Slides Robin Pharoah and I used to run a workshop at the Social Research Association conference in December

1. Hello
Dr. Robin Pharoah
Sophia Parker

2. Ethnography
Comparison
Contextualisation
What is ethnography?
Ethnography
fieldwork
Theory / Anthropology

3. Ethnography broken down
MORE THAN FIELDWORK
Writing / narrative
Theory
Fieldwork / data collection
Embedded analysis (comparison, contextualisation etc.)

4. Where is ethnography?
WITHIN AND WITHOUT ACADEMIA
Commercial ethnography (Microsoft, Intel, Procter and Gamble etc.)
Policy (Central government)
Local policy (Local government)
Third sector (User and community groups)

5. Where is ethnography?
WITHIN AND WITHOUT ANTHROPOLOGY
Can you do ethnography without being an anthropologist or having a grounding in
anthropological theory? How do you train to be an ethnographer? The ‘third eye’?
Anthropological fieldwork and anthropological goals
Sociology and psychology
The rite/right of passage (the pain… the hurt…)

6. Migrants in Westminster
EXPLORING MIGRANT LIFESTYLE AND CHOICES…
4 migrant groups (Chinese, Arab, Australian, Polish)
Cut through all theoretical problems - make assumptions - why get bogged down?
Four anthropologists/ethnographers
One week with each ‘community’. Various routes in.

7. The Butchers

8. The Gardeners

9. Building personas
Put yourself in their shoes

10. Building personas
What problems might this family face?

11. Building personas
Building personas
What strategies might these families use to cope?

12. Reflections, comments, thoughts
Culture of poverty

13. New ways of seeing
BROADENING WHAT COUNTS AS ‘EVIDENCE’
Beyond individualised data
Beyond behavioural perspectives
Beyond consultation

14. Families are expert budget managers
MONEY IS A DAILY CHALLENGE
the ‘milky bar’ economy
money costs more when you’re poor
daily juggling act - compare to benefits system
range of strategies for managing - including ‘going without’

15. Level of trust in services varies
FAMILIES WILL DENY THEY NEED HELP
families distinguish themselves from those ‘in need’
trust in individuals rather than services
value placed on volunteers as ‘genuine’
fear of judgement and consequences of admitting need for help

16. But did this make any difference?

17. We worked out our stakeholders

18. We were ruthless about our team

19. We involved the people that mattered

20. We turned insights into action

21. Impact of the work
“I wouldn’t have thought of doing it that way had I not been
involved with this work.”
“I thought we worked on the ground, but this has shown me that we really don’t …
the approach here has challenged our assumptions about what’s needed.”
“I’ve never done anything like this before - and from now on I’ll do things differently.”
”This is more thinking than I've done in the last 6 months.quot;
quot;Thanks for making us put ourselves in other people's shoes and think.quot;

22. Thanks and goodbye
robin.pharoah@esro.co.uk
sophia.parker@mac.com