Ethnography: Definition, Examples & Research Methods
Ethnography as a research method was developed in the field of sociology and cultural anthropology since the 20th century. As a research method, ethnography is a typical qualitative research. This research method is very contextual and seeks to uncover the social and cultural significance of the group or social organization under study.
This post will briefly discuss what ethnography is, what its characteristics are, how this method is applied and what it looks like for example in social research. Basic knowledge about this method is needed, especially with the development of several variants of methods that have emerged lately to be followed such as autoetnography, feminist ethnographic netnography, a netnographic study of personal branding and so on.
Ethnographic definition
Ethnography is a type of research method applied to uncover socio-cultural meaning by studying everyday life patterns and interactions of certain socio-cultural groups (culture-sharing groups) in specific spaces or contexts. An ethnographer not only observes but also seeks to unite in the cultural life of the group of people under study.
At this point, we have been able to identify at least two important dimensions, namely the existence of specific socio-cultural groups and cultural unification between researchers and the groups studied.
What did ethnographers observe and learn when researching?
From several ethnographic research reports, I see that ethnographers tend to see patterns that exist within the socio-cultural groups under study. These patterns include patterns of behavior, belief systems, language and cultural values that are embraced in everyday life.
These socio-cultural groups are countless from the most primitive to modern. For example, we can see the Bedouins as a socio-cultural group. But we can also see subcultures, such as JKT48 fans, flashpackers, urban faming communities and so on as socio-cultural groups.
Thus this method can be applied to study broad social groups.
Keep in mind that the cultural elements that bind individuals into one group are the main characteristics that are studied in studies with this method.
How to do ethnographic studies?
I mentioned earlier that entographers always try to be culturally integrated with the research subject being studied. This unification effort was carried out one of them by applying participatory observation.
Cultural unification carried out by ethnographers is a unification in the daily lives of the people studied. That is, ethnographers try to "live life" as the people under study live in various ways such as: associating with them, eating what they eat, often even living and sleeping with them.
Ethnographic studies cannot be done instantly because cultural unification requires a long time. There is no stipulation on how long ethnographic research is carried out.
The most important thing is how the researchers successfully immersed in the daily culture of the local community.
In addition to participatory observation, in-depth interviews are also often part of the ethnographic study data collection technique. This interview was conducted mainly to key informants who had a significant socio-cultural role in the group. When ethnographers examine an organization, the organization's leader or senior actor can be a key informant.
In principle, studies with this method make use of all available resources in the context of data collection. So, not only participatory observation and in-depth interviews, but also any search including documents in the form of images, videos, audio, diaries, magazines, symbols, artifacts, and all objects related to the focus of research. This can also be seen as an effort by researchers to understand the lives of their research subjects.
In practice, ethnographers often prepare diaries during research in the field. This diary is used to record every research subject's daily activities that researchers observe. Thick detail notes are typical of field data created by ethnographers.
Types of ethnographic research
Creswell's methodology experts identified several types of ethnographic research, such as life-history, autoetnography, novel ethnography, feminist ethnography, ethnography in electronic media, pothography, video, audio and so on. But in broad outline, this research method can be categorized into two, namely realist and critical ethnography.
ethnography
Realist ethnography
This type is the traditional type in which the researcher tries to obtain individual data or situations from the perspective of a third person.
The role of the third person is very significant because it is able to provide an objective view of the phenomenon under study.
This type gives ethnographers an opportunity to narrate the voice of a third person regarding what is observed. Ethnographers take a position "backstage" and position participants' objective views as a "social fact". Reports prepared by realist ethnographers are written without being contaminated by personal and political biases and justifications for "social facts" or also called value-free.
Critical ethnography
This type is a more contemporary type where researchers participate in voicing or advocating for the socio-cultural groups studied. Critical ethnographers respond to the conditions of contemporary society which assumes that power, prestige and authority relations systems tend to marginalize individuals from different classes, races and genders.
Therefore, the voice of the first person living in the situation or context under study is very important. One characteristic of this type of ethnography is the emancipatory value drive advocated by the researcher, in other words, not value-free.