Ethnography for Social Science Research Paper Example

Introduction

Researchers have a range of methods to adopt during the implementation of their duties. The choices depend on the topic of study, which can be either a physical science or a social science. Ethnography is one of the approaches that scholars employ in their research projects especially those involving social sciences. Ethnography is a method of research applicable in social sciences (Bryman 2016). The research approach depends on the experiences and the engagement or involvement of individuals conducting the research process. The study criteria require the investigators to learn the culture and language of the subjects. The participants also have to combine the application of historical, observational, and interview methods.

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Ethnography contains three applicable data collection techniques which include interviews, documents, and observations. The resultant datasets include quotations, excerpts, and descriptions (Taylor, Bogdan, and DeVault, 2015). Additionally, ethnographic studies exist in several categories which include critical, realist and case study methods. This essay attempts to identify and discuss the various advantages of ethnography as a research procedure for social sciences. The paper also intends to describe the limitations of the process for social sciences.

Limitations of Ethnography

Ethnographic research process

Ethnography uses interviews or observation. The observation techniques may either be participant or non-participant depending on the researcher's choice. The researcher may become subjective when they choose to be both members of the culture and examiners concurrently (Shipman 2014). The involvement as a member may also drive the researcher to in supporting personal characteristic morals and fail to meet the objective.

Data collection method that requires the research groups to act as community members and also observers is highly demanding. The process is, therefore, time-consuming and involves high energy demand hence tedious (Hackett 2016). In cases where the non-participant approach applies during the process, the level of satisfaction of the members is low as this prohibits the interrogative power to acquire information (Van den Hoonaard, and Hamilton, 2016). The processes of ethnography are intensive to acquire data from the social context and as such costly to the researchers.

Reliability and Validity of the Process

Ethnography is a process that depends on the ordinary circumstances and relies on activities. The imitation of a natural process is complex. Ethnography has limited room for generalizing ability. Ethnographers find it complex to duplicate the results of a study since it depends on the researcher's accord (Hymes 2013. The sequence of information in describing the findings of a research may fluctuate. Some examiners provide extensive illustrations while others issue narrow explanations which produce a varying understanding of the data.

A conclusion in research work that involves ethnographic approach interprets information in according to the perspective of the circumstances under study. This contextualization prohibits generalization of the results of a certain project to other situations (Paoletti, Menendez, and Tomas, 2013). Therefore, the results of a particular study cannot apply as a general conclusion to other research findings but remain relevant to the specific project of study.

Participants in an ethnographic research may show characters which are not the true reflection of their behaviors. The participants can also influence the conduct of the members to conform to what the researcher would wish to observe and hear (Bhattacherjee 2012). Such actions are likely to provide an inaccurate report of a phenomenon during the studies. The investigators face a challenge in the ability to comprehend the occurrences and explain the experiences for passive contributors.

Strengths of Ethnography

Participant observation promotes the accuracy of the report about the community under study. The examiner experiences the environment under study as an insider. The researcher in this form of observation shares the lifestyle, activities, and norms of the individuals in the community of study (Petty, Thomson, and Stew, 2012). The correctness of the description is due to the development of own experience and the actions of the researcher (Bernard 2017). The accuracy of the description also develops due to the active engagement of the researcher and as such, explains the actual feelings of being a member of the group (Horlick-Jones and Rosenhead 2007).

Additionally, ethnography through interviews improves the validity of the data. The observation method involving active participation makes the researchers reflect on the personal experiences when they act as insiders (Carspecken 2013). The investigator also observes and notes the behavior of other members and as such, increases the accuracy of the report.

In circumstances where the researcher adopts the non-participant observation method, the examiner takes less time and promotes the objectivity of the individual due to the limitation of the interactions with the community members under study (Hammersley 2018).

The method of study is appropriate for ordinary environments such as the activities of learning languages. Ethnography also allows the researchers to document the deeds of the subjects in real time (Trotter II 2012). Ethnographers moreover, through observation, are able to explain the happenings and operations in a society.

Ethnography utilizes internal variables during research. Other methods of investigations control variables by the application of external testing. Ethnography, therefore, allows the examiners to experience a high level of understanding of the occurrences from the context of the subjects (Corbin, Strauss, and Strauss, 2014). The method offers researchers with the ability to formulate special theories and knowledge about a sub-class.

Other methods of study are limited to experimenting explicit hypothesis. The methods that examine a situation with an established proposition have the likelihood of failure in describing the actual characteristics of the occurrence (Murray 2016). Ethnography, on the other hand, doesn't work on assumptions and as such promote the capability of a researcher to discover the character of an incident.

The researchers may experience risky responses and reception from the subjects. The dangers during field visits include psychological strain, physical hostility, and unlawful acts. The violence may happen when researches attempt to execute the observation approach on behaviors such as drinking. Ethnography is a technique that is difficult for examiners to anticipate and predict the nature of the environment of study. Moreover, the threats are the sole responsibility of the investigators since there is no institutional support.

Ethical issues arise during the research processes. Ethnographers act as insiders or outsiders during data collection and are likely to disobey the regulations that are ethically acceptable by other researchers in the social science sector (Creswell and Creswell, 2017). For instance, some ethnographers may sympathize with the norms and social beings of a community which might not be a true reflection of their feelings.

There are various benefits and disadvantages of ethnography as a research method for social; sciences. Besides the constraints of using the techniques, ethnography is appropriate for naturalistic environments such as in learning languages. Researchers who intend to adopt ethnography therefore need to assess and evaluate the ethnographic method for use during data collection depending on the phenomenon under research.

References

Bernard, H.R., 2017. Research methods in anthropology: Qualitative and quantitative approaches. Rowman & Littlefield.

Bhattacherjee, A., 2012. Social science research: Principles, methods, and practices.

Bryman, A., 2016. Social research methods. Oxford university press.

Carspecken, F.P., 2013. Critical ethnography in educational research: A theoretical and practical guide. Routledge.

Corbin, J., Strauss, A. and Strauss, A.L., 2014. Basics of qualitative research. sage.

Creswell, J.W. and Creswell, J.D., 2017. Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Sage publications.

Hackett, P. M. W. (2016) Consumer Psychology: A Study Guide to Qualitative Research Methods. [Place of publication not identified]: Budrich, Barbara. Available at: http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=1282736&site=ehost-live (Accessed: 31 October 2018).

Hammersley, M., 2018. Routledge Revivals: What's Wrong With Ethnography?(1992): Methodological Explorations. Routledge.

Horlick-Jones, T. and Rosenhead, J. (2007) 'The uses of observation: combining problem structuring methods and ethnography', Journal of the Operational Research Society, 58(5), pp. 588-601. doi: 10.1057/palgrave.jors.2602271.

Hymes, D., 2013. Foundations in sociolinguistics: An ethnographic approach. Routledge.

Murray, B. (2016) 'Critical Ethnography and the PEN3 Model: An Analysis of Women's Health in Swaziland', Journal of Theory Construction & Testing, 10(1), pp. 20-30. Available at: http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=121333018&site=ehost-live (Accessed: 31 October 2018).

Paoletti, I., Menendez, F. and Tomas, M. I. (2013) Practices of Ethics : An Empirical Approach to Ethics in Social Sciences Research. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Available at: http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=632088&site=ehost-live (Accessed: 31 October 2018).

Petty, N.J., Thomson, O.P. and Stew, G., 2012. Ready for a paradigm shift? Part 2: Introducing qualitative research methodologies and methods. Manual therapy, 17(5), pp.378-384.

Shipman, M.D., 2014. The limitations of social research. Routledge.

Taylor, S.J., Bogdan, R. and DeVault, M., 2015. Introduction to qualitative research methods: A guidebook and resource. John Wiley & Sons.

Trotter II, R.T., 2012. Qualitative research sample design and sample size: Resolving and unresolved issues and inferential imperatives. Preventive medicine, 55(5), pp.398-400.

Van den Hoonaard, W. C. and Hamilton, A. (2016) The Ethics Rupture : Exploring Alternatives to Formal Research-ethics Review. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, Scholarly Publishing Division. Available at: http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=1221996&site=ehost-live (Accessed: 31 October 2018).