Ethnography is a useful method for understanding the social world - Essay Example

? Ethnography is a useful method for understanding the social world Ethnography is a useful method for understanding the social world Introduction Ethnography is derived from the Greek words ethnos and grapho . Ethnos means people or folk while grapho means to write. Hence, the word meaning of the word is to write about people. In fact, ethnography is a qualitative research design which aims to explore people and their culture. Some researchers are of the opinion that it is a style of research, and not a single method, using various techniques for collecting data for the research. According to Brewer (2000) “Ethnography is the study of people in naturally occurring settings or ‘fields’ by means of methods which capture their social meanings and ordinary activities, involving the researcher participating directly in the setting, if not also the activities, in order to collect data in a systematic manner but without meaning being imposed on them externally.” Brewer (2000) Earlier ethnography was used in different branches of anthropology like social, cultural, biological branches as a style of collecting empirical data on cultures and human societies, but now it is popularly used in different branches of social sciences like history, sociology, communication studies when there is a need to collect data to study formations and compositions of cultures, different ethnic groups, characteristics of social welfare, resettlements, spirituality, materiality and other elements of the social world. Understanding the social world The social world is quite vast and diverse and understanding it accurately is quite a complex and complicated procedure. The researchers who study the social world face the most common problem of authenticity of the data as most of the data collected are biased. There was always a need of the method which could ensure collection of authentic and valid data or the unbiased data. The research results have been affected tremendously by the lack of accurate data and an accurate research design. Ethnography is the research design which was used by anthropologists and its accuracy of data collection and research results made it popular in different branches of social sciences. Today, Ethnography is considered as one of the most useful methods for understanding the social world (Smith, 2001). Ethnology: A useful method Presently ethnography is considered as a useful method for understanding the social world for various reasons. The reasons which make it a useful method are as follows It is a reflexive method of study It contributes significantly to understanding the social life of people It has an aesthetic impact on the reader It expresses the reality credibly It observes people from their point of view and not from the point of view of the researcher It records all the observation of the human behavior It uses different concepts to describe all symbol-meaning relations It avoids casual explanations Discussion Ethnography has become so popular for understanding the social world that presently it is virtually equated with any any qualitative research project which intends to provide an in-depth detailed description of everyday practices and life of people. Adler and Adler (1998) has the opinion that ethnography is not only a qualitative research approach but to some extent it is a quantitative research method also. A quantitative research method means a research which is statistically oriented. He further adds that a quantitative research is based on primary data while a qualitative research is based on secondary data and in case of ethnography no any social research can be considered appropriate if there is no primary data and its analysis. Hence, ethnography is a research style which includes both the research designs – qualitative and quantitative- as complementary to each other (Hammersley, 1990). Anthropology may be considered as disciplinary home of ethnography but today it more widely used for the social research projects due to its ability to explain cultural and social constructions elaborately and accurately. It enables ethnographers to generate understandings of culture through an emic perspective, or insider's point of view and it also enables them to explore different sources of data closely which are used as foundation to analyse the cultural and social frame. The ethnography requires long-term engagement for setting of the field setting which is also known as participant observation. This field setting is the source required to collect primary ethnographic data. The ethnographer needs to live in the setting for a longer duration of time to develop an understanding of the life of the setting or the ethnographer needs to play the dual role of the participant and observer. He needs to be attached to the life of the setting to develop a better understanding and at the same time he has to be detached from the setting to be an observer. The ethnography requires the researchers to spend months or sometimes years in the settings they have selected for their research. This often forms a lasting bond with the habitants of the selected setting (Goldthorpe, 2000). Primary data collection which is also called the targeted data, is done by asking specific questions from the people and these questions are often open-ended. There are many ways of conducting interviews and ethnographers prefer their own unique way of conducting interviews provided the respondents are not restricted by pre-defined options and they answer without being limited. This approach makes ethnography different from other styles of research. Conclusion Ethnography is a research design which is very popular for the social research projects when there is a need to study life, culture, behavior, ethnicity, etc. of people. Earlier ethnography was used by the anthropologists for doing research projects but with time it became popular for the research projects of social sciences. The prime reason for its popularity in research projects of social science is its usefulness and it is considered that it is the most useful method for understanding the social world. Understanding social world has been a complex and complicated process but ethnography has provided a tool to social sciences to study the social world more appropriately and accurately. References Adler, P.A. and Adler, P. (1998) ‘Observational techniques’, in N. Denzin and Y. Lincoln (eds) Collecting and Interpreting Qualitative Materials, London: Sage. Brewer, J.D. (2000) Ethnography, Buckingham: Open University Press. Goldthorpe, J. (2000) ‘Sociological ethnography today: problems and possibilities’, On Sociology. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Hammersley, M. (1990) Reading Ethnographic Research, London: Longman. Smith, V. (2001) ‘Ethnographies of work and the work of ethnographers’, in P., Atkinson, A. Coffey, S. Delamont, J. Lofland and L. Lofland (2001) Handbook of Ethnography, London: Sage: 220–33. Read More