Slides to accompany Dr Paul Lynch's workshop session "An introduction to ethnography" presented at DREaM Event 2.
For more information about this event, please visit http://lisresearch.org/dream-project/dream-event-2-workshop-tuesday-25-october-2011/
Introductory overview with interdisciplinary examples/perspective
Problem of various types: 1. Contested term as picked up by a range of disciplines who adapt for their own purposes: anthropologists, folklorists, linguists, sociologists, oral historians, those who study popular culture… 2. My own perspective is broadly sociological with an emphasis/application upon working environments Types : Online - , Virtual -, Netnography, Auto- , Narrative -, Glocal –, Critical -
1930s/40s: ‘Colonisation’ – Melanesian culture less sophisticated or develop than her own – raises issue of ethnocentrism, of need for personal reflexivity, importance of Fieldworking skills. One has to unpack cultural baggage and embark on a collaborative journey with those studied.
Street corner society: study of an Italian slum – member of a gang, Chicago 1930s/40s, Chicago school of sociology
Field – site for doing research; fieldworking – process of doing it. Involves close looking and listening skills – ‘peoplewatching’ Desmond Morris zoologist and anthropologist captured the sense of what we all do (but beware his interpretations!) Ethnography concern with studying people and their customs etc in their context, the spaces they inhabit.
Participant observation: researcher joins the study population to record actions, interactions or events as they occur Observation: stands outside the study population allowing actions etc. to be seen through the eyes of the researcher Not exhaustive – indicative Cultural artefacts – maps, sketches, poems, songs, newsletters, advertisements, brochures…
John Cooper – Part of PhD 3 x 6 weeks working in michelin star kitchens doing whatever: interviews 60 top chefs GB, fieldnotes, reflective memos, living their life, scars, burns, exhaustion, eczema…
Detached language, careful detailing of routine Interpretive kills may create parody PhD study – staying in small commercial accommodation as covert participant observer i.e. a guest-researcher, or just a day-to-day guest? Subjective response of the involved individual ‘… there’s a hair on my plate. Should I mention it?’ Importance of inner feelings and belief systems to uncover aspects of culture Internal dialogue between objective and subjective selves Making familiar strange, the strange familiar – seeing beyond the wallpaper Insider = emic , Outsider = etic
Avoid contamination of the social setting that would impact on the authenticity of ‘enactment’ Need to surface social politics of the research & ways in which it may impact on the validity of findings
Acknowledge bias/way of seeing in order to achieve a higher level of ‘objectivity’ or ‘trustworthiness’ Immersion - Getting in/getting out Diary and supersvior/co-researcher