Ethnographic research is one of the many crucial research methodologies in educational research. This well-researched ppt gives a clear picture of the what, how, and why of the research design.

1. Ethnographic Research
Methodology
Patteri Divya
For,
MED900 Educational Inquiry
National Institute of Education, Singapore

3. WHAT IS
ETHNOGRAPHIC
RESEARCH?
● Ethnography is a study through direct
observation of users in their natural
environment rather than in a lab.
● It is a qualitative research design originated
from the academic disciplines of sociology
and anthropology.
● When simply asked questions the participants
tend to leave so many things out distorting the
truth, hence behaviours of these participants
are more authentic in their natural setting.
● Creswell (1998) explained that the
ethnography study looks at people in
interaction in ordinary settings and attempts to
discern pervasive patterns such as life
cycle, events, and cultural themes.

4. PROCESS OF
ETHNOGRAPHIC
RESEARCH
● Identify the purpose of the research study and
frame it as a larger theoretical, policy, or
practical problem.
● Decide on the site and the sample for the study,
secures permissions and negotiate entry, and
only then begin data collection.
● Following analysis of the data, the researcher
writes an ethnographic account, which is
usually a narrative that captures the social,
cultural, and economic themes that emerge
from the study.

5. KEY
CHARACTERISTICS
OF
ETHNOGRAPHIC
RESEARCH
● Carried out in a natural setting
● Accurate reflection of participants’ perspectives
● Uses the concept of culture as a lens to
interpret results
● Investigates a small number of cases, in detail
● Offers a representation of a person’s life and
behavior that is neither the researcher’s nor the
person’s.
Ethnographic descriptions are necessarily partial
as they are bound by what can be handled within
a certain time, under specific circumstances, and
from a particular perspective.

6. TYPES OF
ETHNOGRAPHIC
RESEARCH
1) CRITICAL
2)REALIST
3) CASE STUDY

7. Critical ethnography
Critical ethnography is conventional ethnography with a political
purpose.
—Jim Thomas, Doing Critical Ethnography (1993)2
● Researcher advocates the emancipation of groups
marginalized in our society including schools.
(Creswell, 2012)1
● For example: Privileges to certain types of students,
create inequitable situations among members of
different social classes, and perpetuate boys
“speaking up” and girls being silent participants in
class.
● The major components of a critical ethnography are
factors such as a value-laden orientation,
empowering people by giving them more authority,
challenging the status quo, and a concern about
power and control. (Madison, 2005 )3
TYPES OF
ETHNOGRAPHIC
RESEARCH
1) CRITICAL
2)REALIST
3) CASE STUDY
1J. W. Creswell, 2012 Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative
Research 4th ed., p. 467, Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill/ Prentice Hall.
2Thomas, J. (1993). Doing critical ethnography (1st ed.). Newbury Park, Calif.: Sage.
3Madison, D. (2005). Critical ethnography (1st ed.). California: SAGE Publishing.

8. Realist Ethnography
● A third-person’s point of view
● Researcher uses cultural description, analysis, and
interpretation; such categories include work life and
social networks.
● Reports objective data in a measured style
uncontaminated by personal bias, political goals,
and judgment.
● Mundane details of everyday life among the people
studied.
● Uses standard categories for cultural description
(e.g., family life, work life, social networks, and
status systems).
● Produces the participants’ views through closely
edited quotations, who has the final word on the
interpretation and presentation of the culture (Van
Maanen, 1988)1.
1Van Maanen, J. (1988). Tales of the field (1st ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
TYPES OF
ETHNOGRAPHIC
RESEARCH
1) CRITICAL
2)REALIST
3) CASE STUDY

9. Case Study
● An important type of ethnography, although it
differs from an ethnography in several
important ways.
● The focus is on developing an in-depth
understanding of a case, such as an event,
activity, or process.
● Case study researchers may focus on a
program, event, or activity involving individuals
rather than a group per se (Stake, 1995)1.
● Also, when case study writers research a group,
they may be more interested in describing the
activities and searches for the shared patterns
that develop as a group interacts over time.
● Less likely to identify a cultural theme to
examine at the beginning of a study, especially
one from anthropology; instead, they focus on
an in-depth exploration of the actual “case” (Yin,
2008)2.
1Stake, R. (1995). The Art of Case Study Research (1st ed.). California: Sage Publications.
TYPES OF
ETHNOGRAPHIC
RESEARCH
1) CRITICAL
2)REALIST
3) CASE STUDY

10. ETHNOGRAPHIC
RESEARCH
TECHNIQUES
1. Triangulation
2. Participant Observation
https://www.firstdiscoverers.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/participant-observation.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/78/Conceptual_diagram_of_political_t
riangulation.png/300px-Conceptual_diagram_of_political_triangulation.png

11. TRIANGULATION
How does a sextant measure the distance?
● Navigators use on ship and land
● Measure by looking at the sun and looking at the horizon, and
maybe by looking at at least three stars.
https://classic-sailing.co.uk

12. TRIANGULATION CONTD...
Triangulation in
Navigation
Images from University of Amsterdam by Coursera
Satellites help know your location.
You can be possibly
located anywhere within
the shown distances
With the help of
two satellites your
location can be
narrowed down to
two possibilities
But if we have three
points of reference
by three different
satellites, your
location can be
pinpointed!

13. Triangulation in
Qualitative
Research?
TRIANGULATION CONTD...

14. Coined by Norman Denzin in the 1970s
Types of Triangulation by:
data collection
theories
researchers/coders/observers
Observation, Interviews, Surveys or
Artefacts
Building theories and testing them one
by one
Different set of observers and coders
TRIANGULATION CONTD...

15. 1) Active Participant Observer
Researchers often negotiate roles as teacher’s
aides, student teachers, or even substitute
teachers to gain access to schools and
classrooms or research setting.
May become so fully immersed in teaching that
they don’t record their observations in a
systematic way during the school day.
http://supportingtheshift.weebly.com
PARTICIPANT
OBSERVATION

16. PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION CONTD...
2) Privileged, Active Observer
● The researcher can work as a teacher’s aide
and at the same time can withdraw, stand
back, and watch what is happening during a
teaching episode. (Mills & Gay, 2012)
● The ethnographer can move in and out of
the role of teacher’s aide and observer.
3) Passive Observer
● Spends time in the setting as a passive
observer only or may enter the setting as a
privileged, active observer.
● On occasion, may choose to act as a passive
observer by making explicit to the students
and teaching colleagues that the “visitor” is
present only to “see what’s going on around
here.” (Mills & Gay, 2012)
Mills, G., & Gay, L. (2012). Educational research (10th ed.). New Jersey: Pearson.

17. ● In Ethnographic Research ethical issues in
ethnography relate to fieldwork concerns.
● These issues involve such topics as gaining
access to the field, staying in the field, gathering
data in the field, and the interactions of being in
the field of research.
POTENTIAL
ETHICAL ISSUES

18. ● Field notes are gathered, recorded, and
compiled on-site during the course of a study.
● Depending on the setting you are researching
and the degree of participation you are engaged
in, the detail you record in your field notes will
vary considerably.
● Even the jottings can be a crucial aid in
reconstructing and writing up your
observations.
● Researchers must not forget to organize the
notes in chronological order everyday.
https://images.amcnetworks.com/blogs.amctv.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/better-call-saul-episode-106-abassis-notebook-
1200.jpg
Ethnographic
Account : FIELD
NOTES

19. BEFORE SIGNING
OFF...
Ethnographic researchers try to look
with new eyes and approach the scene
as an outsider.
They also look for contradictions or
paradoxes that stand out and needs to
be addressed.