Negotiating methodological minefields in conducting ethnographic action research
1. Negotiating Methodological
minefields in conducting
Ethnographic Action Research
Mr. Kennedy Javuru. Media and Communication (Applied Social Sciences)
javken@hotmail.com
2. What is Ethnographic Action Research
Combines Ethnography and Action Research
• Ethnography: used in understanding culture. Is based on a long-term engagement with the
project through participant observation (Tacchi, Slater, & Hearn, 2003)
• The researcher embeds in the daily life of the community and participates in the culture
being studied.
• Retains an analytical position and through reflection, describes and interprets the
subject of study
• Action Research: involve actions and reflection, theory and practice (Reason and Bradbury,
2001) with constant planning, acting, observing and reflecting on findings.
• Permits participation of stake holders.
• Reflection-in-action implies that there is no seperation of research and practice, of
knowing and doing (D. A. Schon, 1983)
• Encourages learning by doing.
• It is open to realities on the ground
4. Research background
Title of thesis: ‘Loud and clear’. Revisiting Amartya Sen’s Development as freedom in assessing the
role of community radio in development in Uganda.
• Amartya Sen’s Development as freedom: For people to be developed, they must enjoy five basic
freedoms. i.e.
a) political freedom
b) Economic facilities
c) Social opportunities
d) Transparency guarantees and
e) Protective securities
(Sen, 1999)
• Research Questions
(Main Research question)
Can community radio facilitate increases in political freedoms and social opportunities for
the people in rural Uganda?
5. (Secondary questions)
• What are the social, political and economic conditions relevant to the role of community
radio in rural development in Uganda?
• Does the intrinsic level of interactivity and participatory nature of community radio influence
its role as a social actor?
• What is the nature of the relationship between Mama fm and the community it serves
Case study
• Mama fm. Mama (Swahili for mother)
• Located in Kisaasi in the outskirt of Kampala the capital city of Uganda
• Most popular and openly recognised community radio station in Uganda
• Formed and managed by a group of female journalists with women and the marginalised in
society as its target audience.
6. Methodology
• Qualitative method of data collection (Ethnographic action research, interviews, focus group
discussion and document analysis)
Why ethnographic action research and has it worked?
• Takes a holistic approach looking at the whole social setting, social relationships,
understandings and meanings
• Gives a better understanding of the role of Mama fm from a local perspective with local
knowledge
• A clear understanding of the community’s political, social and economic structure and how
the radio fits within these parameters.
• Through immersion in the field, everything is material (conversations, encounters etc)
• Can be combined with other research tools like interviews, focus group discussion and
document analysis
Field/participant observation and analysis
Observations are classified along two major dimensions-the degree to which the researcher
7. participates in the behaviours under observation, and the degree to which the observation
is concealed. Wilmer and Dominick (1994)
• Lofland and Lofland (1995) The researcher becomes a participant in and a witness to lives of
others.
• Field/participant observation have six stages:
a) Choosing the research site
b) Gaining access
c) Sampling
d) Collecting data
e) Analysing data
f) Handling diplomacy and tact
Wilmer and Dominick (1994)
• Inspires the researcher to respect local knowledge and perspectives
• People centered in which respondents are encouraged to share their experiences
8. Challenges
• Maintaining impartiality
• Being a stranger in the field site (language barrier and historical differences) Mama fm is
located in central Uganda. Luganda is the dominant dialect. I come from northern Uganda
and Luo is my dialect.
• Contaminated data
• Self conflicts
Agar (1986) Ethnography is neither subjective nor objective. It is interpretative, mediating
two worlds through a third.
Semi-structured interviews
• Interviews based not only on a clear plan that you keep constantly in mind, but also
characterised by a minimum control over respondents’ response.
• Building initial rapport with people before moving to more formal interviews
• Convenient for talking to respondents who would not tolerate a more formal interview.
• Where there is a likelihood of meeting a respondent only once-high level bureaucrats etc
9. Merits
• Total control
• Non-standadised
• Respondents are free to provide answers in their own words
• Exploring people’s opinions, interpretations and interactions
• They unveil unexpected information
• Allow respondents to show their own volition, creativity and initiative
• Knowledge received is contextual
Drawbacks
• Danger of subjectivity. Rubin and Rubin (2003) ‘Two human beings concept’
• The ‘big man syndrome’
• Not appropriate if the respondent cannot express themselves well
• Sensitivity to respondents’ beliefs, values and experiences
• Can produce irrelevant information
• Time consuming
10. Focus Group Discussion
• Aka group interviews
• Bringing a group of people together to discuss a particular issue
• Group is focused about a collective activity
• Group members talk freely and spontaneously
Plusses
• Provides valuable spontaneous information in a short space of time
• Cheap
Drawbacks
• Not appropriate in discussing personal issues and feelings
Document analysis
• Studying documents published about or related to the subject of study
11. References
• D. A. Schon. (1983). The reflective practitioner: How professionals think in action. New York:
Basic Books
• Lofland, J. & Lofland, L. H. (1995). Analysing social settings: A guide to qualitative observation
and analysis. Belmont: C.A: Wadsworth
• Reason, P., & Bradbury, H. (Eds). (2001). Handbook of action research: Participative inquiry
and practice. London: Sage
• Rubin, H. j., & Rubin, I. S. (2003). Qualitative Interviewing: The art of hearing data. Thousand
Oaks: C.A: Sage
• Sen, Amartya. (1999). Development as freedom. New York: Alfred Knopf
• Tacchi, J., Slater, D., & Hearn, G. (2003). Ethnographic action research: A handbook. New
Delhi: UNESCO