Ethnographic Fieldwork. Ethnographic fieldwork is how anthropologists gather data. Fieldwork is the process of immersing oneself in as many aspects of the daily cultural lives of people as possible in order to study their behaviors and interactions. Anthropologists enter the field location much like a newborn child.

Fieldwork is among the most distinctive practices anthropologists bring to the study of human life in society. Through fieldwork, the social anthropologist seeks a detailed and intimate understanding of the context of social action and relations.

When anthropologists conduct fieldwork, they gather data. An important tool for gathering anthropological data is ethnography—the in-depth study of everyday practices and lives of a people. Ethnographers gather data from many different sources. One source is the anthropologist’s own observations and thoughts.

The observation part is more hands-on than it sounds; it involves one-on-one interviews, focus groups, surveys, and questionnaires. When they are combined, these methods make participant observation an immersive experience and the primary way that researchers conduct anthropology fieldwork.

The Unique Aspect of Ethnographic Fieldwork Ethnography is qualitative research, not quantitative. Ethnographers focus on the study of individual groups of people and cultures, often studying a specific aspect like language, geography or economics.

One of the main advantages associated with ethnographic research is that ethnography can help identify and analyse unexpected issues. Because of its subjective nature, an ethnographic study (with a skilled researcher) can be very useful in uncovering and analysing relevant user attitudes and emotions.

what is unique about ethnographic fieldwork? Why do anthropologists perform this kind of field work? this allows anthropologists to put people first as we analyze how societies work. Even though the whole world is the field, Anthropologists focus on details and patterns of human life.

How to Do Ethnography Research

1. Identify Research Question. Determine what problem you are seeking to better understand.
2. Determine Location(s) for Research.
3. Formulate Presentation Method.
4. Acquire Permissions and Access.
5. Observe and Participate.
6. Interview.
7. Collect Archival Data.
8. Code and Analyze Data.

We identified six trademark features to be considered when embracing an ethnographic approach: naturalism; context; multiple data sources; small case numbers; ’emic’ and ‘etic’ perspectives, and ethical considerations.

Ethnographic research entails: an interest in cultures, cultural understanding, and meaning-making; • looking at the culture from the ‘inside’, with the emic perspective; Page 3 ETHNOGRAPHIC RESEARCH • 151 • being attentive to language practices; • being close to the field and collecting first-hand experience.

Generally, an ethnographic study involves a researcher observing behaviour either in person or via cameras pre-installed in participant homes, work places, etc. Think of the show Gogglebox where viewers observe the reaction to other people watching TV – that’s ethnography.

Ethnography is a study through direct observation of users in their natural environment rather than in a lab. The objective of this type of research is to gain insights into how users interact with things in their natural environment.

Three types of qualitative field research methods are described here that focus on capturing lived experiences: direct observation; participant observation; and qualitative interviews. Direct Observation. Participant Observation. Qualitative Interviews. Helpful Links.

Ethnographic methods are a research approach where you look at people in their cultural setting, with the goal of producing a narrative account of that particular culture, against a theoretical backdrop. As part of this you will look at: How they interact with one another, and with their social and cultural environment.

Today, ethnography is a common approach in various social science fields, not just anthropology. It is used not only to study distant or unfamiliar cultures, but also to study specific communities within the researcher’s own society.

Answer. Explanation: One of the most frequently used tools, in addition to participant observation, is interviewing. For ethnography and other types of field research, interviews occur within the context of the ongoing observations and collection of artifacts.

In an ideal environment, you need 6 per group for small number of groups for statistical significance. In a more typical study, you probably want 10-12 per group. If you don’t care as much about statistical significance, by all means use less.

What is a Data Collection Tool? Data collection tools refer to the devices/instruments used to collect data, such as a paper questionnaire or computer-assisted interviewing system. Case Studies, Checklists, Interviews, Observation sometimes, and Surveys or Questionnaires are all tools used to collect data.

Surveys

A Research Instrument is a tool used to collect, measure, and analyze data related to your research interests. These tools are most commonly used in health sciences, social sciences, and education to assess patients, clients, students, teachers, staff, etc.

​ If research instruments are not prepared carefully, results for the research might differ and lapses might be expected. There will be discrepancies in the results which will be gathered in the research or either there will be delays in the gathering of data for the said research.

The qualities of a good research instrument are (1) validity, (2) reliability, and (3) usability. Validity means the degree to which an instrument measures what it intends to measure.

Characteristics of good measuring instrument:

• RELIBILITY. RELIBILITY – is the consistency of your measurement, or the degree to which an instrument measures the same way each time it is used under the same condition with the same subjects.
• VALIDITY.
• PRACTICIBILITY.
• USABILITY.
• MEASUREABILITY.

Reliability and validity are both about how well a method measures something: Reliability refers to the consistency of a measure (whether the results can be reproduced under the same conditions). Validity refers to the accuracy of a measure (whether the results really do represent what they are supposed to measure).