Ethnographic Design
- Fiana N. R
- Jun 2, 2021
- 3 min read
Member of Group :
Ferdina (20181111041)
Fiana Nurrachmawati (20181111054)
Rokeeyoh T (20181111065)
Definition of Ethnographic
Ethnographic research is a qualitative research approach that involves observing variables in the natural environment or their habitats to arrive at objective research results. As the name suggests, ethnographic research has its roots in ethnography which is an in-depth study of people, cultures, customs, and mutual differences. A culture is “everything having to do with human behavior and belief” (LeCompte, Preissle, & Tesch, 1993, p. 5).
Types of Ethnographic
There are several types of ethnographic research, namely; business, educational and medical ethnographic research. All based on different fields of human endeavor and each type is defined by specific characteristics. Ethnographic research is a multi-dimensional research design that can be adapted to different fields including business, medicine, education, and psychology.
1. Business ethnographic research is a research design that involves observing consumer habits and target markets in order to discover true market needs and the overall disposition to your product or service. This research method combines different techniques including fieldwork, physical interviews and online surveys in order to gather useful data on the consumer habits of target markets. The aim of this research design is to discover recurring client behavioral patterns that can serve as key market insights. Some question samples for business ethnographic research include the following:
What do you enjoy about this product or service?
Why do you use this product?
What specific needs does the product meet for you?
2. Educational ethnographic research is a research design that involves observing teaching and learning methods and how these affect classroom behaviors. This research model pays attention to pedagogy, its effects on learning outcomes and overall engagements by stakeholders within the classroom environment. Typically, educational ethnographic research studies students’ attitudes, academic motivations, and dispositions to learning. To do this, the researcher combines non-participant observation methods with direct participant observation techniques in order to gather the most relevant and objective data. Some question samples for business ethnographic research studies include the following :
Do you enjoy this teaching method?
Does the teacher allow for feedback in his or her classes?
Does the teaching method communicate objectives clearly?
3. Medical ethnographic research enables the healthcare provider to have access to a wealth of information that will prove useful for improving a patient’s overall experience. For example, through ethnographic research, a healthcare product manufacturer is able to understand the needs of the target market and this will, in turn, influence the product’s design. Here are a few questions that can be used for medical ethnographic research :
For how long have you used this drug?
For how long have you been on this treatment?
What positive changes have you noticed so far?
The key characteristic of ethnographic research
With the diverse approaches to ethnography identified in the realist, case study, and critical approaches, it is not easy to identify characteristics they have in common. The following characteristics typically illustrate an ethnographic study:
Cultural themes
A culture-sharing group
Shared patterns of behavior, belief, and language
Fieldwork
Description, themes, and interpretation
Context or setting
Researcher reflexivity
Method of Ethnographic Research
In order to gather the most relevant responses using this, it is best to include different question types in your survey. Likert scale questions, open-ended questions, multiple-choice questions, and close-ended questions are common types of ethnography survey questions.
a. Life and work: is a naturalistic technique in ethnographic research in which researchers observe research variables in their natural environment to identify and record behavioral patterns.
b. Naturalistic observation: can be disguised or not disguised. Taking recordings of the subject can be unconsciously being studied and consciously being studied.
c. Participant Observation: collecting information by actively participating and interacting with research subjects.
d. Interview: a qualitative research method that combines in-depth observation with one-on-one discussion to arrive at the most authentic research results.
e. Survey: an inductive research method used to gather information about a research subject which involves elaborating hypotheses in the form of survey questions and managing these questions in the research environment.
f. Archival research: adopts ethnography to a collection of related documents from the past which substitute for actual physical presence in the research environment. It pays absolute attention to every piece of information about the research variables.
·When to Use Ethnography Research
Ethnographic research should be used in the early stages of user-focused systematic investigations. This is because ethnography research helps you to gather useful information about the dispositions, goals, and habits of the research variables in specific contexts.
Ethnography research is most suitable for complex research processes especially in markets and customer settings. In market research, ethnography allows organizations to gain insights into consumer habits and receive first-hand feedback on the extent to which their product or service meets the needs of target markets.
This research design is also useful for examining social behaviors and interactions. It is extremely beneficial in the study employees' disposition to organizational work culture and policies.
Reference :
Educational Research, Fourth Edition – John W. Creswell
very good. Ethnography design is mostly used in qualitative research. you can apply this method to investigate about the sociolinguistics phenomena that require a natural setting of data collection. so researcher can mingle into the data sources or community
Thank you for the material. When I am interested in conducting ethnograpic research for my thesis in Linguistic field, so can I comduct virtual/online ethnography for my research as we are in the pandemic era now?
Thank you.
thank you, it is clear enough. but, do you mind if you give the example of the title of research about ethnography research in educational filed. thank you :)