What is the ethnographic technique that is most associated with firsthand observation of behavior?

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journal article

Journal of Anthropological Research

Vol. 47, No. 1 (Spring, 1991)

, pp. 69-94 (26 pages)

Published By: The University of Chicago Press

https://www.jstor.org/stable/3630581

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Abstract

Beginning in the 1970s there has been a shift in cultural anthropological methodology from participant observation toward the observation of participation. During participant observation ethnographers attempt to be both emotionally engaged participants and coolly dispassionate observers of the lives of others. In the observation of participation, ethnographers both experience and observe their own and others' coparticipation within the ethnographic encounter. The shift from the one methodology to the other entails a representational transformation in which, instead of a choice between writing an ethnographic memoir centering on the Self or a standard monograph centering on the Other, both the Self and Other are presented together within a single narrative ethnography, focused on the character and process of the ethnographic dialogue.

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Current issues are now on the Chicago Journals website. Read the latest issue.The Journal of Anthropological Researchis published in the interest of general anthropology. It was founded by Leslie Spier in 1945 as the Southwestern Journal of Anthropology. JAR publishes substantive, peer-reviewed research articles and book reviews in all subfields of anthropology, totaling approximately six hundred pages of text annually. It sponsors and publishes the JAR Distinguished Lectures by leading scholars in the discipline. JAR is an independent, non-profit medium for the dissemination of significant, theoretically informed, broadly contextualized research results of interest to the international profession of anthropology. It has over one thousand subscribers worldwide. Institutions may receive JAR electronically for a modest fee in addition to the hard-copy subscription.

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Draft

1 Definition

• Ethnography is the immersive study of (and writing about) a relatively small (no more than a thousand or so) group of people with some shared ecologies, social organizations, developmental cycles, and and cosmology. [...] Ethnography is a long-term, immersive, participant observation; it is a text; and it is inherently interpretive and analytic. (Morgan Ames, retrieved 12:53, 4 September 2006 (MEST)).

• Ethnography (from the Greek ἔθνος ethnos = people and γράφειν graphein = writing) refers to the genre of writing that presents qualitative description of human social phenomena, based on fieldwork. Ethnography presents the results of a holistic research method founded on the idea that a system's properties cannot necessarily be accurately understood independently of each other.(Wikipedia, retrieved 12:53, 4 September 2006 (MEST)).

2 Ethnographic technique

According to the (Wikipedia, retrieved 12:53, 4 September 2006 (MEST)):

1. Direct, first-hand observation of daily behavior. This can include participant observation.
2. Conversation with different levels of formality. This can involve small talk to long interviews.
3. The genealogical method. This is a set of procedures by which ethnographers discover and record connections of kinship, descent and marriage using diagrams and symbols.
4. Detailed work with key consultants about particular areas of community life.
5. In-depth interviewing.
6. Discovery of local beliefs and perceptions.
7. Problem-oriented research.
8. Longitudinal research. This is continuous long-term study of an area or site.
9. Team research.
10. Case studies

3 The role of ethnography for HCI design

Ethnography is a popular analysis methodology in Design sciences, e.g. Human-computer interaction and user-centered design

Here is a longer quote from Morgan Ames's blog that summarized Dourish (2006) talk at CHI 2006 (retrieved DSchneider 12:53, 4 September 2006 (MEST), found by Nicola Nova's

• Marginalization of theory: ethnography was seen as a "toolbox" of field techniques, the ethnographer as a "tape recorder." (Diana Forsythe famously said that "an ethnographer is not a tape recorder" -- an ethnographer must take an analytic stance, choose an interpretive practice.) Objectivity and subjectivity: Paul notices that many scientific/engineering students are uncomfortable with ethnography because they see interpretation as subjective, but ethnographic data isn't just "collected," it's generated from the encounter of the ethnographer and the field settings, and proceeds from a consciousness of what is or may be subjective. Interpretation and analysis are central. Doesn't mean that everything is "hopelessly" and "problematically" subjective, though.
• Disciplinary power relations: what is implied by the insistence for implications for design? Instead, perhaps we should be asking what are the implications for theory. Why is design a natural end-point? Why does theory/analysis seem like an unreasonable end-point? Design is a privileged activity in HCI -- this shows the asymmetry between the disciplines and how much they're valued.
• Relationship between technology and practice: the common view is that ethnography will uncover problems that design can fix. This assumes that the world is problematic and can be fixed by (technological) design. A better approach would to have a broader view of practice, including how technology is put to use (and adopted, adapted, repurposed, and appropriated), how people create new circumstances and consequences of technology use, and how technologies take on social meaning. To formulate practice as "deficient" or "needing to be fixed" presupposes a lot, and also puts design outside of the domain of the ethnographer.
• Representation: over the last two centuries, anthropological ethnography has grown from "objective, instrumental, actionable" accounts to situated encounters. The former is now what is requested in technology and product design, though.

Finally, it's not that implications for design are bad -- they can be productive, and part of conversations between ethnographers and others. Ethnography also isn't just abstract and academic. It's just that the absence of implications for design shouldn't disqualify an ethnography -- they're a poor metric for evaluating ethnographic work.

4 Links

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnography
• http://chimerically.livejournal.com/85913.html
• http://faculty.antiochne.edu/CPFac/SHawes/qualresearch.html
• http://www.sas.upenn.edu/anthro/CPIA/methods.html
• http://www.nova.edu/ssss/QR/text.html (good, but lots of dead links ..)

5 References

• Paul Dourish, Implications for Design, CHI 2006 paper, PDF

What is the ethnographic technique that might be used if the anthropologist were interested in studying a culture over a long period of time?

What is the most common method of ethnographic fieldwork?

Which of the following is an example of the ethnographic technique called participant observation?

What are some of the main techniques used by ethnographers in the study of cultures?