Social Research Methods

1. Alan Bryman Social Research Methods Chapter 19: Ethnography and participant observation Slides authored by Tom Owens

2. Researcher immersed in the social setting for an extended period Participant observation, often with interviews and documentary methods Understanding the culture, norms and values of the group It is both a research method and the written product of research What is ethnography? Key concept 19.1 Page 432

3. Closed/non-public vs. open/public settings Overt role Participants aware of researcher’s intentions Covert role Researcher’s identity not disclosed Researchers may play different roles at different stages Or move between roles Overt versus covert ethnography Page 433

4. Advantages Obviates the need to negotiate access Reactivity is not a problem Disadvantages Practical difficulties in taking notes Cannot use other methods Anxiety about ‘blowing your cover’ Ethical problems (deception, informed consent) The covert role in ethnography Key concept 19.2 Page 436

5. Four forms of ethnography Figure19.1 Page 434

6. Negotiating access requires “strategic planning, hard work and dumb luck” (Van Maanen & Kolb, 1985) Use friends, colleagues and contacts to help you Get support from ‘sponsors’ within the group Gain clearance from higher level ‘gatekeepers’ Offer something in return (e.g. a report) Be clear and honest about your aims and methods Be prepared to negotiate Gaining access to closed settings Page 435

7. ‘Hanging around’, ‘shadowing’, and engaging in general conversation are some of the techniques used by researchers to understand the norms and values of groups They all require permission and authorization in advance for the researcher to be present Having a sponsor is useful. Gaining access to open settings Pages 436-439

8. Not only entering the setting but gaining access to individuals Need time to gain trust of wary participants Emphasize your knowledge and understanding of the setting Create and play out a role within the group Construct a ‘front’ to allay suspicions Pass tests of competence/insider knowledge Ongoing access Page 439

9. Sponsors and/or gatekeepers who help ethnographer to collect data Develop understanding of the research and direct the ethnographer to situations (tip offs) Provide advice on playing the role of insider Accounts can be solicited (by questioning) or unsolicited / spontaneous (Hammersley & Atkinson, 1995) Key informants Pages 439, 440

10. Covert full member: Pearson and the soccer hooligans Overt full member: Simakova and the marketing of new technologies Participating observer: Anderson in a Chicago bar Partially participating observer: Leidner in McDonald’s Minimally participating observer: Fine and the restaurant cooks Non-participating observer: Gambetta and Hamill and the taxi drivers Six roles for ethnographers Figure19.2 Pages 441-444

11. Write down notes as quickly as possible Write up full field notes at the very latest at the end of the day Use a tape recorder if you prefer Notes must be vivid and clear - you should not have to ask at a later date `what did I mean by that?‘ You need to take copious notes, so, if in doubt, write it down. Taking field notes Page 447

12. Mental notes-particularly useful when it is inappropriate to be seen taking notes Jotted notes (also called Scratch notes) - very brief notes written down on pieces of paper or in small notebooks to jog one's memory about events that should be written up later Full field notes - as soon as possible make detailed notes, which will be your main data source Types of field notes Page 450

13. Problem of knowing when to stop Theoretical saturation point Practical considerations End of sabbatical leave Funding runs out Personal/family commitments Deadlines Emotional pressure of managing a ‘front’ Ending an ethnographic study Pages 452, 453

14. Maybe, according to Reinharz (1992), because it documents women’s lives it takes the perspective of women it understands women in context Yes, says Skeggs (2001), because It is well suited to the goals of feminism Not really, says Stacey (1988), because of the inauthentic position of the feminist ethnographer the intrusion, betrayal and imposed authority of the academic voice Can there be a feminist ethnography? Pages 453,454

15. Extant visual materials Already exist, e.g. personal photographs research-driven visual materials Created at the request of the researcher e.g. photographs as aide memoires, data sources, or prompts for discussion Pink (2001) Realist position: images directly represent situation Reflexive position: researcher’s influence on what is depicted and how images are interpreted The rise of visual ethnography Pages 455-458

16. Conviction of reality: Texts are written to pursuade the reader of the reality of events and situations described. Authoritative account: Not just a set of findings, but an ‘authoritative’ account of the group or culture studied. Writing ethnography Page 462

17. Realist tales: apparently definitive, confident, and dispassionate third person accounts of a culture and the behaviour of its members; the most prevalent form of ethnographic writing. Confessional tales: personalized accounts where the ethnographer is fully implicated in the data-gathering and writing-up processes; warts-and-all accounts of the trials and tribulations of doing ethnography Impressionist tales: accounts that place a heavy emphasis on stories of dramatic events. Van Maanen’s (1988) forms of ethnographic writing Page 463

18. Structural tales: linking the ethnographic study to wider issues in society at large. Poststructural tales: accounts that suggest that reality is socially constructed, subject to many types of interpretation. Advocacy tales: accounts that are motivated by a sense that something is wrong and where the ethnographer wants everyone to see that this is so. Van Maanen’s (2011) revision adds three more forms Page 463