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Ethnographic Fieldwork: Methodologies and Practical Considerations

Explore the nuances of fieldwork: planning, writing, ethical considerations, and observational strategies in ethnographic research. Understand different writing methods for documenting observations and interactions during fieldwork. Key topics include participant roles, data collection techniques, and implications of fieldwork on research outcomes. Dive into the complexities of fieldwork activities and strategies for effective note-taking. Enhance your understanding of the fieldwork process through an ethical lens. Discover essential references and resources for successful ethnographic fieldwork endeavors.

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Ethnographic Fieldwork: Methodologies and Practical Considerations

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  1. Ethnographic Fieldwork

  2. Fieldwork: Participating in order to write • What do people actually do when they are doing ‘fieldwork’? • Planning access to field-sites • Negotiating with gate-keepers • Implications of different kinds of roles in the field http://manual.recoup.educ.cam.ac.uk

  3. Different kinds of writing relevant for fieldwork 1. A daily diary • Personal • Field-related 2. Headnotes: brief reminders 3. Fieldnotes: accounts that are as full as possible • Stream of consciousness • Reflections on the content—questions it raises • Analytic ideas http://manual.recoup.educ.cam.ac.uk

  4. Space (context, surroundings) Actors (who was present?) Activities (what were they doing?) Objects (what were they using?) Events (what happened?) Times (when did it start and end?) Goals (what were actors trying to achieve?) Feelings (what did actors seem to feel?) Dimensions of descriptive observation (Spradley’s list) http://manual.recoup.educ.cam.ac.uk

  5. Five types of materials to be included in the record (Lofland and Lofland) • Running descriptions (simple account) • Forgotten material, not noted at the time (and reported actions, not heard or seen) • Your own interpretive ideas • Your own personal impressions, feelings • Reminders to yourself to look for additional information in future http://manual.recoup.educ.cam.ac.uk

  6. What to write down • The limitations of ‘write down what you see and hear’: do you try to capture everything or focus on specific aspects? • What to do about tacit knowledge—things you take for granted but your readers might not understand • How notes change through time http://manual.recoup.educ.cam.ac.uk

  7. How to write it down: You might experiment • with voice (first person, third person); • with stance (personal, formal); • with tense (past, present); • with ‘stream of consciousness’ versus separating different kinds of notes • with different ‘readers’ in mind http://manual.recoup.educ.cam.ac.uk

  8. When to write it down • What to do if you can take notes at the time • What to do if you cannot take notes at the time http://manual.recoup.educ.cam.ac.uk

  9. Ethical Considerations Some basic rules: • Informed consent • Anonymity and confidentiality of your notes • Ethnographic fieldwork should never bring anybody any harm • Feedback • Additional considerations in relation to your project http://manual.recoup.educ.cam.ac.uk

  10. References Lofland, J. and Lofland, L. H. (1995). Analyzing social settings: A guide to qualitative observation and analysis. California: Wadsworth Publishing Company Spradley, J. P. (1980). Participant observation. New York: Holt. http://manual.recoup.educ.cam.ac.uk

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