Advantages and Disadvantagesof Ethnographic Research•Advantages•Provides comprehensiveperspective•Observes behaviors in theirnatural environments•accounts for the complexityof group behaviors, revealinterrelationships amongmultifaceted dimensions ofgroup interactions, andprovide context forbehaviors.•Disadvantages•Dependent on theresearcher’s observationsand interpretations•Difficult to check thevalidity of the researcher’sconclusion•Observer bias is almostimpossible to eliminate•May lack transferability•Ethnography is timeconsuming and requires awell-trained researcher.11
Ethnographic Research: Examples12
Purpose and focusvA phenomenological study describes the common meaning forseveral individuals of their lived experiences of a concept or aphenomenon.vPhenomenologists focus on describing what all participantshave in common as they experience a phenomenon [e.g., grief isuniversally experienced].[Creswell, 2007]vA phenomenological researcher•asks the question:“What is the essence of this phenomena as experienced by thesepeople and what does it mean?”14
Data sources•In-depth conversations•Researcher helps the participant to describe lived experienceswithout leading the discussion•Two or more interviews/conversations are needed•Usually small number of participants [vary in size from 3 to 4individuals to 10 to 15]•May use participation, observation and introspective reflection15
Data analysis•Data analysis can follow systematic procedures that move from thenarrow units of analysis [e.g., significant statements], and on tobroader units [e.g., meaning units], and on to detailed descriptionsthat summarize two elements, “what” the individuals haveexperienced and “how” they have experienced it.•A phenomenology ends with a descriptive passage that discusses theessence of the experience for individuals incorporating “what” theyhave experienced and “how” they experienced it. The “essence” isthe culminating aspect of a phenomenological study.[Creswell, 2007]16
What is it?•Grounded theory is a qualitative research design in which theinquirer generates a general explanation [a theory] of a process,an action, or an interaction shaped by the views of a largenumber of participants.•[Creswell, 2007]18
Key idea•The theory development does not come “off the shelf”, but ratheris generated or “grounded” in data from the field, especially inthe actions, interactions, and social processes ofparticipantswho have experienced the process.•Constant comparison19
Constant comparison•Constant comparisonis used to develop and refine theoreticallyrelevant categories and to identify the basic problem•Categories that are elicited from the data are constantlycompared with data obtained earlier so that “commonalities” and“variations” can be determined•Its purpose is to see if the categories of information becomesaturated and if the theory is elaborated in all of its complexity.
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Tags
Qualitative Research, Ethnographic Research