null hypothesis
• Discourse analysis
• Control groups
• Mixed methods research
• Non-probability sampling
• Quantitative research
• Ecological validity

Research bias

• Rosenthal effect
• Implicit bias
• Cognitive bias
• Selection bias
• Negativity bias
• Status quo bias

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

Caulfield, J. (2023, June 22). What Is Ethnography? | Definition, Guide & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved August 16, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/methodology/ethnography/

Is this article helpful?

Jack Caulfield

Other students also liked, what is qualitative research | methods & examples, what is a case study | definition, examples & methods, critical discourse analysis | definition, guide & examples, get unlimited documents corrected.

✔ Free APA citation check included ✔ Unlimited document corrections ✔ Specialized in correcting academic texts

• Privacy Policy

Home » Ethnographic Research -Types, Methods and Guide

Ethnographic Research -Types, Methods and Guide

Table of Contents

Ethnographic Research

Definition:

Ethnographic research is a qualitative research method used to study and document the culture, behaviors, beliefs, and social interactions of a particular group of people. It involves direct observation and participation in the daily life and activities of the group being studied, often for an extended period of time.

Ethnographic Study

An ethnographic study is a research method that involves the detailed and systematic study of a particular group, culture, or community. Ethnographic studies seek to understand the beliefs, values, behaviors, and social dynamics of a group through direct observation and participation in their daily life.

Ethnographic Research vs Ethnographic Study

here’s a table comparing ethnographic study and ethnographic research:

While there are some differences between the two, they are similar in that they both use qualitative research methods to study a particular group, culture, or community. The main difference is that an ethnographic study involves the researcher spending an extended period of time within the community being studied in order to develop a deep understanding, while ethnographic research is focused on documenting and analyzing the culture, beliefs, behaviors, and social interactions of the group being studied.

Ethnographic Research Types

Ethnographic research can be divided into several types based on the focus of the study and the research objectives. Here are some common types of ethnographic research:

Classic Ethnography

This type of ethnographic research involves an extended period of observation and interaction with a particular community or group. The researcher aims to understand the community’s culture, beliefs, practices, and social structure by immersing themselves in the community’s daily life.

Autoethnography

Autoethnography involves the researcher using their own personal experiences to gain insights into a particular community or culture. The researcher may use personal narratives, diaries, or other forms of self-reflection to explore the ways in which their own experiences relate to the culture being studied.

Participatory Action Research

Participatory action research involves the researcher working collaboratively with members of a particular community or group to identify and address social issues affecting the community. The researcher aims to empower community members to take an active role in the research process and to use the findings to effect positive change.

Virtual Ethnography

Virtual ethnography involves the use of online or digital media to study a particular community or culture. The researcher may use social media, online forums, or other digital platforms to observe and interact with the group being studied.

Critical Ethnography

Critical ethnography aims to expose power imbalances and social inequalities within a particular community or culture. The researcher may use their observations to critique dominant cultural narratives or to identify opportunities for social change.

Ethnographic Research Methods

Some common ethnographic research methods include:

Participant Observation

This involves the researcher directly observing and participating in the daily life and activities of the group being studied. This technique helps the researcher gain an in-depth understanding of the group’s behavior, culture, and social dynamics.

Ethnographic researchers use interviews to gather information about the group’s beliefs, values, and practices. Interviews may be formal or informal and can be conducted one-on-one or in group settings.

Surveys can be used to collect data on specific topics, such as attitudes towards a particular issue or behavior patterns. Ethnographic researchers may use surveys as a way to gather quantitative data in addition to qualitative data.

Document Analysis

This involves analyzing written or visual documents produced by the group being studied, such as newspapers, photographs, or social media posts. Document analysis can provide insight into the group’s values, beliefs, and practices.

Field Notes

Ethnographic researchers keep detailed field notes of their observations and interactions with the group being studied. These notes help the researcher organize their thoughts and observations and can be used to analyze the data collected.

Focus Groups

Focus groups are group interviews that allow the researcher to gather information from multiple people at once. This technique can be useful for exploring shared beliefs or experiences within the group being studied.

Ethnographic Research Data Analysis Methods

Ethnographic research data analysis methods involve analyzing qualitative data collected from observations, interviews, and other sources in order to identify patterns, themes, and insights related to the research question.

Here are some common data analysis methods used in ethnographic research:

Content Analysis

This involves systematically coding and categorizing the data collected from field notes, interviews, and other sources. The researcher identifies recurring themes, patterns, and categories in the data and assigns codes or labels to each one.

Narrative Analysis

This involves analyzing the stories and narratives collected from participants in order to understand how they construct and make sense of their experiences. The researcher looks for common themes, plot structures, and rhetorical strategies used by participants.

Discourse Analysis

This involves analyzing the language and communication practices of the group being studied in order to understand how they construct and reproduce social norms and cultural meanings. The researcher looks for patterns in the use of language, including metaphors, idioms, and other linguistic devices.

Comparative Analysis

This involves comparing data collected from different groups or communities in order to identify similarities and differences in their cultures, behaviors, and social structures. The researcher may use this analysis to generate hypotheses about why these differences exist and what factors may be contributing to them.

Grounded Theory

This involves developing a theoretical framework based on the data collected during the research process. The researcher identifies patterns and themes in the data and uses these to develop a theory that explains the social phenomena being studied.

How to Conduct Ethnographic Research

To conduct ethnographic research, follow these general steps:

• Choose a Research Question: Identify a research question that you want to explore. It should be focused and specific, but also open-ended to allow for flexibility and exploration.
• Select a research site: Choose a site or group that is relevant to your research question. This could be a workplace, a community, a social movement, or any other social setting where you can observe and interact with people.
• Obtain ethical clearance: Obtain ethical clearance from your institution or organization before beginning your research. This involves ensuring that your research is conducted in an ethical and responsible manner, and that the privacy and confidentiality of participants are protected.
• Conduct observations: Observe the people in your research site and take detailed notes. This involves being present and engaged in the social setting, participating in activities, and taking note of the behaviors, interactions, and social norms that you observe.
• Conduct interviews : Conduct interviews with people in the research site to gain deeper insights into their experiences, perspectives, and beliefs. This could involve structured or semi-structured interviews, focus groups, or other forms of data collection.
• Analyze data: Analyze the data that you have collected, looking for themes and patterns that emerge. This involves immersing yourself in the data and interpreting it within the social and cultural context of the research site.
• Write up findings: Write up your findings in a clear and concise manner, using quotes and examples to illustrate your key points. This may involve creating narratives, tables, or other visual representations of your findings.
• Reflect on your process: Reflect on your process and methods, thinking about what worked well and what could be improved for future research.

When to Use Ethnographic Research

Here are some situations where ethnographic research may be particularly appropriate:

• When exploring a new topic: Ethnographic research can be useful when exploring a topic that has not been well-studied before. By engaging with members of a particular group or community, researchers can gain insights into their experiences and perspectives that may not be visible from other research methods.
• When studying cultural practices: Ethnographic research is particularly useful when studying cultural practices and beliefs. By immersing themselves in the cultural context being studied, researchers can gain a deeper understanding of the ways in which cultural practices are enacted, maintained, and transmitted.
• When studying complex social phenomena: Ethnographic research can be useful when studying complex social phenomena that cannot be easily understood through quantitative methods. By observing social interactions and behaviors, researchers can gain insights into the ways in which social norms and structures are created and maintained.
• When studying marginalized communities: Ethnographic research can be particularly useful when studying marginalized communities, as it allows researchers to give voice to members of these communities and understand their experiences and perspectives.

Overall, ethnographic research can be a useful research approach when the goal is to gain a deep understanding of a particular group or community and their cultural practices, beliefs, and experiences. It is a flexible and adaptable research method that can be used in a variety of research contexts.

Applications of Ethnographic Research

Ethnographic research has many applications across a wide range of fields and disciplines. Some of the key applications of ethnographic research include:

• Informing policy and practice: Ethnographic research can provide valuable insights into the experiences and perspectives of marginalized or underrepresented groups, which can inform policy and practice in fields such as health care, education, and social services.
• Developing theories and concepts: Ethnographic research can contribute to the development of theories and concepts in social and cultural anthropology, sociology, and other disciplines, by providing detailed and nuanced accounts of social and cultural phenomena.
• Improving product design and marketing: Ethnographic research can be used to understand consumer behavior and preferences, which can inform the design and marketing of products and services.
• Studying workplace culture: Ethnographic research can provide insights into the norms, values, and practices of organizations, which can inform efforts to improve workplace culture and employee satisfaction.
• Examining social movements: Ethnographic research can be used to study the practices, beliefs, and experiences of social movements, which can inform efforts to understand and address social and political issues.
• Studying healthcare practices: Ethnographic research can provide insights into healthcare practices and patient experiences, which can inform efforts to improve healthcare delivery and patient outcomes.

Examples of Ethnographic Research

Here are some real-time examples of ethnographic research:

• Anthropological study of a remote indigenous tribe: Anthropologists often use ethnographic research to study remote indigenous tribes and gain insights into their culture, beliefs, and practices. For example, an anthropologist may live with a tribe for an extended period of time, observing and participating in their daily activities, and conducting interviews with members of the community.
• Study of workplace culture: Ethnographic research can be useful in studying workplace culture and understanding the dynamics of the organization. For example, an ethnographer may observe and interview employees in a particular department or team to gain insights into their work practices, communication styles, and social dynamics.
• Study of consumer behavior: Ethnographic research can be useful in studying consumer behavior and understanding how people interact with products and services. For example, an ethnographer may observe and interview consumers as they use a particular product, such as a new smartphone or fitness tracker, to gain insights into their behaviors and preferences.
• Study of health care practices: Ethnographic research can be useful in studying health care practices and understanding how patients and providers interact within the health care system. For example, an ethnographer may observe and interview patients and providers in a hospital or clinic to gain insights into their experiences and perspectives.
• Study of social movements: Ethnographic research can be useful in studying social movements and understanding how they emerge and evolve over time. For example, an ethnographer may observe and interview participants in a protest movement to gain insights into their motivations and strategies.

Purpose of Ethnographic Research

The purpose of ethnographic research is to provide an in-depth understanding of a particular group or community, including their cultural practices, beliefs, and experiences. This research approach is particularly useful when the research question is exploratory and the goal is to generate new insights and understandings. Ethnographic research seeks to understand the experiences, perspectives, and behaviors of the participants in their natural setting, without imposing the researcher’s own biases or preconceptions.

Ethnographic research can be used to study a wide range of topics, including social movements, workplace culture, consumer behavior, and health care practices, among others. The researcher aims to understand the social and cultural context of the group or community being studied, and to generate new insights and understandings that can inform future research, policy, and practice.

Overall, the purpose of ethnographic research is to gain a deep understanding of a particular group or community, with the goal of generating new insights and understandings that can inform future research, policy, and practice. Ethnographic research can be a valuable research approach in many different contexts, particularly when the goal is to gain a rich, contextualized understanding of social and cultural phenomena.

Advantages of Ethnographic Research

Ethnographic research has several advantages that make it a valuable research approach in many different fields. Here are some of the advantages of ethnographic research:

• Provides in-depth and detailed information: Ethnographic research involves direct observation of the group or community being studied, which allows researchers to gain a detailed and in-depth understanding of their beliefs, practices, and experiences. This type of information cannot be obtained through other research methods.
• Offers a unique perspective: Ethnographic research allows researchers to see the world from the perspective of the group or community being studied. This can provide unique insights into the ways in which different cultural practices and beliefs are constructed and maintained.
• Promotes cultural understanding: Ethnographic research can help to promote cultural understanding and reduce stereotypes by providing a more nuanced and accurate picture of different cultures and communities.
• Allows for flexibility: Ethnographic research is a flexible research approach that can be adapted to fit different research contexts and questions. Researchers can adjust their methods based on the needs of the group being studied and the research goals.
• Generates rich and diverse data: Ethnographic research generates rich and diverse data through a combination of observation, interviews, and other methods. This allows researchers to analyze different aspects of the group or community being studied and identify patterns and themes in the data.
• Supports theory development: Ethnographic research can support theory development by providing empirical data that can be used to test and refine theoretical frameworks.

Limitations of Ethnographic Research

Ethnographic research has several limitations that researchers should consider when selecting this research approach. Here are some of the limitations of ethnographic research:

• Limited generalizability: Ethnographic research typically involves studying a small and specific group or community, which limits the generalizability of the findings to other contexts or populations.
• Time-consuming: Ethnographic research is a time-consuming process that requires a significant investment of time and resources. Researchers must spend time observing and interacting with the group being studied, which may not be feasible in all research contexts.
• Subjectivity: Ethnographic research relies on the researcher’s interpretation and analysis of the data collected, which may introduce subjective bias into the research findings.
• Limited control: Ethnographic research involves studying a group or community in their natural setting, which limits the researcher’s control over the research context and the behavior of the participants.
• Ethical concerns: Ethnographic research can raise ethical concerns, particularly when studying marginalized or vulnerable populations. Researchers must be careful to ensure that they do not harm or exploit the participants in the research process.
• Limited quantitative data: Ethnographic research typically generates qualitative data, which may limit the types of analysis that can be conducted and the types of conclusions that can be drawn.

About the author

Muhammad Hassan

Researcher, Academic Writer, Web developer

You may also like

Triangulation in Research – Types, Methods and...

Mixed Methods Research – Types & Analysis

Questionnaire – Definition, Types, and Examples

Correlational Research – Methods, Types and...

Descriptive Research Design – Types, Methods and...

Quasi-Experimental Research Design – Types...

Qualitative study design: Ethnography

• Qualitative study design
• Phenomenology
• Grounded theory

Ethnography

• Narrative inquiry
• Action research
• Case Studies
• Field research
• Focus groups
• Observation
• Surveys & questionnaires
• Study Designs Home

To describe the characteristics of a particular culture/ethnographic group. 

Ethnography is the study of culture (Taylor & Francis, 2013) it is in many ways similar to anthropology; this being the study of human societies and cultures. 

Exploration and data collection can occur in either an emic or etic approach. Emic meaning that the observation happens from within the culture. Etic meaning the observation is external looking in (Taylor et al., 2006) 

Used to explore questions relating to the understanding of a certain group's beliefs, values, practices and how they adapt to change. (Taylor & Francis, 2013) 

Ethnographic studies can be about identifying inequalities. For example exploring racial and cultural aspects of how a cultural group functions and the rules that guide behaviours. (Taylor & Francis, 2013) 

One form of ethnography is an auto-ethnography which involves exploration of the self as the topic being explored. 

The researcher places themselves as a ‘participant observer’ amidst the culture. 

The setting is a very important consideration within ethnographic studies as the exploration of the people and their behaviours must be within the context of that cultural situation. 

Methods used include, but are not limited to: observation, interviews, focus groups, review of documentary evidence and keeping field notes. (Taylor & Francis, 2013) 

Steps involved include:  

Identify the culture to be studied  

Identify the significant variables within the culture 

Review existing literature 

Gain entrance 

Immerse within the culture or observe the culture 

Acquire the informants 

Gather data 

Describe the culture 

Develop theories. 

(Taylor & Francis, 2013) 

Direct insight into the lives and experiences of the people and the group of interest. 

Allows for rich detailed data to be collected (Howitt, 2019). 

Provides an opportunity for researchers to uncover new unknown ways of thinking. Researchers may become aware of behaviors, trends and beliefs that are present within one culture although these may be previously unknown to other cultures. This enables new opportunities for improved ways of viewing and solving issues within other cultures.   

Limitations

Biases can be apparent because a researcher will always bring with them their own culture and own perspective which may impact their interpretations of the experiences they observe within this different culture. 

Genuine co-operation and engagement from the people of interest may not always be forthcoming and rapport might be difficult to establish. 

There can be a greater cost involved for this study type than others. Due to the need for transport, accommodation and researcher time that is spent in the field among the participants. This can be greater than what would be spent in a different research methodology where the engagement may be limited to a laboratory or shorter duration. 

Certain logistics can pose challenges for this type of research approach, such as travelling and gaining access to communities depending on their unique cultural values, for example there are many indigenous societies that only permit people of certain genders to have access. 

As the setting may be very specific to a particular group or community of people it may not be possible to generalise and apply the findings very broadly. 

Researchers need to be aware of the impact that their presence can have on the behaviours of the population they are investigating. 

The “Hawthorne effect” can be a limitation to observing genuine behaviours within a group. This is a situation founded by Dickson and Roethlisberger in 1966 when they reviewed previous experiments conducted at the Hawthorne factory. These experiments observed the ways that different influences, such as the level of lighting, impacted on the efficiency of factory workers. Their re-examination demonstrated that participants can behave differently to what they usually would when they are aware that they are being studied or recorded. As such, the methods selected need to counteract this effect for all study types, but for ethnographic studies especially, as authenticity of the cultural experience is quite important to ethnographic methodology. 

Example questions

What expectations and beliefs do people within specific communities hold about their healthcare options? 

What practices are being undertaken by healthcare professionals in specific settings and are these consistent with best practice? 

What barriers are certain communities experiencing in relation to different healthcare access? 

Are people within a specific community receiving the appropriate information and communication about aspects of their health for them to then make informed educated decisions? 

Example studies

Coughlin, C. (n.d.). An ethnographic study of main events during hospitalisation: perceptions of nurses and patients . Journal of Clinical Nursing, 22(15–16), 2327–2337.  

Molloy, L., Walker, K., Lakeman, R., & Lees, D. (2019). Mental Health Nursing Practice and Indigenous Australians: A Multi-Sited Ethnography. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 40(1), 21–27. 

Rainsford, S., Phillips, C. B., Glasgow, N. J., MacLeod, R. D., & Wiles, R. B. (2018). The ‘safe death’: An ethnographic study exploring the perspectives of rural palliative care patients and family caregivers. Palliative Medicine, 32(10), 1575–1583. 

Newnham, E., McKellar, L., & Pincombe, J. (2017). ‘It’s your body, but…’ Mixed messages in childbirth education: Findings from a hospital ethnography. Midwifery, 55, 53–59 

King, P. (2019). The woven self: An auto-ethnography of cultural disruption and connectedness . International Perspectives in Psychology: Research, Practice, Consultation, 8(3), 107–123.  

Howitt, D. (2019). Introduction to qualitative research methods in psychology: putting theory into practice. Pearson Education.

Taylor, B. J., & Francis, K. (2013). Qualitative research in the health sciences: methodologies, methods and processes: Routledge.

Taylor, B. J., Kermode, S., & Roberts, K. L. (2006). Research in nursing and health care: creating evidence for practice (Third edition. ed.): Thomson. 

O’Connor, S. J. (2011). Context is everything: The role of auto‐ethnography, reflexivity and self‐critique in establishing the credibility of qualitative research findings. European Journal of Cancer Care, 20(4), 421–423. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2354.2011.01261.x 

Dickson, W. J & Roethlisberger, F. J., (1966) Counseling in an organization: a sequel to the Hawthorne researches. 1898-1974 & Western Electric Company (U.S.) Division of Research, Graduate School of Business Administration, Harvard University, Boston   

• << Previous: Grounded theory
• Next: Historical >>
• Last Updated: Jul 3, 2024 11:46 AM
• URL: https://deakin.libguides.com/qualitative-study-designs

The Ultimate Guide to Qualitative Research - Part 1: The Basics

• Introduction and overview
• What is qualitative research?
• What is qualitative data?
• Examples of qualitative data
• Qualitative vs. quantitative research
• Mixed methods
• Qualitative research preparation
• Theoretical perspective
• Theoretical framework
• Literature reviews
• Research question
• Conceptual framework
• Conceptual vs. theoretical framework
• Data collection
• Qualitative research methods
• Focus groups
• Observational research
• Case studies
• Introduction

Defining ethnographic research

What are the methods in ethnographic research, how do i conduct an ethnography.

• Ethical considerations
• Confidentiality and privacy
• Power dynamics
• Reflexivity

What is ethnographic research?

An ethnographic study is one of the most ambitious endeavors a researcher can pursue in qualitative research . It involves using several ethnographic methods to observe and describe social life, social relations, or human society as a whole. Time-consuming and arduous as the data collection and data analysis might be, conducting an ethnography can be one of the most rewarding challenges in cultural anthropology, social anthropology, and similar qualitative research areas.

Let's look at the fundamentals of ethnographic research, examples of ethnographic studies, and the fundamentals of ethnography as a qualitative research method.

"Culture" is an ambiguous term that resists an easy definition. What defines a culture? What takes place inside a culture? What cultures does a particular individual belong to? Who decides who belongs to any specific culture?

Even within a particular context, there are several layers of cultures. Take the United States, for example. Given how diverse and as big as it is, how can one define American culture in as brief an explanation as possible? What are the different social groups within this one country, and how do those groups interact with each other?

Quantitative research is often incapable of capturing such detail, especially because it is extremely difficult to adequately capture a culture in quantitative terms. As a result, researchers often conduct traditional ethnographic research when they want to understand a culture. A credible, written account of a social group is challenging to produce. It requires looking at participant experiences, interviews , focus groups , and document collection, which are different ways to collect data for ethnographic research.

Ethnography belongs squarely in the realm of observational research . In other words, writing culture and cultural critique cannot be based on experiments performed in controlled settings. Ethnography aims to provide an immersive experience in a culture for audiences who are unfamiliar with it. In that case, the researcher must observe the intricate dimensions of social interaction in its natural environment. In ethnographic research, this observation is active and involves being part of the culture to understand the dimensions of cultural norms from the inside.

That said, even observation alone cannot capture concepts such as social relationships or cultural practices. Researchers conducting ethnographic studies acknowledge that simply observing and describing actions are insufficient to grasp social interaction fully. The concept of thick description, or the description of perspectives and beliefs informing those actions in addition to the actions themselves, guides the use of various methods to capture social phenomena from multiple angles.

What is the purpose of ethnographic research?

Ethnographic studies are heavily used in social and cultural anthropology disciplines to generate and expand theory. Outside of anthropology, the insights uncovered by ethnography help to propose or develop theories that can be verified by further qualitative or quantitative research within the social and human sciences.

In simple terms, ethnographic studies relate what a culture is to audiences who are otherwise unfamiliar outsiders. Armed with this understanding, researchers can illustrate and persuade audiences about patterns that emerge from a community or group of people. These patterns are essential to generating theory and pioneering work.

What are examples of ethnographic research?

Ethnographic research aims to reach a deep understanding of various socially-constructed topics, including:

• Rituals and other cultural practices in everyday life
• Social interaction among people of different cultures
• People's interactions with their natural environment
• Creation of and tensions in social relationships

Ethnography as a qualitative method is common in social and cultural anthropology and any scholarly discipline concerned with social interaction. The traditional role of ethnography is to inform scholars interested in cultures they wouldn't otherwise have contact or experience with. Various topics that have been explored by such research with ethnography include:

• health care workers interacting with patients
• teachers and students constructing classroom dialogue
• workplace relations between employees and managers
• experiences of refugees in conflict zones

Other disciplines, especially in the social sciences, employ ethnographic research methods for varied reasons, including understanding:

• effective teaching practices
• socialization processes
• intercultural cohesiveness
• company-customer relations

The range of inquiries that ethnography can answer is vast, highlighting the importance of ethnographic methods in studies where the researcher seeks a deep understanding of a particular topic.

Even within anthropology, there is a lack of consensus on the particular processes for conducting research through ethnography. Interaction among people is unpredictable to the extent that the researcher might encounter unexpected issues with research participants not foreseen at the outset of a study. Because no observational research can be conducted in a fully controlled setting, it is a challenge to define an exact process for an ethnography beyond the general principles guiding an ethnographic approach.

In broad terms, ethnographic data collection methods are varied. Still, all such methods carry the assumption that a single research method cannot fully capture a thorough understanding of a cultural phenomenon. A systematic study that employs ethnographic research methods collects data from observations, participant observations, and interviews . The researchers' reflections also contribute to the body of data since personal experiences are essential to understanding the unfolding ethnography.

Participant observation

At the core of field research is a method called participant observation . Scholars in contemporary ethnography have long acknowledged the importance of active participation in understanding cultural life. This method allows the researcher to experience activities and interactions alongside participants to establish an understanding they wouldn't otherwise achieve by observing from afar. In active participant observation, the ethnographic researcher takes field notes of what they see and experience. They are essential during fieldwork as they create a record that the researcher can look at later on to structure their analysis and recall crucial developments useful to data analysis .

During participant observation, the researcher may also collect other forms of data, including photographs and audio and video recordings . Sensory data is beneficial to ethnography because it helps the researcher recall essential experiences with vivid detail and provides potentially abundant supporting evidence for the arguments in their findings.

Interviews and focus groups

Participant observation provides data for seeing what people say and do in their natural environment. However, observation has its limits for capturing what people think and believe. As a result, an ethnographic researcher conducts interviews to follow up on what they saw in fieldwork with research participants.

A common type of interview in an ethnography is the stimulated recall interview. In a stimulated recall interview, research participants are asked questions about the events the researcher observed. These questions help research participants remember past experiences while providing the researcher with their way of thinking about those experiences.

A focus group involves interactions between the researcher and multiple research participants. Suppose the researcher is interested in the interpersonal dynamics between research participants. In that case, they might consider conducting focus groups to elicit interactions that are markedly different from one-on-one exchanges between a single research participant and the researcher. Interviews and focus groups also help uncover insights otherwise unfamiliar to the researcher, who can then use those insights to guide their theoretical understanding and further data collection .

Document collection

Documents often make up an essential aspect of cultural practices. Think about these examples:

• student homework
• medical records
• newspaper articles
• informational posters

The visual elements uncovered during an ethnography are potentially valuable to theoretical insights, and a researcher might find it important to incorporate documents in their project data.

Reflections

In any ethnography, the researcher is the main instrument of data collection. Their thoughts and beliefs are consequential to the data analysis in that any theoretical insights are filtered by their interpretations . As a result, a researcher should take field notes during participant observation and reflection notes about any connections between what they saw and what it might mean for generating theory during data analysis.

As with taking field notes, a researcher might not remember all the different things that transpire during an ethnography without being able to refer to some sort of record later on. More importantly, reflecting on theory during participant observation may be challenging. A useful practice involves sitting down after observations or interviews and writing down potential theoretical insights that come to mind.

Reflections guide participant observations during an ethnography and theoretical analysis afterward. They point the researcher toward phenomena that are most relevant to theory and guide discussion of that theory when the time comes to write a description of their ethnographic study.

Organizing data

With a research approach as complex as ethnography, you will likely collect abundant data that require organization to make the analytical process more efficient. Researchers can use ATLAS.ti to store all their data in a single project. Document groups allow you to categorize data into different types (e.g., text, audio, video), different contexts (e.g., hospital room, doctor's office), or even different dates (e.g., February 17th observation, March 21st observation).

Moreover, researchers can integrate text with multimedia in ATLAS.ti, which is ideal for analyzing interviews, because you can look at transcripts and their video or audio recordings simultaneously. This is a valuable feature in ethnographic studies examining how people speak and what they say. Photos and other visual documents can also easily be incorporated and analyzed, adding further valuable dimensions to your research.

Choose ATLAS.ti for analysis of all forms of data.

Download a free trial of ATLAS.ti to put your project data to work.

Now that we have established a foundational understanding of the various methods associated with ethnography, let's look at what an ethnographic approach to research might look like.

Defining your research questions

As with any research study, ethnographic studies begin when researchers want to know more about something unfamiliar. Do you want to understand how a particular group of people interact with their natural environment? What about how group members decide on a social structure? How is daily life affected by changing economic conditions over a long period of time?

Ethnographic research may also be appropriate for conducting a comparative study of multiple cultures. For example, consider the different groups of soccer fans in several parts of the world: fans in South America might act differently from fans in Europe or Asia. Teaching and learning in high school are bound to look different than teaching and learning in university settings. Emergency room medicine and hospice care have distinct purposes that affect the nature of interactions between doctors and patients.

Whatever the inquiry, the researcher benefits from defining a focus for their ethnography. A clear research question can help the researcher narrow their field of perception during participant observation . Suppose the research question has to do with doctor-patient interactions. In that case, the ethnographer can lend more focus to those conversations and less emphasis on ancillary developments within their research context. With a more specific view, they can examine how doctors speak to their patients while being less concerned about the hospital executives in earshot or the orderlies passing by unless and until they are relevant to the research inquiry.

Choosing theoretical perspectives

To further narrow the focus of the ethnography, a theoretical lens can direct the ethnographer toward aspects relevant to theory. Continuing with the example regarding doctor-patient interactions, let's imagine that the ethnographic study explores the role of reassuring language in situations regarding dire medical conditions. Are there relevant theories about what people can say to give peace of mind to others?

Typically, theories in qualitative research consist of a framework with discrete indicators you can use to organize knowledge. For example, let's suppose that there exists a concept of reassurance that can be broken down like this:

empathy - understanding and affirming other people's emotions evidence - providing examples of favorable results in similar situations responsiveness - actively listening to and validating others' concerns

With this sort of theory in mind, an ethnography can focus on listening for instances of these particular indicators during participant observation and recording these examples in field notes . Naturally, a theory is more credible if it's grounded in previous research.

Entering ethnographic fieldwork

The next step is to choose an appropriate and accessible context for your ethnography. Ethics are an important part of contemporary research in the social sciences, requiring permission from potential participants to observe and interact with them for research purposes.

Before any meaningful data collection, make sure to obtain informed consent from the research participants you are studying. Essentially, this involves receiving permission from your participants to document what they say and do after explaining the purpose of your study and the rights they have while participating in your ethnography.

Ethnographic collection of data

With a context and theory in mind, it's now time to conduct your ethnography. In general terms, this means entering the field and capturing as much rich data relevant to your research question as possible.

Good ethnographic practice relies on pursuing multiple research methods to capture data. Participant observation can help you document what people say and do, but good ethnographies also capture what people believe about their everyday actions.

However, the research method most associated with ethnographic research is note-taking. Field notes capture the researcher's personal experience with the culture they observe, which is necessary to fully understand the captured data. With the ethnographer as the main instrument of data collection, readers of ethnographic studies can attain a sense of the possible ways they can view cultures through the researcher's eyes.

Moreover, ethnography relies on rapport with research participants. Ethnographers who want to conduct interviews later will benefit from establishing good relationships with their research participants. As a result, more involved interactions during fieldwork can generate deeper and richer data for your study.

Considerations during fieldwork

It's important to remember that the ethnographer's presence can affect how people behave. Especially in participant observation, your interactions with research participants will directly influence what they do in their daily lives. Even our natural environment is affected by what we do in it. When writing your reflections, qualifying your interactions in the field with a sufficient accounting of how your presence might change what others say and do is important.

There are also ethical questions about what to document and how to use the resulting data afterward. Within anthropology, there are issues of representing cultural groups with respect and ensuring you have their permission to use what you observe and collect from the field. Top scholarly journals and academic conferences also want to know how you observed research ethics during fieldwork, so it is necessary to use your reflection memos to document your ethics practices in addition to the data you collect.

Further development in ethnographic fieldwork

Unexpected issues in field research , especially long-term fieldwork, can help you refine your theoretical framework . Returning to the example of the concept of reassurance, you might observe a doctor's explanation of a medical procedure and find that it's similar to providing evidence. Still, it does not fully align with the established theory. In other words, studying real-world episodes of medical explanations may contribute novel insights about reassurance, helping you further develop your focus in subsequent observations.

As you continue your ethnography, refining the scope of your theoretical perspective helps you more easily gather observational data relevant to your research inquiry and thus provide a fully developed framework for your data.

Research is a challenge. We help you make sense of it.

ATLAS.ti is the ultimate tool for all your data analysis needs. Download a free trial today.

• Search Menu

Sign in through your institution

• Browse content in Arts and Humanities
• Browse content in Archaeology
• Anglo-Saxon and Medieval Archaeology
• Archaeological Methodology and Techniques
• Archaeology by Region
• Archaeology of Religion
• Archaeology of Trade and Exchange
• Biblical Archaeology
• Contemporary and Public Archaeology
• Environmental Archaeology
• Historical Archaeology
• History and Theory of Archaeology
• Industrial Archaeology
• Landscape Archaeology
• Mortuary Archaeology
• Prehistoric Archaeology
• Underwater Archaeology
• Zooarchaeology
• Browse content in Architecture
• Architectural Structure and Design
• History of Architecture
• Residential and Domestic Buildings
• Theory of Architecture
• Browse content in Art
• Art Subjects and Themes
• History of Art
• Industrial and Commercial Art
• Theory of Art
• Biographical Studies
• Byzantine Studies
• Browse content in Classical Studies
• Classical History
• Classical Philosophy
• Classical Mythology
• Classical Numismatics
• Classical Literature
• Classical Reception
• Classical Art and Architecture
• Classical Oratory and Rhetoric
• Greek and Roman Papyrology
• Greek and Roman Epigraphy
• Greek and Roman Law
• Greek and Roman Archaeology
• Late Antiquity
• Religion in the Ancient World
• Social History
• Digital Humanities
• Browse content in History
• Colonialism and Imperialism
• Diplomatic History
• Environmental History
• Genealogy, Heraldry, Names, and Honours
• Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing
• Historical Geography
• History by Period
• History of Emotions
• History of Agriculture
• History of Education
• History of Gender and Sexuality
• Industrial History
• Intellectual History
• International History
• Labour History
• Legal and Constitutional History
• Local and Family History
• Maritime History
• Military History
• National Liberation and Post-Colonialism
• Oral History
• Political History
• Public History
• Regional and National History
• Revolutions and Rebellions
• Slavery and Abolition of Slavery
• Social and Cultural History
• Theory, Methods, and Historiography
• Urban History
• World History
• Browse content in Language Teaching and Learning
• Language Learning (Specific Skills)
• Language Teaching Theory and Methods
• Browse content in Linguistics
• Applied Linguistics
• Cognitive Linguistics
• Computational Linguistics
• Forensic Linguistics
• Grammar, Syntax and Morphology
• Historical and Diachronic Linguistics
• History of English
• Language Evolution
• Language Reference
• Language Acquisition
• Language Variation
• Language Families
• Lexicography
• Linguistic Anthropology
• Linguistic Theories
• Linguistic Typology
• Phonetics and Phonology
• Psycholinguistics
• Sociolinguistics
• Translation and Interpretation
• Writing Systems
• Browse content in Literature
• Bibliography
• Children's Literature Studies
• Literary Studies (Romanticism)
• Literary Studies (American)
• Literary Studies (Asian)
• Literary Studies (European)
• Literary Studies (Eco-criticism)
• Literary Studies (Modernism)
• Literary Studies - World
• Literary Studies (1500 to 1800)
• Literary Studies (19th Century)
• Literary Studies (20th Century onwards)
• Literary Studies (African American Literature)
• Literary Studies (British and Irish)
• Literary Studies (Early and Medieval)
• Literary Studies (Fiction, Novelists, and Prose Writers)
• Literary Studies (Gender Studies)
• Literary Studies (Graphic Novels)
• Literary Studies (History of the Book)
• Literary Studies (Plays and Playwrights)
• Literary Studies (Poetry and Poets)
• Literary Studies (Postcolonial Literature)
• Literary Studies (Queer Studies)
• Literary Studies (Science Fiction)
• Literary Studies (Travel Literature)
• Literary Studies (War Literature)
• Literary Studies (Women's Writing)
• Literary Theory and Cultural Studies
• Mythology and Folklore
• Shakespeare Studies and Criticism
• Browse content in Media Studies
• Browse content in Music
• Applied Music
• Dance and Music
• Ethics in Music
• Ethnomusicology
• Gender and Sexuality in Music
• Medicine and Music
• Music Cultures
• Music and Media
• Music and Religion
• Music and Culture
• Music Education and Pedagogy
• Music Theory and Analysis
• Musical Scores, Lyrics, and Libretti
• Musical Structures, Styles, and Techniques
• Musicology and Music History
• Performance Practice and Studies
• Race and Ethnicity in Music
• Sound Studies
• Browse content in Performing Arts
• Browse content in Philosophy
• Aesthetics and Philosophy of Art
• Epistemology
• Feminist Philosophy
• History of Western Philosophy
• Metaphysics
• Moral Philosophy
• Non-Western Philosophy
• Philosophy of Language
• Philosophy of Mind
• Philosophy of Perception
• Philosophy of Science
• Philosophy of Action
• Philosophy of Law
• Philosophy of Religion
• Philosophy of Mathematics and Logic
• Practical Ethics
• Social and Political Philosophy
• Browse content in Religion
• Biblical Studies
• Christianity
• East Asian Religions
• History of Religion
• Judaism and Jewish Studies
• Qumran Studies
• Religion and Education
• Religion and Health
• Religion and Politics
• Religion and Science
• Religion and Law
• Religion and Art, Literature, and Music
• Religious Studies
• Browse content in Society and Culture
• Cookery, Food, and Drink
• Cultural Studies
• Customs and Traditions
• Ethical Issues and Debates
• Hobbies, Games, Arts and Crafts
• Natural world, Country Life, and Pets
• Popular Beliefs and Controversial Knowledge
• Sports and Outdoor Recreation
• Technology and Society
• Travel and Holiday
• Visual Culture
• Browse content in Law
• Arbitration
• Browse content in Company and Commercial Law
• Commercial Law
• Company Law
• Browse content in Comparative Law
• Systems of Law
• Competition Law
• Browse content in Constitutional and Administrative Law
• Government Powers
• Judicial Review
• Local Government Law
• Military and Defence Law
• Parliamentary and Legislative Practice
• Construction Law
• Contract Law
• Browse content in Criminal Law
• Criminal Procedure
• Criminal Evidence Law
• Sentencing and Punishment
• Employment and Labour Law
• Environment and Energy Law
• Browse content in Financial Law
• Banking Law
• Insolvency Law
• History of Law
• Human Rights and Immigration
• Intellectual Property Law
• Browse content in International Law
• Private International Law and Conflict of Laws
• Public International Law
• IT and Communications Law
• Jurisprudence and Philosophy of Law
• Law and Politics
• Law and Society
• Browse content in Legal System and Practice
• Courts and Procedure
• Legal Skills and Practice
• Legal System - Costs and Funding
• Primary Sources of Law
• Regulation of Legal Profession
• Medical and Healthcare Law
• Browse content in Policing
• Criminal Investigation and Detection
• Police and Security Services
• Police Procedure and Law
• Police Regional Planning
• Browse content in Property Law
• Personal Property Law
• Restitution
• Study and Revision
• Terrorism and National Security Law
• Browse content in Trusts Law
• Wills and Probate or Succession
• Browse content in Medicine and Health
• Browse content in Allied Health Professions
• Arts Therapies
• Clinical Science
• Dietetics and Nutrition
• Occupational Therapy
• Operating Department Practice
• Physiotherapy
• Radiography
• Speech and Language Therapy
• Browse content in Anaesthetics
• General Anaesthesia
• Clinical Neuroscience
• Browse content in Clinical Medicine
• Acute Medicine
• Cardiovascular Medicine
• Clinical Genetics
• Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics
• Dermatology
• Endocrinology and Diabetes
• Gastroenterology
• Genito-urinary Medicine
• Geriatric Medicine
• Infectious Diseases
• Medical Toxicology
• Medical Oncology
• Pain Medicine
• Palliative Medicine
• Rehabilitation Medicine
• Respiratory Medicine and Pulmonology
• Rheumatology
• Sleep Medicine
• Sports and Exercise Medicine
• Community Medical Services
• Critical Care
• Emergency Medicine
• Forensic Medicine
• Haematology
• History of Medicine
• Browse content in Medical Skills
• Clinical Skills
• Communication Skills
• Nursing Skills
• Surgical Skills
• Browse content in Medical Dentistry
• Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
• Paediatric Dentistry
• Restorative Dentistry and Orthodontics
• Surgical Dentistry
• Medical Ethics
• Medical Statistics and Methodology
• Browse content in Neurology
• Clinical Neurophysiology
• Neuropathology
• Nursing Studies
• Browse content in Obstetrics and Gynaecology
• Gynaecology
• Occupational Medicine
• Ophthalmology
• Otolaryngology (ENT)
• Browse content in Paediatrics
• Neonatology
• Browse content in Pathology
• Chemical Pathology
• Clinical Cytogenetics and Molecular Genetics
• Histopathology
• Medical Microbiology and Virology
• Patient Education and Information
• Browse content in Pharmacology
• Psychopharmacology
• Browse content in Popular Health
• Caring for Others
• Complementary and Alternative Medicine
• Self-help and Personal Development
• Browse content in Preclinical Medicine
• Cell Biology
• Molecular Biology and Genetics
• Reproduction, Growth and Development
• Primary Care
• Professional Development in Medicine
• Browse content in Psychiatry
• Addiction Medicine
• Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
• Forensic Psychiatry
• Learning Disabilities
• Old Age Psychiatry
• Psychotherapy
• Browse content in Public Health and Epidemiology
• Epidemiology
• Public Health
• Browse content in Radiology
• Clinical Radiology
• Interventional Radiology
• Nuclear Medicine
• Radiation Oncology
• Reproductive Medicine
• Browse content in Surgery
• Cardiothoracic Surgery
• Gastro-intestinal and Colorectal Surgery
• General Surgery
• Neurosurgery
• Paediatric Surgery
• Peri-operative Care
• Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
• Surgical Oncology
• Transplant Surgery
• Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery
• Vascular Surgery
• Browse content in Science and Mathematics
• Browse content in Biological Sciences
• Aquatic Biology
• Biochemistry
• Bioinformatics and Computational Biology
• Developmental Biology
• Ecology and Conservation
• Evolutionary Biology
• Genetics and Genomics
• Microbiology
• Molecular and Cell Biology
• Natural History
• Plant Sciences and Forestry
• Research Methods in Life Sciences
• Structural Biology
• Systems Biology
• Zoology and Animal Sciences
• Browse content in Chemistry
• Analytical Chemistry
• Computational Chemistry
• Crystallography
• Environmental Chemistry
• Industrial Chemistry
• Inorganic Chemistry
• Materials Chemistry
• Medicinal Chemistry
• Mineralogy and Gems
• Organic Chemistry
• Physical Chemistry
• Polymer Chemistry
• Study and Communication Skills in Chemistry
• Theoretical Chemistry
• Browse content in Computer Science
• Artificial Intelligence
• Computer Architecture and Logic Design
• Game Studies
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Mathematical Theory of Computation
• Programming Languages
• Software Engineering
• Systems Analysis and Design
• Virtual Reality
• Browse content in Computing
• Business Applications
• Computer Security
• Computer Games
• Computer Networking and Communications
• Digital Lifestyle
• Graphical and Digital Media Applications
• Operating Systems
• Browse content in Earth Sciences and Geography
• Atmospheric Sciences
• Environmental Geography
• Geology and the Lithosphere
• Maps and Map-making
• Meteorology and Climatology
• Oceanography and Hydrology
• Palaeontology
• Physical Geography and Topography
• Regional Geography
• Soil Science
• Urban Geography
• Browse content in Engineering and Technology
• Agriculture and Farming
• Biological Engineering
• Civil Engineering, Surveying, and Building
• Electronics and Communications Engineering
• Energy Technology
• Engineering (General)
• Environmental Science, Engineering, and Technology
• History of Engineering and Technology
• Mechanical Engineering and Materials
• Technology of Industrial Chemistry
• Transport Technology and Trades
• Browse content in Environmental Science
• Applied Ecology (Environmental Science)
• Conservation of the Environment (Environmental Science)
• Environmental Sustainability
• Environmentalist Thought and Ideology (Environmental Science)
• Management of Land and Natural Resources (Environmental Science)
• Natural Disasters (Environmental Science)
• Nuclear Issues (Environmental Science)
• Pollution and Threats to the Environment (Environmental Science)
• Social Impact of Environmental Issues (Environmental Science)
• History of Science and Technology
• Browse content in Materials Science
• Ceramics and Glasses
• Composite Materials
• Metals, Alloying, and Corrosion
• Nanotechnology
• Browse content in Mathematics
• Applied Mathematics
• Biomathematics and Statistics
• History of Mathematics
• Mathematical Education
• Mathematical Finance
• Mathematical Analysis
• Numerical and Computational Mathematics
• Probability and Statistics
• Pure Mathematics
• Browse content in Neuroscience
• Cognition and Behavioural Neuroscience
• Development of the Nervous System
• Disorders of the Nervous System
• History of Neuroscience
• Invertebrate Neurobiology
• Molecular and Cellular Systems
• Neuroendocrinology and Autonomic Nervous System
• Neuroscientific Techniques
• Sensory and Motor Systems
• Browse content in Physics
• Astronomy and Astrophysics
• Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics
• Biological and Medical Physics
• Classical Mechanics
• Computational Physics
• Condensed Matter Physics
• Electromagnetism, Optics, and Acoustics
• History of Physics
• Mathematical and Statistical Physics
• Measurement Science
• Nuclear Physics
• Particles and Fields
• Plasma Physics
• Quantum Physics
• Relativity and Gravitation
• Semiconductor and Mesoscopic Physics
• Browse content in Psychology
• Affective Sciences
• Clinical Psychology
• Cognitive Psychology
• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Criminal and Forensic Psychology
• Developmental Psychology
• Educational Psychology
• Evolutionary Psychology
• Health Psychology
• History and Systems in Psychology
• Music Psychology
• Neuropsychology
• Organizational Psychology
• Psychological Assessment and Testing
• Psychology of Human-Technology Interaction
• Psychology Professional Development and Training
• Research Methods in Psychology
• Social Psychology
• Browse content in Social Sciences
• Browse content in Anthropology
• Anthropology of Religion
• Human Evolution
• Medical Anthropology
• Physical Anthropology
• Regional Anthropology
• Social and Cultural Anthropology
• Theory and Practice of Anthropology
• Browse content in Business and Management
• Business Ethics
• Business Strategy
• Business History
• Business and Technology
• Business and Government
• Business and the Environment
• Comparative Management
• Corporate Governance
• Corporate Social Responsibility
• Entrepreneurship
• Health Management
• Human Resource Management
• Industrial and Employment Relations
• Industry Studies
• Information and Communication Technologies
• International Business
• Knowledge Management
• Management and Management Techniques
• Operations Management
• Organizational Theory and Behaviour
• Pensions and Pension Management
• Public and Nonprofit Management
• Social Issues in Business and Management
• Strategic Management
• Supply Chain Management
• Browse content in Criminology and Criminal Justice
• Criminal Justice
• Criminology
• Forms of Crime
• International and Comparative Criminology
• Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice
• Development Studies
• Browse content in Economics
• Agricultural, Environmental, and Natural Resource Economics
• Asian Economics
• Behavioural Finance
• Behavioural Economics and Neuroeconomics
• Econometrics and Mathematical Economics
• Economic History
• Economic Systems
• Economic Methodology
• Economic Development and Growth
• Financial Markets
• Financial Institutions and Services
• General Economics and Teaching
• Health, Education, and Welfare
• History of Economic Thought
• International Economics
• Labour and Demographic Economics
• Law and Economics
• Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics
• Microeconomics
• Public Economics
• Urban, Rural, and Regional Economics
• Welfare Economics
• Browse content in Education
• Adult Education and Continuous Learning
• Care and Counselling of Students
• Early Childhood and Elementary Education
• Educational Equipment and Technology
• Educational Strategies and Policy
• Higher and Further Education
• Organization and Management of Education
• Philosophy and Theory of Education
• Schools Studies
• Secondary Education
• Teaching of a Specific Subject
• Teaching of Specific Groups and Special Educational Needs
• Teaching Skills and Techniques
• Browse content in Environment
• Applied Ecology (Social Science)
• Climate Change
• Conservation of the Environment (Social Science)
• Environmentalist Thought and Ideology (Social Science)
• Management of Land and Natural Resources (Social Science)
• Natural Disasters (Environment)
• Pollution and Threats to the Environment (Social Science)
• Social Impact of Environmental Issues (Social Science)
• Sustainability
• Browse content in Human Geography
• Cultural Geography
• Economic Geography
• Political Geography
• Browse content in Interdisciplinary Studies
• Communication Studies
• Museums, Libraries, and Information Sciences
• Browse content in Politics
• African Politics
• Asian Politics
• Chinese Politics
• Comparative Politics
• Conflict Politics
• Elections and Electoral Studies
• Environmental Politics
• Ethnic Politics
• European Union
• Foreign Policy
• Gender and Politics
• Human Rights and Politics
• Indian Politics
• International Relations
• International Organization (Politics)
• Irish Politics
• Latin American Politics
• Middle Eastern Politics
• Political Behaviour
• Political Economy
• Political Institutions
• Political Methodology
• Political Communication
• Political Philosophy
• Political Sociology
• Political Theory
• Politics and Law
• Politics of Development
• Public Policy
• Public Administration
• Qualitative Political Methodology
• Quantitative Political Methodology
• Regional Political Studies
• Russian Politics
• Security Studies
• State and Local Government
• UK Politics
• US Politics
• Browse content in Regional and Area Studies
• African Studies
• Asian Studies
• East Asian Studies
• Japanese Studies
• Latin American Studies
• Middle Eastern Studies
• Native American Studies
• Scottish Studies
• Browse content in Research and Information
• Research Methods
• Browse content in Social Work
• Addictions and Substance Misuse
• Adoption and Fostering
• Care of the Elderly
• Child and Adolescent Social Work
• Couple and Family Social Work
• Direct Practice and Clinical Social Work
• Emergency Services
• Human Behaviour and the Social Environment
• International and Global Issues in Social Work
• Mental and Behavioural Health
• Social Justice and Human Rights
• Social Policy and Advocacy
• Social Work and Crime and Justice
• Social Work Macro Practice
• Social Work Practice Settings
• Social Work Research and Evidence-based Practice
• Welfare and Benefit Systems
• Browse content in Sociology
• Childhood Studies
• Community Development
• Comparative and Historical Sociology
• Disability Studies
• Economic Sociology
• Gender and Sexuality
• Gerontology and Ageing
• Health, Illness, and Medicine
• Marriage and the Family
• Migration Studies
• Occupations, Professions, and Work
• Organizations
• Population and Demography
• Race and Ethnicity
• Social Theory
• Social Movements and Social Change
• Social Research and Statistics
• Social Stratification, Inequality, and Mobility
• Sociology of Religion
• Sociology of Education
• Sport and Leisure
• Urban and Rural Studies
• Browse content in Warfare and Defence
• Defence Strategy, Planning, and Research
• Land Forces and Warfare
• Military Administration
• Military Life and Institutions
• Naval Forces and Warfare
• Other Warfare and Defence Issues
• Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution
• Weapons and Equipment

• < Previous
• Next chapter >

1 Introduction to Ethnography

• Published: May 2018
• Cite Icon Cite
• Permissions Icon Permissions

This introductory chapter introduces ethnography as a distinct research and writing tradition. The author begins by historically contextualizing ethnography’s professionalization within the fields of anthropology and sociology. While highlighting the formidable influences of, for example, Bronislaw Malinowski and the Chicago school, the author complicates existing understandings by bringing significant, but less-recognized, influences and contributions to light. The chapter next outlines three principal research methods that most ethnographers utilize—namely, participant-observation, fieldnote writing, and ethnographic interviewing. The discussion then shifts from method to methodology to explain the primary qualities that separate ethnography from other forms of participant-observation-oriented research. This includes introducing a research disposition called ethnographic comportment , which serves as a standard for gauging ethnography throughout the remainder of the book. The author presents ethnographic comportment as reflecting both ethnographers’ awarenesses of and their accountabilities to the research tradition in which they participate.

Personal account

• Sign in with email/username & password
• Get email alerts
• Save searches
• Purchase content
• Activate your purchase/trial code
• Add your ORCID iD

Institutional access

Sign in with a library card.

• Sign in with username/password
• Recommend to your librarian
• Institutional account management
• Get help with access

Access to content on Oxford Academic is often provided through institutional subscriptions and purchases. If you are a member of an institution with an active account, you may be able to access content in one of the following ways:

IP based access

Typically, access is provided across an institutional network to a range of IP addresses. This authentication occurs automatically, and it is not possible to sign out of an IP authenticated account.

Choose this option to get remote access when outside your institution. Shibboleth/Open Athens technology is used to provide single sign-on between your institution’s website and Oxford Academic.

• Click Sign in through your institution.
• Select your institution from the list provided, which will take you to your institution's website to sign in.
• When on the institution site, please use the credentials provided by your institution. Do not use an Oxford Academic personal account.
• Following successful sign in, you will be returned to Oxford Academic.

If your institution is not listed or you cannot sign in to your institution’s website, please contact your librarian or administrator.

Enter your library card number to sign in. If you cannot sign in, please contact your librarian.

Society Members

Society member access to a journal is achieved in one of the following ways:

Sign in through society site

Many societies offer single sign-on between the society website and Oxford Academic. If you see ‘Sign in through society site’ in the sign in pane within a journal:

• Click Sign in through society site.
• When on the society site, please use the credentials provided by that society. Do not use an Oxford Academic personal account.

If you do not have a society account or have forgotten your username or password, please contact your society.

Sign in using a personal account

Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members. See below.

A personal account can be used to get email alerts, save searches, purchase content, and activate subscriptions.

Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members.

Viewing your signed in accounts

Click the account icon in the top right to:

• View your signed in personal account and access account management features.
• View the institutional accounts that are providing access.

Signed in but can't access content

Oxford Academic is home to a wide variety of products. The institutional subscription may not cover the content that you are trying to access. If you believe you should have access to that content, please contact your librarian.

For librarians and administrators, your personal account also provides access to institutional account management. Here you will find options to view and activate subscriptions, manage institutional settings and access options, access usage statistics, and more.

Our books are available by subscription or purchase to libraries and institutions.

• About Oxford Academic
• Publish journals with us
• University press partners
• What we publish
• New features  
• Open access
• Rights and permissions
• Accessibility
• Advertising
• Media enquiries
• Oxford University Press
• Oxford Languages
• University of Oxford

Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide

• Copyright © 2024 Oxford University Press
• Cookie settings
• Cookie policy
• Privacy policy
• Legal notice

This Feature Is Available To Subscribers Only

Sign In or Create an Account

This PDF is available to Subscribers Only

For full access to this pdf, sign in to an existing account, or purchase an annual subscription.

Want to create or adapt books like this? Learn more about how Pressbooks supports open publishing practices.

Chapter 9: Ethnography

Darshini Ayton

Learning outcomes

Upon completion of this chapter, you should be able to:

• Identify the key terms and concepts used in ethnography.
• Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of ethnography.

What is ethnography?

The key concept in ethnography is culture .

Ethnography studies emerged from the discipline of anthropology. They aim to understand the meanings and behaviours associated with the membership of groups, teams, organisations and communities. 1 The focus of ethnographic research is on the lived culture of groups of people; ethnographers have studied systems of belief, religious frameworks, worldviews and structures that form the social world. There are many definitions of culture. In ethnography, culture is defined as the group norms and expectations that allow members of the group to communicate and work together. This includes attributes, beliefs, customs, behaviours, knowledge, capabilities and habits. Examples of cultural groups include people from a particular region or race, religious groups, organisational groups, workplaces and social groups (for example, friendship groups, and mothers groups). Note that culture is dynamic and socially constructed and it is normal for there to be sub-cultures within cultural groups. 2

Multiple methods can be used in ethnographic research, but participant observation is a hallmark method. 1,3 To explore culture requires a ‘triangulation’; that is,  the use of multiple methods, such as observations and interviews, to develop a comprehensive understanding of culture through observing people and listening to what they have to say about (or within) the culture.

Several approaches to data analysis lend themselves to ethnography, including the identification, study and analysis of patterns. The process of analysis follows a typically unstructured and iterative path consisting of description (describing data), analysis (examining relationships and linkages) and interpretation (explanations beyond analysis). 4

There are other key concepts in ethnographic research, which are outlined below.

Additional key concepts in ethnographic research

• Fieldwork and field notes – the time spent engaging in primary data collection, which is predominantly participant observation, and the mode of data collection. Fieldwork is the time spent immersed in the culture under study, while field notes are the written reflections, observations and ideas documented during or soon after fieldwork. 5
• Participant observation – the main method of data collection in ethnography involves the researcher participating as a member of the community or culture, to gain first-hand experience of daily life in the research setting. 5
• An emic perspective – ethnography seeks to understand the worldview of the participant; it thus follows that the researcher can have an emic perspective (insider) or an etic perspective (outsider). This is not a binary category. Rather, researchers might be considered on a continuum, from emic to etic 6 (see Chapter 28 for an overview of insider and outsider research), and therefore reflexivity (Chapter 30) and researcher positionality (Chapter 28) are important elements of the research process . Implementing ‘insider’ ethnography: lessons from the Public Conversations about HIV/AIDS  project in rural South Africa describes an ethnography project involving insider community members and outsider investigators reflecting on the advantages and challenges of this approach. 7
• Thick description – the researcher creates detailed observational field notes with references to the social actions and behaviours of participants. The field notes include anecdotes, observations about the language used and quotes to illustrate the activities of the cultural group being observed. The researcher then integrates theoretical frameworks to help create meaning for the observations. 8
• Holism – ethnography focuses on studying all aspects of a culture, including religious practices, politics, institutions, family structures and cultural traditions. Using the analogy of the structure of the human body, Bronislaw Malinowski, one of the founders of the functionalist school of anthropology, described survey research as the skeleton and ethnography as the flesh and blood. 4

How long researchers spend conducting observations in the field depends on the research question and context. For example, in research to observe and characterise the behaviours and processes of antimicrobial decision-making in two surgical units of an acute hospital setting, researchers spent 58 hours in participant observation at three points of care: pre-admission clinic, surgery and on the ward following surgery. These three points of care were chosen as key moments in the patient’s experience of surgery. The observations were conducted in an acute hospital where medical practice is process-driven and protocol-driven. Hence, it did not take extensive time to observe the typical process and protocol in this setting. Researchers used an observation audit sheet (see Chapter 15) and informed participants that the study was focused on clinical decision-making, rather than specifically antimicrobial prescribing. This was done to minimise the ‘Hawthorne effect’, whereby people are said to change their behaviour because they know they are being observed. Following participant observations, six semi-structured interviews were conducted with two surgeons and four anaesthetists to clarify and discuss the findings of the observations. Interview data were analysed thematically, using inductive and deductive coding. 9

In contrast, an ethnographic study of homecare workers supporting people living with dementia involved 100 hours of participant observations of 16 homecare workers who were supporting 17 people living with dementia. Interviews were conducted with 82 people, including people living with dementia, family carers, homecare managers and support staff, homecare workers, and health and social care professionals. 10

Advantages and challenges of ethnography

The immersive approach to ethnography enables a nuanced understanding of the cultural group under study. Unlike other research designs, the prolonged engagement with the research setting provides an opportunity to refine and iterate research questions leading to a deeper understanding of the phenomenon. Participant observation provides a first hand of the behaviours and interactions of people within a cultural group which can be triangulated with interviews and documents to increase the rigour of the research. 9

There are many challenges in conducting ethnographic research. The time required to undertake ethnographic fieldwork can range from short sessions of observations over months or years, to the researcher living in the community for a period of time. The resources and time required may be substantial. When a researcher is embedded within a community, their departure can cause anxiety and distress for both the researcher and the community members. This experience was described by Paolo Franco, who spent 18 months conducting fieldwork in a retirement village, as a volunteer technology supporter for the residents. Franco described how the participants became dependent on his technology service as well as socially and emotionally connected to him as the researcher. To mitigate problems occurring with a researcher withdraws from a research setting, the researcher should let participants know as early as possible about their estimated time in the community, and should have a plan for their exit. 11

Another key challenge in ethnography is gaining access to ‘the field’ and enlisting the support of gatekeepers. Careful planning and engagement are required to ensure communication channels are open and positive relationships are established. Managing ethical conduct is another important consideration in ethnography. Researchers need to consider how much they will disclose to participants about the purpose of the research, and whether they will be covert (undercover) or overt (open and transparent) in their approach to fieldwork. For the most part, researchers are overt about their research, hoping that participants will ‘forget’ that they are being studied and will revert to natural behaviours. 5

Table 9.1 provides two examples of ethnography from health and social care.

Table 9.1. Ethnographic examples

Ethnography focuses on understanding culture and the behaviours, experiences and meanings at the group level. The main method of data collection is participant observation, which can be combined with interviews, focus groups and field notes to inform interpretations of the research topic.

• Reeves S, Kuper A, Hodges BD. Qualitative research methodologies: ethnography. BMJ . 2008;337:a1020. doi:10.1136/bmj.a1020
• Hudelson PM. Culture and quality: an anthropological perspective. Int J Qual Health Care . 2004;16(5):345-346. doi:10.1093/intqhc/mzh076
• Strudwick RM. Ethnographic research in healthcare – patients and service users as participants. Disabil Rehabil . 2020;43(22): 3271-327. doi:10.1080/09638288.2020.1741695
• Reeves S, Peller J, Goldman J, Kitto S. Ethnography in qualitative educational research: AMEE Guide No. 80. Med Teach . 2013;35(8):e1365-e1379. doi:10.3109/0142159X.2013.804977
• O’Reilly K, Bone JH. Key Concepts in Ethnography . The SAGE Key Concepts Series. SAGE; 2009.
• Eriksson P, Kovalainen A. Qualitative Methods in Business Research . SAGE; 2008.
• Angotti N, Sennott C. Implementing ‘insider’ ethnography: lessons from the Public Conversations about HIV/AIDS project in rural South Africa. Qual Res . 2015;15(4):437-453. doi:10.1177/1468794114543402
• Clark L, Chevrette R. Thick Description. In: Matthes J, Davis CS, Potter RE, eds. The International Encyclopedia of Communication Research Methods : John Wiley & Sons; 2017.
• Jackson J. Ethnography. In: Hua Z, ed. Research Methods in Intercultural Communication . John Wiley & Sons;  2015.
• Leverton M, Burton A, Beresford-Dent J, et al. Supporting independence at home for people living with dementia: a qualitative ethnographic study of homecare. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol . 2021;56(12):2323-2336. doi:10.1007/s00127-021-02084-y
• Franco P, Yang YN. Existing fieldwork ‘with grace’: reflections on the unintended consequences of participant observation and researcher-participant relationships. Qualitative Market Research . 2021;24(3):358-374. doi:10.1108/QMR-07-2020-0094
• Johnson EK. The costs of care: an ethnography of care work in residential homes for older people. Sociol Health Illn . 2023;45(1):54-69. doi:10.1111/1467-9566.13546
• Kitson C, Haines M, O’Byrne P. Understanding the perspectives of women who use intravenous drugs and are experiencing homelessness in an urban centre in Canada: an analysis of ethnographic data. Glob Qual Nurs Res . Published online March 20, 2022. doi:10.1177/23333936221080935

Qualitative Research – a practical guide for health and social care researchers and practitioners Copyright © 2023 by Darshini Ayton is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

Share This Book

Ethnography In Qualitative Research

Saul McLeod, PhD

Editor-in-Chief for Simply Psychology

BSc (Hons) Psychology, MRes, PhD, University of Manchester

Saul McLeod, PhD., is a qualified psychology teacher with over 18 years of experience in further and higher education. He has been published in peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Clinical Psychology.

Learn about our Editorial Process

Olivia Guy-Evans, MSc

Associate Editor for Simply Psychology

BSc (Hons) Psychology, MSc Psychology of Education

Olivia Guy-Evans is a writer and associate editor for Simply Psychology. She has previously worked in healthcare and educational sectors.

On This Page:

What is Ethnography?

Ethnography is a qualitative research method that emphasizes studying what people do and say in particular contexts. Ethnographers typically spend considerable time observing and interacting with a social group to understand how the group develops cultural constructions and relations.

Ethnography is used anthropology and other social sciences to systematically study people and cultures.

The goal of ethnography is to explore cultural phenomena from the perspective of the subjects being studied.

They aim to uncover the reasons for particular behaviors and practices within a specific cultural context. For example, an ethnographic study might examine why certain communities use specific child-rearing techniques or how cultural values influence emotional expression.

This often involves immersing oneself in a community or organization to observe their behaviors and interactions up close.

Ethnographic research is often open-ended and exploratory. Researchers may enter the field with a research question in mind, but they remain open to unexpected findings and allow the social order of the community to guide their observations.

This openness to discovery helps researchers develop a deeper understanding of the cultural phenomena they study.

How does an ethnographic perspective view psychological knowledge?

Ethnography considers the social context of psychological phenomena to be critical to the field of psychology.

An ethnographic perspective argues that psychological knowledge is not complete unless it examines how communal practices, economic and political structures, shared values, histories, aspirations, and other life dimensions shape human experiences.

The interaction of identity and self-definition is dynamic and shaped by an individual’s social contexts.

Ethnography is primarily used in the following situations:

• Cultural anthropology : Ethnography is the primary research method used by cultural anthropologists to study and understand different societies and cultures around the world. Margaret Mead conducted ethnographic research among the Arapesh, Mundugumor, and Tchambuli people of New Guinea, which resulted in her book Sex and Temperament in Three Primitive Societies (1935). In this work, she explored the ways in which gender roles and personality traits varied across cultures.
• Sociology : Ethnographic methods are used in sociology to study subcultures, communities, and social groups within a larger society, such as urban neighborhoods, religious communities, or professional groups. Paul Willis conducted an ethnographic study of working-class youth culture, presented in his work Learning to Labo r. Willis sought to understand why working-class youth often ended up in working-class jobs. His research involved a series of interviews and observations, focusing on a school setting to gain insight into the connection between working-class backgrounds and career trajectories. Willis concluded that working-class children often develop a counter-school culture, characterized by opposition to academics and authority figures.
• Education : Ethnography is used in educational research to study classroom dynamics, student-teacher interactions, and the impact of cultural factors on learning.
• Healthcare : Ethnography is used in healthcare research to study patient experiences, healthcare provider practices, and the cultural factors that influence health behaviors and outcomes.
• Social work : Ethnographic research helps social workers understand the lived experiences of marginalized or vulnerable populations, informing the development of more effective interventions and support services.
• Policy and development : Ethnography is used in policy research and international development to assess the impact of policies and programs on local communities and to ensure that development initiatives are culturally appropriate and sustainable.

What distinguishes ethnography from other qualitative methods?

While ethnography shares commonalities with other qualitative methods, these distinctions highlight its unique capacity to provide rich, nuanced insights into the complexities of human behavior and culture.

• Immersive Fieldwork: Unlike other qualitative methods that might rely solely on interviews or surveys, ethnography necessitates the researcher to be directly involved in the community or group they are studying, often for extended periods. This immersive approach allows for a depth of understanding unattainable through less participatory methods.
• Unstructured Data Collection: Ethnographers typically begin their research with a more exploratory approach rather than testing predetermined hypotheses. They embrace unstructured data collection, allowing patterns and theories to emerge from their observations and interactions rather than imposing pre-existing frameworks.
• Emphasis on Observation Over Interviews: Although interviews are a common tool in ethnographic research, the core of the method lies in observing what people do rather than solely relying on what they say . This focus on action allows ethnographers to identify discrepancies between stated beliefs and actual practices, providing a richer understanding of the complexities within a social group.
• Interpretative and Reflexive Analysis: Ethnographers acknowledge the inherent subjectivity involved in interpreting social phenomena. They embrace reflexivity, acknowledging that their own backgrounds and perspectives shape how they observe and interpret data.
• Focus on Process, Meaning, and Place: Ethnography seeks to uncover the dynamic processes, shared meanings, and influence of place that shape social life. It investigates how individuals make sense of their world and how these understandings influence their actions and interactions within specific geographical and social contexts.
• Thick description : Thick description, a concept by Geertz, is an ethnographer’s in-depth and nuanced representation of social life that goes beyond simple observation, exploring the meanings and motivations behind behaviors. This nuanced understanding illustrates how ethnographers use thick description to reveal what is “at stake” in people’s lives.

Gaining Access to a Community for Ethnographic Research

Negotiating access to a community for research can be a delicate process, requiring sensitivity and understanding of local social practices.

There is no one-size-fits-all approach; instead, researchers must adapt their approach to the specific community and setting they wish to study.

• Initial Contact: Start by identifying potential participants and settings relevant to the research question. Initial contact can be made remotely through emails, calls, or social connections. Reaching out to researchers who have previously worked in the field can be beneficial. Physical visits to the field can also be helpful in the initial stages.
• Building Trust and Understanding Local Norms: Establishing trust is paramount in ethnographic research. Researchers should prioritize initiating contact in a manner that aligns with the community’s social practices. For example, directly emailing community centers in a culture that values personal introductions might be ineffective. Introducing the researcher through a trusted community member, like a friend or neighbor, can foster trust and facilitate acceptance. Researchers should remain mindful of their position in relation to the community’s cultural norms and how their presence might be perceived.
• Addressing Challenges and Maintaining Access: Unexpected challenges and setbacks are common in ethnographic research. Embracing methodological agility allows researchers to adapt their methods to the contingencies of the field site and view setbacks as opportunities for refining research design. Flexibility is key, and researchers should be open to exploring alternative settings or communities if access to the initial choice proves difficult.
• Ethical Considerations and Reciprocity: Ethnographic research involves a responsibility to the community being studied. Ethnographers must be aware of the power dynamics inherent in research and strive to minimize harm by respecting participants’ privacy and cultural norms. Researchers should consider how their work can benefit the community, for instance, by offering insights, providing resources, or advocating for positive change.

Working with Informants in Ethnography

Informants are crucial to ethnographic research, acting as primary points of contact and facilitating the researcher’s understanding of the group being studied.

Identifying the right informants is vital, and a “friend-of-a-friend” approach, leveraging existing social networks, can be advantageous.

This method can grant access to otherwise inaccessible aspects of social life and provide a unique, embedded perspective on the community’s language use and attitudes.

However, over-reliance on a single informant can skew the researcher’s perspective, potentially leading to biased or unrepresentative findings.

An informant may consciously or unconsciously shape their interactions with the researcher to align with what they believe is expected, hindering the collection of spontaneous and authentic data.

Therefore, it’s essential to cultivate relationships with a diverse range of informants within the community. This approach helps ensure a more comprehensive understanding of the group’s dynamics and mitigates the risk of individual bias influencing the research findings.

While the sources don’t provide detailed steps on managing relationships with multiple informants, they emphasize the importance of ethical considerations, open communication, and building trust throughout the research process.

Data Sources in Ethnographic Research

Ethnographers often employ a  multi-method approach , combining data from these various sources to create a rich and comprehensive understanding of the group being studied.

They may also utilize audio and video recordings to capture interactions and analyze nonverbal communication.

The choice of specific data collection methods depends on factors like the research question, available resources, and ethical considerations

• Participant observation involves the researcher immersing themselves in the daily life of a community to gain an understanding of the actions, activities, rituals, routines, and daily practices. The ethnographer might participate in activities to learn through experience or observe from the sidelines. There are varying levels of participation in this method. Some researchers fully adopt the social role they are studying, like a factory worker or police officer, to better understand the group’s worldview. Others maintain a more detached relationship, observing from the sidelines, while acknowledging that some interaction is inevitable.
• Field notes  are a primary data source, meticulously recording observations, conversations, and preliminary analyses made during immersion in the research setting3.
• Interviews  play a significant role, providing insights into individuals’ perspectives and experiences within the group. Interviews provide a source of witness accounts about settings and events in the social world that the ethnographer may or may not have been able to observe.
• Documents , both official and personal, can offer valuable contextual information and supplement observational data

When conducting ethnographic research, researchers should be mindful of their ontological and epistemological stances, their research questions, and the context of their research.

Ethnographers must also consider ethical implications, the type of data they are collecting, and how their findings will be used.

What are the limitations of solely relying on interviews in ethnographic research?

While interviews are a common element of ethnographic research, relying on them solely as a source of data has some significant limitations.

• Discrepancies Between Words and Actions : Interviews primarily capture what people say about their lives, beliefs, and practices. However, what people say and what they actually do can differ. Observing participants in their natural environment can reveal these discrepancies and provide a more complete understanding of their lived experiences.
• Influence of Interviewer and Context : The interview itself is a constructed situation that can influence participants’ responses. Participants may modify their language or opinions to align with perceived expectations or power dynamics, particularly when discussing sensitive topics.
• Limited Insight into Meaning-Making : While interviews can provide information about perspectives and beliefs, they may not fully capture the subtle ways cultural meanings are embedded in everyday practices and interactions. Ethnographic observation allows researchers to witness these meaning-making processes firsthand.
• Difficulty in Capturing Complexity : Interviews, especially structured ones, often rely on pre-determined questions and response categories. This approach can oversimplify complex cultural phenomena and miss nuances that emerge through observation of natural interactions.

Supplementing Interviews with Observation

To mitigate these limitations, sources emphasize the importance of combining interviews with other ethnographic methods, primarily participant observation .

• Observing participants in their natural environment provides a more holistic and nuanced understanding of their practices, interactions, and the cultural meanings embedded within them.
• This immersive approach allows researchers to go beyond self-reported accounts and gain insights that might not be revealed through interviews alone.

Skills Required for Ethnographic Studies

• High Degree of Interpretative Agility: Understanding the intricacies of ethnographic studies necessitates a high degree of interpretative agility to make sense of the diverse range of issues and facts gathered.
• Cultural Sensitivity: Sensitivity towards the culture, values, and norms of the social setting is paramount for conducting ethical and meaningful research. This is essential for building trust and rapport with research participants and understanding their perspectives.
• Reflexivity : Ethnographers must be self-aware and reflective about their own positionality, biases, and impact on the research process, and be transparent about these factors in their writing.

The Role of Reflexivity in Ethnography

Reflexivity in ethnographic writing involves thoughtfully examining how the researcher’s background, beliefs, and position influence their observations, interpretations, and the final ethnographic account.

It’s a crucial aspect of producing responsible and insightful ethnographic work.

• Acknowledging Subjectivity: Ethnographers who practice reflexivity understand that their accounts are not objective truths, but rather interpretations shaped by their own experiences and perspectives. They acknowledge that other researchers, with different backgrounds and positions, might interpret the same data differently.
• Positioning the Researcher: Reflexivity encourages ethnographers to explicitly consider and articulate how their personal and cultural background, as well as their social position relative to the community being studied, might influence their understanding of the observed phenomena. This includes acknowledging any preconceived notions or biases they bring to the research.
• Examining Power Dynamics: Ethnographic research often involves power imbalances between the researcher and the researched, especially when studying marginalized groups. Reflexivity encourages researchers to critically examine these power dynamics and to consider how their work might perpetuate or challenge existing inequalities. This involves being transparent about the research process and engaging in ethical practices that protect participants.
• Enhancing the Validity of Findings : Ultimately, reflexivity aims to strengthen the ethnographic account by making the researcher’s interpretive process more transparent and by providing a more nuanced and accountable representation of the community being studied. This can involve explicitly discussing the researcher’s positionality and reflecting on how their presence might have influenced the data collected.

It is important to note that while reflexivity is widely recognized as crucial in ethnography, there are different understandings of its application and implications.

Some argue for a more radical approach that emphasizes the subjective nature of ethnographic knowledge and the limitations of representation.

Others advocate for a more moderate stance that acknowledges the importance of reflexivity while still striving for rigorous and insightful accounts of social reality.

Importance of Local Context in Ethnography

Understanding the local context is crucial for ethnographic research because it allows researchers to accurately interpret the meanings behind people’s actions and perspectives within their specific social and cultural environment.

Ethnography examines the intricate relationships between human agency and the structures of society within the everyday experiences of a particular place. This method aims to understand the processes and meanings that underpin social life, recognizing that these processes and meanings vary across locations.

Here’s why local context is so important for ethnographic research:

• Connecting Macro and Micro Levels of Analysis: Ethnography aims to reveal the link between large-scale societal structures and the everyday experiences of individuals. The local context provides the specific setting where these connections are made visible and understandable. For instance, studying violence statistically cannot capture the contextual factors that lead to it, but ethnographic research can uncover the specific social dynamics and meanings within particular places that contribute to such behavior.
• Uncovering Meaning Systems: The meanings people assign to events and actions are often deeply embedded within their local culture and not always explicitly stated. Ethnographers, by immersing themselves in the local context, can gradually understand these meaning systems through prolonged observation, interaction, and analysis of daily practices.
• Context-Sensitivity of Behavior: People’s actions and accounts of their actions are highly context-dependent, meaning they can vary significantly across different settings. Ethnographic research acknowledges this by emphasizing firsthand observation and understanding of the local context to ensure accurate interpretation of behavior and perspectives.
• Avoiding Misinterpretation: Without a deep understanding of the local context, researchers risk misinterpreting observations or imposing their own cultural biases on the data. Immersing oneself in the local context allows ethnographers to develop cultural competence and sensitivity, which helps them arrive at more accurate and insightful interpretations of the group’s actions and beliefs.

In essence, understanding the local context is not just about knowing where something occurs, but about comprehending the intricate web of cultural meanings, social dynamics, and historical factors that shape people’s lives and experiences in that specific location.

This understanding is fundamental to the ethnographic approach and its ability to generate meaningful insights into human behavior and social life.

Challenges in Conducting Ethnographic Research

Ethnography, a qualitative research method focusing on the study of people and cultures, presents a unique set of challenges for researchers:

• Time Commitment : Ethnography is a time-consuming endeavor. Researchers need to spend significant time immersed in the community or organization they are studying to build relationships, observe interactions, and gain a deep understanding of the culture. This long-term immersion requires careful planning and can be personally demanding. For instance, some research may necessitate a “focused” or “mini” ethnography lasting a few weeks or months, while others require a year or more.
• Observer Bias : Ethnographers are at risk of introducing their own biases into the research. Writing an ethnography involves subjective interpretation, and it can be difficult to remain objective when analyzing a group in which the researcher is deeply involved. The researcher’s background, beliefs, and experiences can influence their observations and interpretations.
• Representing Culture : Writing about other people is inherently complicated, and ethnographers must consider how to describe people in a manner that is informative, honest, sensitive, and ethical.
• Ethical Issues : Recognize that ethnographers often hold a position of power relative to the communities they study, particularly when working with marginalized groups. Ensure participants are volunteers who understand the study’s purpose and their right to withdraw.
• Gaining Access : Getting access to a community or organization for research can be a delicate process. Researchers need to establish trust with gatekeepers and negotiate their role within the community. This can be particularly difficult in settings that are closed or suspicious of outsiders. For instance, researchers may face resistance from organizations concerned about negative publicity stemming from the study’s findings.
• Data Analysis and Interpretation : Ethnographic research often generates large amounts of data in various forms, such as field notes, interviews, and documents. Analyzing this data and developing meaningful interpretations can be challenging and time-consuming. Researchers must develop systematic ways to manage, analyze, and interpret their data while staying true to the experiences and perspectives of the participants.
• Generalizability : The findings of ethnographic research, which typically focuses on a specific case or setting, can be challenging to generalize to other populations or contexts. The in-depth, context-specific nature of ethnographic research, while a strength in understanding a particular group, poses challenges for drawing broader conclusions about human behavior and social phenomena.
• External Pressures : Ethnographers may face pressure from funding agencies or institutions to conduct research that aligns with specific agendas or produces immediate, tangible outcomes. This pressure can create ethical dilemmas and compromise the integrity of the research. For example, ethnography may be perceived as an inefficient research method due to its reliance on long-term engagement.

Strategies for Ethical Representation

Any ethnographic account of another cultural group risks engaging in what Edward Said (1978) called the “politics of othering,” potentially distorting the lives of those being studied in support of “scientific racism and projects of colonial domination and exploitation”.

The ethnographer should chronicle the community’s experiences, including their struggles, aspirations, losses, and stagnation, with compassion

Thick Description

Provide a nuanced perspective on social life, connecting observed behaviors to underlying meanings, emotions, and decision-making strategies, while avoiding simplistic or reductive accounts of complex experiences.

For example, instead of simply stating that Alzheimer’s carries a social stigma, an ethnographer might connect this observation to the community’s beliefs about family and social change.

Respect and Dignity

Represent individuals with respect and dignity, appreciating their values within the context of their lives.

The ethnographer should chronicle the community’s experiences, including their struggles, aspirations, losses, and stagnation, with compassion.

Reflexivity and Collaboration

Acknowledge the historical legacy of ethnography, including its role in colonialism and the potential for exploitative research practices.

Ethnographers should strive for a more equitable and collaborative approach by:

• Recognizing participants as “epistemic agents and interlocutors” who contribute theoretical interpretations, not merely data points2.
• Involving community members in shaping research questions, data analysis, and the dissemination of findings.
• Considering co-authorship with community members

Strengths of Ethnography

• Ethnography offers a nuanced understanding of cultural phenomena by directly observing behaviors and interactions within a specific community or organization. This immersive approach allows researchers to gain firsthand knowledge of shared culture, conventions, and social dynamics. Ethnography is particularly useful for studying complex social phenomena like football fans, call center workers, and police officers.
• Flexibility, allowing researchers to adapt their research strategy and direction based on their observations and developing understanding. Rather than aiming to confirm a hypothesis or test a general theory, ethnographic research prioritizes providing a comprehensive and detailed narrative of a specific culture. This open-ended approach enables the exploration of various aspects of the group and setting being studied.
• Ethnographers can uncover authentic information and observe spontaneous dynamics that might not surface through direct questioning. By becoming immersed in the social environment, researchers gain access to a deeper understanding of the lived experiences of the group under study. For example, ethnographers can examine discrepancies between what people say and their actual actions, providing insights that other methodologies might miss.
• Ethnography enables researchers to understand the meanings behind social actions by revealing the knowledge and meaning structures that guide them. Through prolonged engagement and observation, ethnographers gain insight into the cultural systems of meaning that shape individuals’ perceptions and actions. Unlike surveys or interviews with pre-determined questions, ethnography allows for an emergent understanding of the cultural competencies within a social setting.
• Ethnographic research relies on a comprehensive approach to data collection, incorporating observations, conversations, and preliminary analysis through detailed field notes. This rigorous documentation helps ensure the accuracy and representativeness of the findings. Moreover, ethnography goes beyond simply describing behaviors; it strives to provide a structured explanation of the observed phenomena, drawing on the researcher’s direct experiences, intuitions, and relevant theoretical frameworks.

However, it’s important to note that ethnography, while valuable, has limitations. It is a time-consuming method requiring significant planning and careful consideration of ethical issues.

Additionally, maintaining objectivity and minimizing observer bias can be a challenge due to the researcher’s immersive role.

Further Information

• Brewer, J. (2000).  Ethnography . McGraw-Hill Education (UK).
• Hammersley, M. (2006). Ethnography: problems and prospects .  Ethnography and education ,  1 (1), 3-14.
• Herbert, S. (2000). For ethnography .  Progress in human geography ,  24 (4), 550-568.
• Lew-Levy, S., Reckin, R., Lavi, N., Cristóbal-Azkarate, J., & Ellis-Davies, K. (2017). How do hunter-gatherer children learn subsistence skills? A meta-ethnographic review. Human Nature,  28 (4), 367–394.  https://doi.org/10.1007/S12110-017-9302-2
• Mead, M. (1963). Sex and temperament in three primitive societies (Vol. 370). New York: Morrow.
• Said, E. W. (2013). Orientalism reconsidered. In  Literature Politics & Theory  (pp. 230-249). Routledge.
• Willis, P. (1977). Learning to Labor: How Working-class Kids Get Working-class Jobs . New York: Colombia University Press

Have a language expert improve your writing

Run a free plagiarism check in 10 minutes, automatically generate references for free.

• Knowledge Base
• Methodology
• What Is Ethnography? | Meaning, Guide & Examples

What Is Ethnography? | Meaning, Guide & Examples

Published on 6 May 2022 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on 6 April 2023.

Ethnography is a type of qualitative research that involves immersing yourself in a particular community or organisation to observe their behaviour and interactions up close. The word ‘ethnography’ also refers to the written report of the research that the ethnographer produces afterwards.

Ethnography is a flexible research method that allows you to gain a deep understanding of a group’s shared culture, conventions, and social dynamics. However, it also involves some practical and ethical challenges.

Table of contents

What is ethnography used for, different approaches to ethnographic research, gaining access to a community, working with informants, observing the group and taking field notes, writing up an ethnography.

Ethnographic research originated in the field of anthropology, and it often involved an anthropologist living with an isolated tribal community for an extended period of time in order to understand their culture.

This type of research could sometimes last for years. For example, Colin M. Turnbull lived with the Mbuti people for three years in order to write the classic ethnography The Forest People .

Today, ethnography is a common approach in various social science fields, not just anthropology. It is used not only to study distant or unfamiliar cultures, but also to study specific communities within the researcher’s own society.

For example, ethnographic research (sometimes called participant observation ) has been used to investigate football fans , call centre workers , and police officers .

Advantages of ethnography

The main advantage of ethnography is that it gives the researcher direct access to the culture and practices of a group. It is a useful approach for learning first-hand about the behavior and interactions of people within a particular context.

By becoming immersed in a social environment, you may have access to more authentic information and spontaneously observe dynamics that you could not have found out about simply by asking.

Ethnography is also an open and flexible method. Rather than aiming to verify a general theory or test a hypothesis , it aims to offer a rich narrative account of a specific culture, allowing you to explore many different aspects of the group and setting.

Disadvantages of ethnography

Ethnography is a time-consuming method. In order to embed yourself in the setting and gather enough observations to build up a representative picture, you can expect to spend at least a few weeks, but more likely several months. This long-term immersion can be challenging, and requires careful planning.

Ethnographic research can run the risk of observer bias . Writing an ethnography involves subjective interpretation, and it can be difficult to maintain the necessary distance to analyse a group that you are embedded in.

There are often also ethical considerations to take into account: for example, about how your role is disclosed to members of the group, or about observing and reporting sensitive information.

Should you use ethnography in your research?

If you’re a student who wants to use ethnographic research in your thesis or dissertation , it’s worth asking yourself whether it’s the right approach:

• Could the information you need be collected in another way (e.g., a survey , interviews)?
• How difficult will it be to gain access to the community you want to study?
• How exactly will you conduct your research, and over what timespan?
• What ethical issues might arise?

If you do decide to do ethnography, it’s generally best to choose a relatively small and easily accessible group, to ensure that the research is feasible within a limited time frame.

Prevent plagiarism, run a free check.

There are a few key distinctions in ethnography which help to inform the researcher’s approach: open vs closed settings, overt vs covert ethnography, and active vs passive observation. Each approach has its own advantages and disadvantages.

Open vs closed settings

The setting of your ethnography – the environment in which you will observe your chosen community in action – may be open or closed.

An open or public setting is one with no formal barriers to entry. For example, you might consider a community of people living in a certain neighbourhood, or the fans of a particular football team.

• Gaining initial access to open groups is not too difficult …
• … but it may be harder to become immersed in a less clearly defined group.

A closed or private setting is harder to access. This may be for example a business, a school, or a cult.

• A closed group’s boundaries are clearly defined and the ethnographer can become fully immersed in the setting …
• … but gaining access is tougher; the ethnographer may have to negotiate their way in or acquire some role in the organisation.

Overt vs covert ethnography

Most ethnography is overt . In an overt approach, the ethnographer openly states their intentions and acknowledges their role as a researcher to the members of the group being studied.

• Overt ethnography is typically preferred for ethical reasons, as participants can provide informed consent …
• … but people may behave differently with the awareness that they are being studied.

Sometimes ethnography can be covert . This means that the researcher does not tell participants about their research, and comes up with some other pretence for being there.

• Covert ethnography allows access to environments where the group would not welcome a researcher …
• … but hiding the researcher’s role can be considered deceptive and thus unethical.

Active vs passive observation

Different levels of immersion in the community may be appropriate in different contexts. The ethnographer may be a more active or passive participant depending on the demands of their research and the nature of the setting.

An active role involves trying to fully integrate, carrying out tasks and participating in activities like any other member of the community.

• Active participation may encourage the group to feel more comfortable with the ethnographer’s presence …
• … but runs the risk of disrupting the regular functioning of the community.

A passive role is one in which the ethnographer stands back from the activities of others, behaving as a more distant observer and not involving themselves in the community’s activities.

• Passive observation allows more space for careful observation and note-taking …
• … but group members may behave unnaturally due to feeling they are being observed by an outsider.

While ethnographers usually have a preference, they also have to be flexible about their level of participation. For example, access to the community might depend upon engaging in certain activities, or there might be certain practices in which outsiders cannot participate.

An important consideration for ethnographers is the question of access. The difficulty of gaining access to the setting of a particular ethnography varies greatly:

• To gain access to the fans of a particular sports team, you might start by simply attending the team’s games and speaking with the fans.
• To access the employees of a particular business, you might contact the management and ask for permission to perform a study there.
• Alternatively, you might perform a covert ethnography of a community or organisation you are already personally involved in or employed by.

Flexibility is important here too: where it’s impossible to access the desired setting, the ethnographer must consider alternatives that could provide comparable information.

For example, if you had the idea of observing the staff within a particular finance company but could not get permission, you might look into other companies of the same kind as alternatives. Ethnography is a sensitive research method, and it may take multiple attempts to find a feasible approach.

All ethnographies involve the use of informants . These are people involved in the group in question who function as the researcher’s primary points of contact, facilitating access and assisting their understanding of the group.

This might be someone in a high position at an organisation allowing you access to their employees, or a member of a community sponsoring your entry into that community and giving advice on how to fit in.

However,  i f you come to rely too much on a single informant, you may be influenced by their perspective on the community, which might be unrepresentative of the group as a whole.

In addition, an informant may not provide the kind of spontaneous information which is most useful to ethnographers, instead trying to show what they believe you want to see. For this reason, it’s good to have a variety of contacts within the group.

The core of ethnography is observation of the group from the inside. Field notes are taken to record these observations while immersed in the setting; they form the basis of the final written ethnography. They are usually written by hand, but other solutions such as voice recordings can be useful alternatives.

Field notes record any and all important data: phenomena observed, conversations had, preliminary analysis. For example, if you’re researching how service staff interact with customers, you should write down anything you notice about these interactions – body language, phrases used repeatedly, differences and similarities between staff, customer reactions.

Don’t be afraid to also note down things you notice that fall outside the pre-formulated scope of your research; anything may prove relevant, and it’s better to have extra notes you might discard later than to end up with missing data.

Field notes should be as detailed and clear as possible. It’s important to take time to go over your notes, expand on them with further detail, and keep them organised (including information such as dates and locations).

After observations are concluded, there’s still the task of writing them up into an ethnography. This entails going through the field notes and formulating a convincing account of the behaviours and dynamics observed.

The structure of an ethnography

An ethnography can take many different forms: It may be an article, a thesis, or an entire book, for example.

Ethnographies often do not follow the standard structure of a scientific paper, though like most academic texts, they should have an introduction and conclusion. For example, this paper begins by describing the historical background of the research, then focuses on various themes in turn before concluding.

An ethnography may still use a more traditional structure, however, especially when used in combination with other research methods. For example, this paper follows the standard structure for empirical research: introduction, methods, results, discussion, and conclusion.

The content of an ethnography

The goal of a written ethnography is to provide a rich, authoritative account of the social setting in which you were embedded – to convince the reader that your observations and interpretations are representative of reality.

Ethnography tends to take a less impersonal approach than other research methods. Due to the embedded nature of the work, an ethnography often necessarily involves discussion of your personal experiences and feelings during the research.

Ethnography is not limited to making observations; it also attempts to explain the phenomena observed in a structured, narrative way. For this, you may draw on theory, but also on your direct experience and intuitions, which may well contradict the assumptions that you brought into the research.

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the ‘Cite this Scribbr article’ button to automatically add the citation to our free Reference Generator.

Caulfield, J. (2023, April 06). What Is Ethnography? | Meaning, Guide & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved 12 August 2024, from https://www.scribbr.co.uk/research-methods/ethnography-explained/

Is this article helpful?

Jack Caulfield

Other students also liked, critical discourse analysis | definition, guide & examples, cross-sectional study | definitions, uses & examples, longitudinal study | definition, approaches & examples.

5 Types of Qualitative Methods

But just as with quantitative methods, there are actually many varieties of qualitative methods.

Similar to the way you can group usability testing methods , there are also a number of ways to segment qualitative methods.

A popular and helpful categorization separate qualitative methods into five groups: ethnography, narrative, phenomenological, grounded theory, and case study. John Creswell outlines these five methods in Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design .

While the five methods generally use similar data collection techniques (observation, interviews, and reviewing text), the purpose of the study differentiates them—something similar with different types of usability tests . And like classifying different usability studies, the differences between the methods can be a bit blurry. Here are the five qualitative methods in more detail.

1. Ethnography

Ethnographic research is probably the most familiar and applicable type of qualitative method to UX professionals. In ethnography, you immerse yourself in the target participants’ environment to understand the goals, cultures, challenges, motivations, and themes that emerge. Ethnography has its roots in cultural anthropology where researchers immerse themselves within a culture, often for years! Rather than relying on interviews or surveys, you experience the environment first hand, and sometimes as a “participant observer.”

For example, one way of uncovering the unmet needs of customers is to “ follow them home ” and observe them as they interact with the product. You don’t come armed with any hypotheses to necessarily test; rather, you’re looking to find out how a product is used.

2. Narrative

The narrative approach weaves together a sequence of events, usually from just one or two individuals to form a cohesive story. You conduct in-depth interviews, read documents, and look for themes; in other words, how does an individual story illustrate the larger life influences that created it. Often interviews are conducted over weeks, months, or even years, but the final narrative doesn’t need to be in chronological order. Rather it can be presented as a story (or narrative) with themes, and can reconcile conflicting stories and highlight tensions and challenges which can be opportunities for innovation.

For example, a narrative approach can be an appropriate method for building a persona . While a persona should be built using a mix of methods—including segmentation analysis from surveys—in-depth interviews with individuals in an identified persona can provide the details that help describe the culture, whether it’s a person living with Multiple Sclerosis, a prospective student applying for college, or a working mom.

3. Phenomenological

When you want to describe an event, activity, or phenomenon, the aptly named phenomenological study is an appropriate qualitative method. In a phenomenological study, you use a combination of methods, such as conducting interviews, reading documents, watching videos, or visiting places and events, to understand the meaning participants place on whatever’s being examined. You rely on the participants’ own perspectives to provide insight into their motivations.

Like other qualitative methods, you don’t start with a well-formed hypothesis. In a phenomenological study, you often conduct a lot of interviews, usually between 5 and 25 for common themes , to build a sufficient dataset to look for emerging themes and to use other participants to validate your findings.

For example, there’s been an explosion in the last 5 years in online courses and training. But how do students engage with these courses? While you can examine time spent and content accessed using log data and even assess student achievement vis-a-vis in-person courses, a phenomenological study would aim to better understand the students experience and how that may impact comprehension of the material.

4. Grounded Theory

Whereas a phenomenological study looks to describe the essence of an activity or event, grounded theory looks to provide an explanation or theory behind the events. You use primarily interviews and existing documents to build a theory based on the data. You go through a series of open and axial coding techniques to identify themes and build the theory. Sample sizes are often also larger—between 20 to 60—with these studies to better establish a theory. Grounded theory can help inform design decisions by better understanding how a community of users currently use a product or perform tasks.

For example, a grounded theory study could involve understanding how software developers use portals to communicate and write code or how small retail merchants approve or decline customers for credit.

5. Case Study

Made famous by the Harvard Business School, even mainly quantitative researchers can relate to the value of the case study in explaining an organization, entity, company, or event. A case study involves a deep understanding through multiple types of data sources. Case studies can be explanatory, exploratory, or describing an event. The annual CHI conference has a peer-reviewed track dedicated to case studies.

For example, a case study of how a large multi-national company introduced UX methods into an agile development environment would be informative to many organizations.

The table below summarizes the differences between the five qualitative methods.

You might also be interested in

Educational resources and simple solutions for your research journey

What is Ethnographic Research? Methods and Examples

Ethnographic research , rooted in the discipline of anthropology, is a systematic and immersive approach for the study of individual cultures. Ethnographic research methods involve the examination of cultural phenomena from the perspective of the subjects under investigation. This method of social research places a particular emphasis on participant observation, where researchers engage with the setting or individuals being studied, documenting intricate patterns of social interaction and analyzing the participants’ own interpretations of their behavior within their local contexts.   

While ethnography originated in social and cultural anthropology in the early twentieth century, its application has extended to various disciplines. Widely adopted as a qualitative data collection strategy, ethnographic research design stands out for its reliance on observing life as it naturally unfolds, dispensing with the controlled environment of a laboratory. Ethnographic observation seeks to understand societies and individuals through direct observation and interviews, providing valuable insights into how they interact with their surroundings in their natural environments.  

Here are some ethnographic research examples :  

• An anthropologist observing the people and culture of an Indigenous tribe by living with them for several months.  
• A child psychologist observing the social dynamics of toddlers in a play school (interactions with teachers and with one another).   
• A potential startup looking to create a product and a market for that product by observing how a group of potential customers interact with and discuss similar products in various stores over a specified length of time.

Table of Contents

What is ethnographic research ?  

Ethnographic research systematically studies cultures and behaviors, relying on participant observation and exploring cultural phenomena from the perspective of the subjects. Its versatility and qualitative nature make it a valuable data collection strategy in the social and behavioral research sciences. It has transcended disciplinary boundaries, making its way into various social science disciplines, notably sociology. Some key points to better understand what is ethnographic research ? and what are the advantages of ethnography research ? are as follows:  

• Ethnographic research is an immersive approach that aims to document detailed patterns of social interaction and behavior.   
• Ethnographic observation provides a rich source of qualitative data.  
• Ethnographic research methods acknowledge the unpredictability of real-world situations, offering a more authentic understanding of societal dynamics and individual behaviors.  
• Ethnographic research puts the point of view of the subject of the research first.  

Main aim of ethnographic research  

The main aim of ethnographic research is to deep dive into the perspectives and actions of subjects, capturing the variables that characterize their daily experiences. It offers researchers a comprehensive understanding of how subjects perceive the world and navigate their interactions with the surrounding elements.    

Types of ethnographic research  

Ethnographic observation might be applied in fields of business, medicine, education, psychology, and more. There are various types of ethnographic research , broadly based on the study discipline and the activity under study, with each shedding light on human behavior, experiences, and cultural nuances.  

Below are different types of ethnographic research , which will give you a broad idea about how to conduct ethnographic research in various fields:  

1. Psychology ethnography

To explore human experiences and behaviors within a cultural context, researchers immerse themselves in the natural habitat of individuals, applying ethnographic research methods such as in-depth interviews, focus groups, and field notes. 

2. Life history ethnography

Life history ethnography looks at the tapestry of an individual’s life, offering a nuanced understanding of their experiences, challenges, and cultural influences. Researchers conduct in-depth interviews, collect personal documents, and may even observe the subject in their daily life to capture a comprehensive life narrative. By zooming in on a single life, researchers can uncover patterns, transitions, and unique perspectives that might be overlooked in broader ethnographic studies.  

3. Business ethnography

In business and retail, ethnographic research focuses on consumer habits and target markets to discern market demands and attitudes toward products or services. Fieldwork, interviews, and online surveys are used to identify preferences and meet market demands effectively.   

4. Educational ethnography

Researchers employing educational ethnography observe students’ learning attitudes and motivations using non-participant and direct participant observation.  

5. Medical ethnography

In medicine and healthcare, ethnographic research involves qualitative exploration of patient behavior across various healthcare scenarios to understand patient needs, reactions to prescriptions and treatment procedures, suggestions for improvement, etc.  

6. Digital ethnography

Digital ethnography or desk study is conducted remotely. Researchers rely on second- or third-hand information collected by others to compile knowledge about a particular ethnic group without direct observation. This method leverages the wealth of information available online.   

7. Literary ethnography

Novels and books, often overlooked in traditional ethnographic discussions, offer a unique avenue for cultural exploration. Literary ethnography involves analyzing fictional works, autobiographies, and cultural narratives to extract insights into societal norms, values, and historical contexts. This method recognizes the power of storytelling as a medium through which cultural knowledge is transmitted.   

Methods of ethnographic research    

Various methodologies are employed in ethnography, from direct observation, diary studies, video recordings and photography to the analysis of devices used by individuals. The duration of ethnographic studies varies, with observation periods ranging from a few hours to several months, depending on the specific research objectives. Thus, ethnographic research methods employed will depend on the field, the size of the sample, and the research goal.    

So, what are ethnographic methods employed by researchers to answer questions in diverse disciplines? Let’s take a look:  

1. Triangulation  

A researcher used multiple data collection strategies and data sources to obtain a complete picture of the topic in focus and to cross-check information.  

2. Field notes  

A researcher collects, records, and compiles notes on-site during the study. This can be considered a researcher’s primary tool to collect data.  

3. Naturalism  

This is probably the oldest ethnographic research method . In this ethnographic research design , one spends time in the group’s natural environment to observe and record research variables.   

4. Participant observation  

Similar to the above approach, in participant observation, the ethnographer actively interacts with the research subjects. The difference lies in the ethnographer participating in the group. Participant observation gives ethnographers more data. They better understand the research subjects’ experiences and habits from the participant’s perspective.  

5. Interviews  

For authentic and relevant research results, the ethnographer interacts with the research group, asking questions about the research group, while conducting research-related activities.  

6. Surveys  

Ethnography surveys help the researcher obtain and analyze data to arrive at objective conclusions. Multiple choice questions, Likert scale, open-ended, and close-ended ethnography survey questions are commonly used. This approach saves time and costs.   

7. Archival research  

This qualitative ethnographic research method examines existing literature and records of relevant research rather than by the researcher’s physical presence.   

Examples of ethnographic research  

To better understand ethnographic research meaning , methods, and design, let’s take a look at some ethnographic research examples :  

Observing urban street performers: Over the course of several months, a researcher observes urban street performers’ performances and their interactions with passersby, exploring how these individuals collaborate or compete with one another for attention and recognition.  

Studying patterns of coffee shop regulars: Through a combination of direct observation and casual conversations, a researcher might uncover the habits and interactions of regular patrons and the social dynamics that characterize the daily lives of individuals who frequent the establishment.   

Exploring online gaming communities: In the realm of virtual spaces, a researcher might examine online gaming communities to understand the social structures, communication patterns, and shared norms among players. Through active participation and observation within the gaming environment, the researcher might seek insights into how relationships form, conflicts are resolved, and cultural practices evolve within this digital subculture.  

Observing farmers’ market vendors: At a local farmers’ market, a researcher may closely examine the interactions between vendors, customers, and the broader community. This study aims to uncover the cultural nuances of the market environment, exploring aspects such as negotiation tactics, vendor-customer relationships, and the role of the market in creating a sense of community.  

Advantages of ethnography research  

The advantages of ethnography research are manifold. Ethnographic observation allows first-hand observation of subjects’ interactions in their natural environment. This might help uncover subjects’ unconscious or implicit behaviors. Ethnographic research also enables a researcher to gain longitudinal insights as ethnography often involves extended periods of fieldwork, allowing researchers to observe changes and developments over time. Further, this approach often captures the holistic nature of social phenomena by considering various interconnected elements within a cultural context. This holistic approach is beneficial for understanding complex social structures, rituals, and the interplay of different factors influencing behaviors.  

Finally, ethnographic research involves a variety of data collection methods, and this multi-faceted approach yields rich and diverse data, enhancing the depth and validity of the research findings.  

Disadvantages of ethnography research  

Despite its relevance to certain studies, ethnographic research is not without its limitations. One significant challenge lies in the necessity to establish and sustain intimate face-to-face interactions with participants, a task that can prove difficult depending on the study’s nature and the type of participants involved. Prolonged fieldwork might prove costly in terms of time and resources. Second, culture, being an abstract concept, poses difficulties when used as an interpretive lens. Third, ethnographic research lacks reliability and validity since it cannot be easily replicated, and its findings may not extend to other similar situations    

Frequently asked questions  

Q: What are some examples of ethnographic research?

A: Some ethnographic research examples are as follows:  

• Studying yoga retreat participants: An ethnographer may immerse themselves in the experience of a yoga retreat, observing the behaviors, rituals, and social dynamics among participants. This research involves both active participation in yoga sessions and passive observation of communal activities, providing insights into how individuals connect, form bonds, and integrate spiritual practices into their daily lives.  
• Life history ethnography: An in-depth interview of a stroke survivor to obtain an account of their personal struggle for recovery, followed by a narrative analysis based on the transcription, coding, and analysis of transcripts from hours of interviews.  
• Field study on a remote island: A researcher visits a remote island inhabited by an obscure tribe. The researcher then lives and spends a significant amount of time getting to know their daily life customs and practices.  
• Surveying nurses in a trauma hospital: A researcher conducts in-depth surveys to understand the psychological effects of working late-night shifts and dealing with patients with severe trauma.  

Q: What is the main aim of ethnographic research ?

A: The main aim of ethnography is to remain objective and to collect and report what the researcher observes to add to the body of knowledge about the group. It is not to make judgments about the group’s characteristics or methods of interaction or devise approaches to improve or change the group.

Q: Can ethnography be applied to various fields?  

A: Yes, ethnographic research is versatile and can be applied across various disciplines, including anthropology, sociology, marketing, design, education, healthcare, and more. Its adaptability makes it a valuable method for gaining insights into diverse aspects of human behavior and culture.    

Q: Is ethnography only suitable for studying small or isolated communities?  

A: No, while ethnography is often associated with studying small or isolated communities, it can also be applied to larger populations and urban settings. The focus is on understanding the cultural context and social dynamics, regardless of the size or location of the community.  

Q: Can the findings from ethnographic research be generalized to broader populations?  

A: Ethnographic observation is often more concerned with depth than breadth, so generalizability to larger populations may be limited. However, the insights gained can inform broader theories and provide a foundation for further research in similar contexts.  

Q: How should researchers ensure ethical conduct in ethnographic research?  

A: Ethnographers must prioritize ethical considerations by obtaining informed consent from participants, maintaining confidentiality, and being transparent about the research purpose. They also navigate potential conflicts of interest and consider the impact of their presence on the community being studied.  

Editage All Access is a subscription-based platform that unifies the best AI tools and services designed to speed up, simplify, and streamline every step of a researcher’s journey. The Editage All Access Pack is a one-of-a-kind subscription that unlocks full access to an AI writing assistant, literature recommender, journal finder, scientific illustration tool, and exclusive discounts on professional publication services from Editage.  

Based on 22+ years of experience in academia, Editage All Access empowers researchers to put their best research forward and move closer to success. Explore our top AI Tools pack, AI Tools + Publication Services pack, or Build Your Own Plan. Find everything a researcher needs to succeed, all in one place –  Get All Access now starting at just $14 a month !    

Related Posts

What are the Best Research Funding Sources

Inductive vs. Deductive Research Approach

An official website of the United States government

The .gov means it’s official. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

The site is secure. The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

• Publications
• Account settings

Preview improvements coming to the PMC website in October 2024. Learn More or Try it out now .

• Advanced Search
• Journal List
• Can Fam Physician
• v.57(3); 2011 Mar

Ethnography: traditional and criticalist conceptions of a qualitative research method

Teaching family medicine residents how to conduct research is increasingly being seen as a crucial component of their training, in part as a means of strengthening the discipline and in part to improve their practices. Whereas quantitative methods once dominated approaches to medical research, the application of qualitative methods is seen as an effective way to study issues in primary care. 1 – 3 Ethnography is one such qualitative approach that offers residents a useful tool for conducting research. This article presents an overview of ethnography as a research method that is used to gain a deeper understanding of human behaviour, motivation, and social interaction within specific and complex cultural contexts.

Ethnographic research has long played an important role in medicine. 4 – 6 Becker and colleagues’ landmark ethnographic study, Boys in White: Student Culture in Medical School, 7 used qualitative interviews and participant observation to learn how medical students are acculturated into the medical profession; how they learn to negotiate the social complexities within the hospital; and their anxieties, doubts, and idealism as they go through medical training. The study also provides useful insight into students’ evolving and shifting conceptions of the medical profession. Ethnographies such as this one provide an in-depth perspective on a range of health-related issues, such as the professional 8 and corporate culture, 9 social determinants, 10 the illness experiences of patients, 11 moral problems in health care, 12 the family’s role in patient care, 13 patient attitudes toward delivery of care, 14 and other factors that influence health care and health outcomes. 15 – 17 In essence, ethnographies provide a deeper insight into a culture. In this sense culture is defined as the collective assumptions and beliefs that influence the practices of a particular group of people who share a social space.

The term ethnography is thought to have first been introduced in 1922 by Bronsilaw Malinowski (1884–1942). 18 It has its roots in the descriptive science 19 of social anthropology, central to which is the study of culture and cultural behaviour. 20 Ethnographies, however, are not limited to studies of ethnic rituals and practices. They include studies that describe and explain a range of social phenomena within various culture-sharing groups. These ethnographies provide an in-depth description and analysis, and paint a portrait of the ways in which culture-sharing groups interpret their experiences and create meaning from their interactions. Surgeons, for example, have a particular professional culture influenced by attitudes and behaviour that are characteristic of that group and transmitted across generations through learning. 21

Divergent approaches

Traditional approaches to ethnographic research endeavoured to collect facts and evidence through detached observations about the culture being studied, with the researcher attempting to operate in the background as an objective bystander in order to develop an impartial understanding of observable phenomena. This positivist * aim of impartiality, criticalists † will argue, is not tenable, as it depends upon the unlikely ability of the researcher to be once-removed from the culture under observation. 22 Criticalists maintain that researchers are mistaken if they believe they are able to provide a neutral account of others’ experiences. Unlike Malinowski, the next generation of researchers finds that ethnographers are influenced by a “culturally mediated world, caught up in ‘webs of significance’ they themselves have spun [where] there is no privileged position, no absolute perspective, and no valid way to eliminate consciousness from our activities or those of others.” 23

Positivists defer to the transcribed interview over the lived experience of a face-to-face conversation. As a result, knowledge becomes a derivative of the captured, transcribed voice; the known, originally of flesh and blood, is transformed into an amorphous entity, only to be reincarnated and solidified in text. Both the captured voice and the fixed subject can now be manipulated without fear of losing data to the continuity of life and time. A transcribed text can be seen as containing a set of meanings that remain frozen for all time, and is thus more reliable. Yet criticalists would argue that such texts are read and reread, interpreted and reinterpreted with every new reading, through which the reader as researcher creates newer meanings and reifications. What goes unrealized is that each encounter with the text is a new experience. To believe that each reading is still an encounter with the original experience ignores the contextual, historical moments that produced it. 24 The text is given a life of its own with a corresponding belief that it presents the “truth” about the situation being studied.

Criticalists believe, therefore, that the new ethnographer must be careful not to be entrapped by a particular form and version of truth. The social world is governed by multiple truths, which are contextually situated. 25 The researcher’s credibility and legitimacy are gained by acknowledging the representation of multiple versions of truth, showing how each version can impinge on and shape the phenomenon being studied. No single version is given authoritative privilege, for each has its own strengths and limitations—for example, at the scene of an accident, a range of perspectives is obtained to help illuminate the situation in order to arrive at the best possible explanation of what happened. Meanings are not inherent in observation alone, but rather must be elucidated through the interpretation of the range of perspectives offered to illuminate the phenomenon under study.

Constructing realism

Although it might seem as if this movement toward “multiple truths” means that it is impossible to ever know anything, the opposite might in fact be the case. Instead of looking for a single truth when using an ethnographic approach, researchers are encouraged to try to understand the cultural environment from multiple points of view. Hence, in qualitative research, the term experience is more commonly used than truth. Researchers will need to broaden their perspectives while taking into account diverse perceptions of what is occurring in the social environment. Rather than developing single-person interpretations and generalizations, the aim is to collect thick, extensive, and detailed descriptions and interpretations of the area being studied. 26 We can speculate that if a study like Boys in White, 7 for example, were being conducted today it would be a much richer work, as it would not only be looking at the socialization of medical students from the “detached” perspective of the researchers but also examining in more detail the views of patients and other professionals, as well as the diversity within the student group. The experiences embedded in each of these perspectives would help us develop a much richer understanding of medical students within their social context.

Qualitative research is not a monolithic concept like statistics. It draws upon a rich variety of strategies and theoretical frameworks from different disciplines and traditions. Ethnography is but one qualitative research method for studying social phenomena.

Hypothesis is a quarterly series in Canadian Family Physician, coordinated by the Section of Researchers of the College of Family Physicians of Canada. The goal is to explore clinically relevant research concepts for all CFP readers. Submissions are invited from researchers and nonresearchers. Ideas or submissions can be submitted online at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/cfp or through the CFP website www.cfp.ca under “Authors.”

Competing interests

None declared

* Positivists subscribe to the theory that empirical experience is the most legitimate source of knowledge, and that knowledge begins and ends with a sensory experience free of subjective interpretation. 19

† Criticalism presupposes that knowledge is conjectural, socially constructed, and ephemeral—always open to critical analysis and re-analysis. 19

The Basics of Ethnography: Understanding the Method and Its Importance

Introduction

Ethnography is a cornerstone of qualitative research, particularly within the social sciences. This method allows researchers to delve deep into the cultural and social practices of different communities, providing a comprehensive understanding of their daily lives. Unlike other research methods that rely on surveys or experiments, ethnography involves immersive observation, where the researcher becomes part of the community they are studying. This article explores the basics of ethnography, its methodology, and the importance of this approach in understanding human behavior and culture.

What is Ethnography?

Ethnography is a research method rooted in anthropology but is now widely used across various disciplines, including sociology, education, and psychology. The term “ethnography” originates from the Greek words “ethnos,” meaning people, and “graphy,” meaning writing. Essentially, ethnography is the study and systematic recording of human cultures.

The core of ethnography is the idea of understanding a group’s way of life from their perspective. This method involves the researcher spending an extended period within the community they are studying, observing behaviors, rituals, language, and social interactions. The goal is to gain a holistic understanding of the group’s culture, beliefs, and practices by seeing the world through their eyes.

The Methodology of Ethnography

Ethnography is characterized by several key methodologies that distinguish it from other research approaches:

Participant Observation: Participant observation is the primary method used in ethnography. It involves the researcher actively engaging in the daily life of the community. By participating in and observing daily activities, the researcher can gain a deeper understanding of the social dynamics, rituals, and interactions that define the community. This immersion allows the researcher to collect data that is rich in context and nuance.

Fieldwork: Fieldwork is an essential component of ethnography. The researcher spends an extended period, often months or even years, in the field. This time commitment is crucial for building trust within the community and for the researcher to witness various aspects of life, including rare or infrequent events. During fieldwork, researchers often take detailed notes, conduct interviews, and gather artifacts that are relevant to their study.

Interviews: While observation is a key component of ethnography, interviews are also crucial. These can range from informal conversations to structured interviews, providing the researcher with insights into the personal experiences and perspectives of individuals within the community. Interviews allow for the exploration of topics that might not be immediately observable, such as personal beliefs, values, and motivations.

Thick Description: A concept introduced by anthropologist Clifford Geertz, “thick description” refers to the detailed account of cultural practices, including not just the actions themselves, but also the context and meaning behind them. In ethnography, this approach is crucial because it allows the researcher to convey the significance of cultural practices in a way that is understandable to outsiders.

Reflexivity: Reflexivity involves the researcher being aware of their own biases and the impact they might have on the research process. Ethnographers must constantly reflect on their role within the community and how their presence might influence the behavior of those they are studying. This self-awareness helps to ensure that the research remains as objective as possible.

The Importance of Ethnography

Ethnography holds a unique position in the realm of research due to its ability to provide in-depth, nuanced insights into human behavior and cultural practices. Here are some of the key reasons why ethnography is important:

Cultural Understanding: Ethnography allows researchers to understand cultures from an insider’s perspective. By immersing themselves in the community, researchers can gain insights that are often missed by other research methods. This deep cultural understanding is particularly valuable in a globalized world, where understanding diverse perspectives is crucial.

Contextualized Data: One of the strengths of ethnography is its ability to provide contextualized data. Unlike surveys or experiments that isolate variables, ethnography considers the full context in which behaviors occur. This holistic approach leads to richer, more meaningful data that can better inform theories and practices.

Uncovering Hidden Insights: Ethnography often reveals hidden insights that other methods might overlook. For example, by observing daily routines, an ethnographer might uncover subtle social hierarchies or unspoken norms that are not easily articulated in interviews or surveys. These insights can be crucial for understanding the true dynamics within a community.

Ethical Considerations: Ethnography promotes a more ethical approach to research by emphasizing respect for the community being studied. Researchers are often seen as participants rather than outsiders, which helps to build trust and ensures that the research is conducted in a manner that respects the values and norms of the community.

Application Across Disciplines: While ethnography originated in anthropology, its applications have spread across various disciplines. In education, ethnography can be used to understand classroom dynamics; in business, it helps companies understand consumer behavior; in healthcare, it can provide insights into patient experiences. This versatility makes ethnography a valuable tool in many fields.

Influence on Policy and Practice: Ethnographic research often influences policy and practice. For instance, ethnographic studies of marginalized communities can highlight social injustices and inform policy changes. Similarly, in business, ethnographic insights into consumer behavior can lead to the development of products that better meet the needs of the target audience.

Challenges of Ethnography

While ethnography offers many benefits, it is not without its challenges:

Time-Consuming: Ethnographic research requires a significant time investment. Researchers must spend extended periods in the field, which can be demanding both personally and professionally.

Subjectivity: Despite efforts to remain objective, ethnographers’ interpretations can be influenced by their own cultural background and biases. This subjectivity can sometimes lead to criticisms of ethnographic findings.

Ethical Dilemmas: Ethnographers may encounter ethical dilemmas, particularly when dealing with sensitive topics or vulnerable populations. Maintaining ethical standards while still gathering meaningful data can be challenging.

Generalizability: Due to its focus on specific communities, the findings of ethnography may not always be generalizable to broader populations. However, the depth of insight gained often compensates for this limitation.

Ethnography is a powerful research method that provides deep insights into human cultures and behaviors. Its immersive, participant-centered approach allows researchers to understand communities from within, offering a rich, contextualized understanding that other methods often lack. While it presents certain challenges, the benefits of ethnography—particularly its ability to uncover hidden insights and inform policy and practice—make it an invaluable tool in the social sciences and beyond. As our world becomes increasingly interconnected, the importance of understanding diverse cultures and perspectives through methods like ethnography will only continue to grow.

EthOS Research Team

Stay informed: Sign up for eNews

• Facebook (opens in new window)
• X (opens in new window)
• Instagram (opens in new window)
• YouTube (opens in new window)
• LinkedIn (opens in new window)

Qualitative Literacy

• Atkinson Family Foundation Imprint in Higher Education
• Amazon (opens in new window)
• Barnes & Noble (opens in new window)
• Bookshop (opens in new window)
• UC Press (opens in new window)

About the Book

About the author, from our blog.

The Secret to Assessing Qualitative Research

Table of contents.

"This book is a must-read for any researcher, even those who specialize in quantitative methods. . . .It aims to be a textbook but achieves much more." — EPIC - Ethnographic Praxis in Industry Community

" Qualitative Literacy: A Guide to Evaluating Ethnographic and Interview Research is a wonderful book that should be required reading for all graduate students in Sociology; indeed, it is a useful guide for any social science discipline that incorporates both quantitative and qualitative training." — Social Forces

Qualitative research methods in drug abuse and AIDS prevention research: an overview

• Population and Public Health Sciences

Research output : Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review

ASJC Scopus Subject Areas

• Medicine (miscellaneous)
• qualitative research methods
• AIDS prevention

Disciplines

• Immune System Diseases
• Preventive Medicine
• Substance Abuse and Addiction
• Virus Diseases

Access to Document

• 157 Final published version, 656 KB

Other files and links

• Link to publication in Scopus
• Link to the citations in Scopus

T1 - Qualitative research methods in drug abuse and AIDS prevention research

T2 - an overview

AU - Carlson, Robert G.

AU - Siegal, Harvey A.

AU - Falck, Russel S.

N2 - Almost two decades ago, at the first workshop/technical review on qualitative research methods and ethnography sponsored by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), Siegal (1977, p. 79) remarked that despite the existence of numerous excellent qualitative studies on drug abuse, “Ethnographers have had difficulty explaining precisely what they do.” In the intervening years, qualitative research methods have gained increasing importance as a systematic means of data collection and analysis that have become critical dimensions in drug abuse and AIDS research (Lambert 1990). For example, qualitative and ethnographic research are key components in NIDA’s recent program announcement, “Strategies to Reduce HIV Sexual Risk Practices in Drug Users.” Moreover, through the National AIDS Demonstration Research Program (Brown and Beschner 1993) and the Cooperative Agreement for AIDS Community-Based Outreach/Intervention research initiative, qualitative methodologists, or ethnographers. have worked increasingly on research teams composed of epidemiologists, statisticians, health educators, and psychologists, thereby promoting interdisciplinary cooperation. The recent publication of Denzin and Lincoln’s (1994a) compendium, “Handbook of Qualitative Research,” emphasizes this momentum toward interdisciplinary understanding.

AB - Almost two decades ago, at the first workshop/technical review on qualitative research methods and ethnography sponsored by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), Siegal (1977, p. 79) remarked that despite the existence of numerous excellent qualitative studies on drug abuse, “Ethnographers have had difficulty explaining precisely what they do.” In the intervening years, qualitative research methods have gained increasing importance as a systematic means of data collection and analysis that have become critical dimensions in drug abuse and AIDS research (Lambert 1990). For example, qualitative and ethnographic research are key components in NIDA’s recent program announcement, “Strategies to Reduce HIV Sexual Risk Practices in Drug Users.” Moreover, through the National AIDS Demonstration Research Program (Brown and Beschner 1993) and the Cooperative Agreement for AIDS Community-Based Outreach/Intervention research initiative, qualitative methodologists, or ethnographers. have worked increasingly on research teams composed of epidemiologists, statisticians, health educators, and psychologists, thereby promoting interdisciplinary cooperation. The recent publication of Denzin and Lincoln’s (1994a) compendium, “Handbook of Qualitative Research,” emphasizes this momentum toward interdisciplinary understanding.

KW - qualitative research methods

KW - drug abuse

KW - AIDS prevention

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0029449489&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=0029449489&partnerID=8YFLogxK

M3 - Review article

C2 - 8684442

SN - 1046-9516

JO - NIDA Research Monograph Series

JF - NIDA Research Monograph Series