Ethnography is defined as the systematic study of people and cultures through techniques such as observation, interviews, and artifact analysis. It provides thick description of people's everyday lives and practices from their point of view. Ethnographic research relies on immersing oneself in a culture to understand real user needs and constraints. It can take 6-8 weeks and requires building trust with participants over time through methods like shadowing and video diaries in order to provide rich cultural insights. There are different forms of ethnography like realist, which objectively reports realities from a third-person perspective, and critical ethnography, which advocates for marginalized groups and challenges existing power structures.

1. Umm-e-Rooman Yaqoob
Roll # 3
B.S (English) 5th
Semester
ETHNOGRAPHY
DEFINITION:
“Ethnography(fromGreek ἔθνοςethnos"folk,people,nation" andγράφω grapho "Iwrite") is
the systematic studyof people andcultures. It is designedto explore cultural phenomena
where the researcher observessociety from the pointof view of the subject ofthe study.”
Term:
The term ethnographyhascome to be equatedwithvirtuallyanyqualitative researchproject(e.g.,see
ResearchGateway) where the intentistoprovide adetailed,in-depthdescriptionof everyday life and
practice.Thisis sometimesreferredtoas"thick description"-- atermattributedtothe anthropologist
CliffordGeertzwritingonthe ideaof an interpretive theoryof culture inthe early1970s.
How Ethnographic researchworks:
Ethnographicresearchreliesontechniquessuchasobservation,videodiaries,photographs,contextual
interviews,andanalysisof artefactssuchasfor example devices,toolsorpaperformsthatmightbe
usedas part of a person’sjob.
Observationscanbe made at home,at work,or inleisure environments.People canbe studied with
theirfamily,ontheirown,withworkcolleagues,oras part of a groupof friends.Oftenone participant
may be recruited,butseveral more maybe studiedaspartof that person’sfamilyorfriends.
Data collectioncanrange from a 4-5 hourcontextual interview,throughtofollowingaparticipantfor
several days,orevena longitudinal studyoverseveral weeksormonthstoinvestigate,forexample,how
a particularproduct or service mightbe usedovertime.Itdoesn’tnecessarilyinvolve‘full immersion’in
a person’slife:itcaninvolve adepthinterview inaperson’shome oritmightinvolve apersonsimply
maintainingtheirownvideodiaryoveraperiodof time.
Usage:
Ethnographicresearchcan provide extremelyrichinsightinto‘real life’behaviour,andcanbe usedto
identifynew orcurrentlyunmetuserneeds.Thisapproachismostvaluable atthe beginningof aproject
whenthere isa needtounderstandreal enduserneeds,ortounderstandthe constraintsof usinga new
productor service by a particularaudience.

2. Participants
In principle, anyone couldparticipate inthistype of research.Aswithanyuserresearch,the recruitment
of suitable participantsiskey.The full implicationsof the researchshouldbe fullyexplainedtopotential
participants,assome maynot feel comfortablewiththislevel of intrusionintheirlives.
Timescales
Dependingonthe studyneedsandthe approach,but6-8 weeksfrombriefingtoresultscanprovide rich
insight.Itmaytake time tobuildtrustwithparticipants,andthe analysisperiodneedstobe sufficientto
be thorough.Ethnographicresearchcan be expensive andtime consuming,butthisdependsonthe
needsof a particularproject.The benefitsderivedcanbe extremelyvaluable.
Forms of Ethnography
There are differentformsof ethnography,confessional ethnography,lifehistory,feministethnography
etc.Two popularformsof ethnographyare realistethnographyandcritical ethnography.
Realist ethnography:isatraditional approachusedbycultural anthropologists.CharacterizedbyVan
Maanen (1988), it reflectsaparticularinstance takenbythe researchertowardthe individual being
studied.It'sanobjective studyof the situation.It'siscomposedfrom athirdpersonsperspective by
gettingthe data fromthe membersonthe site.The ethnographerstaysasomniscientcorrespondentof
actualitiesoutof sight.The realistreportsinformation'sinameasuredstyle uncontaminatedby
individualpredisposition,political objectivesandjudgment.The analystwill give detailedreportof
everydaylife of the individualsunderstudy.The ethnographeralsousesstandardcategoriesforcultural
description(e.g.,familylife,communicationnetwork).The ethnographer producesthe participant's
viewsthroughcloselyeditedquotationsandhasthe final workonhow the culture isto be interpreted
and presented.
Critical ethnography:It'sanotherkindof ethnographicresearchinwhichthe creatorsadvocate forthe
liberationof gatheringswhichare marginalizedinsociety.Critical researcherstypicallyare politically
mindedpeoplewholookfor,throughtheirexplorationtotake a standin oppositiontodisparityand
mastery.Forexample,critical ethnographermightstudyschoolsthatprovide privilegestocertaintypes
of students,orcounsellingpracticesthatserve tooverlookthe needsof underrepresentedgroups.The
importantcomponentsof acritical ethnographyincorporate avalue- ladenintroduction,empowering
people bygivingthemmore authority,challengingthe statusquoandaddressingconcernsaboutpower
and control.A critical ethnographerwill studyissuesof power,empowerment,inequalityinequity,
dominance,repression,hegemonyandvictimization.
Features of Ethnographic research:
Involvesinvestigationof veryfew cases,maybe justone case,indetail.
Ofteninvolvesworkingwithprimarilyunconstructeddata.Thisdatahad not beencodedatthe
pointof data collectionintermsof a closedsetof analyticcategories.

3. Emphasizes onexploringsocial phenomenonratherthantestinghypotheses.
Data analysisinvolvesinterpretationof the functionsandmeaningsof humanactions.The
productof thisismainlyverbal explanations,where statistical analysisand quantificationplaya
subordinate role.
Methodological discussionsfocusmore onquestionsabouthow toreportfindingsinthe field
than onmethodsof data collectionandinterpretation.
Ethnographiesfocusondescribingthe culture of agroupinverydetailedandcomplex manner.
The ethnographycan be of the entire groupora subpartof it.
It involvesengaginginextensivefieldworkwheredatacollectionismainlybyinterviews,
symbols,artefacts,observations,andmanyothersourcesof data.
The researcherinethnographytype of research,looksforpatternsof the groupsmental
activities,thatistheirideasandbeliefsexpressedthroughlanguage orotheractivities,andhow
theybehave intheirgroupsasexpressedthroughtheiractionsthatthe researcherobserved.
Characteristics of Ethnographic research:
 CONTEXTUAL
The researchis carriedout inthe contextinwhichthe subjectsnormallyliveandwork
 UNOBTRUSIVE
The researchavoidsmanipulatingthe phenomenaunderinvestigation.
 LONGITUDINAL
The researchis relativelylong.
 COLLABORATIVE
The researchinvolvesthe participationof stakeholdersotherthanthe researcher.
 INTERPRETATIVE
The researchercarriesout interpretative analysesof the data.
 ORGANIC
There isinteractionbetween questions/hypothesesand datacollection/interpretation.