To what extent can ethnography be distinguished from participant observation? (original) (raw)

Ethnography? Participant observation, a potentially revolutionary praxis

Hau Journal of Ethnographic Theory , 2017

This essay focuses on the core of ethnographic research—participant observation—to argue that it is a potentially revolutionary praxis because it forces us to question our theoretical presuppositions about the world, produce knowledge that is new, was confined to the margins, or was silenced. It is argued that participant observation is not merely a method of anthropology but is a form of production of knowledge through being and action; it is praxis, the process by which theory is dialectically produced and realized in action. Four core aspects of participation observation are discussed as long duration (long-term engagement), revealing social relations of a group of people (understanding a group of people and their social processes), holism (studying all aspects of social life, marking its fundamental democracy), and the dialectical relationship between intimacy and estrangement (befriending strangers). Though the risks and limits of participant observation are outlined, as are the tensions between activism and anthropology, it is argued that engaging in participant observation is a profoundly political act, one that can enable us to challenge hegemonic conceptions of the world, challenge authority, and better act in the world. " That's enough about ethnography! " says Tim Ingold (2014). It was a provocation to those who value ethnography, but it seems to me that the substance of the debates that have ensued, in the Cultural Anthropology Forum and in this volume of Hau, shows more agreement than disagreement with what is special about the process of our fieldwork and writing. In this essay I seek to clarify why ethnographic research carried out by anthropologists is important beyond the confines of our own discipline, why how we do it has the potential to contribute new knowledge

Ethnography: Visions & Versions

2009

In Chapter 3, Marian Crowley-Henry presents an aspect of the evolving research approach of ethnography and participant observation, delineating the complexities involved in classifying research as ethnographic, given underlying discrepancies in how the approach is applied and the respective philosophy behind its use.

Ethnography: challenges and opportunities

Evidence Based Nursing, 2017

Table 1 Approaches to participant observation 7 Method Approach Complete observer Covert approach, the researcher is detached and invisible to the participants. Observer-as-participant Overt approach, researcher role is to undertake research with brief exposure to collect observation data, often used for exploration in follow-up interviews. Participant-as-observer Overt approach, the researcher aims to integrate into the setting and their role within the context of the study is acknowledged. Complete participant Covert approach, the researcher is fully immersed and integrated into the setting, referred to as going native, without disclosing themselves as a researcher.

Ethnography? Participant observation, a potentially revolutionary praxis by Alpa Shah

Article, 2017

This essay focuses on the core of ethnographic research-participant observation-to argue that it is a potentially revolutionary praxis because it forces us to question our theoretical presuppositions about the world, produce knowledge that is new, was confined to the margins, or was silenced. It is argued that participant observation is not merely a method of anthropology but is a form of production of knowledge through being and action; it is praxis, the process by which theory is dialectically produced and realized in action. Four core aspects of participation observation are discussed as long duration (long-term engagement), revealing social relations of a group of people (understanding a group of people and their social processes), holism (studying all aspects of social life, marking its fundamental democracy), and the dialectical relationship between intimacy and estrangement (befriending strangers). Though the risks and limits of participant observation are outlined, as are the tensions between activism and anthropology, it is argued that engaging in participant observation is a profoundly political act, one that can enable us to challenge hegemonic conceptions of the world, challenge authority, and better act in the world.

Doing ethnography: introduction

Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks, 2021

The derivation of the word 'ethnography' is from the Greek 'ethnos', meaning 'a people' and 'graphy', meaning writing, so ethnography literally refers to writing about people. This omits ethnography's most important aspect: it is an active, agentive practice-the ethnographer 'goes into the field', spends a more or less extended time living in and studying a community, and returns to their desk to write up their experiences, deriving meaning and insights as they do so. But, curiously, there is no verb 'to ethnograph'. Many years ago, before Google and the internet, one of us was told that ethnography 'is what anthropologists do'. That begged such questions as: what is an anthropologist and in what ways are they distinguished from sociologists, what exactly do they do, and if ethnography is what anthropologists do, what do ethnographers do? The answer she was given was, firstly, that anthropologists spend more time in the field than sociologists, leading to the answerless question: where is the dividing line between anthropological time and sociological time? Secondly, she was told that anthropologists just 'go into the field', become part of the community they are studying, but remain apart from it in order to study it. That took her round in circles-ethnography is what anthropologists do-but with the added conundrum of how to remain both immersed within and separate from 'the field'. Management scholars have the additional problem of distinguishing between observation studies (participant and non-participant) and ethnography: the dividing lines between them appear very vague. Small wonder then that what Nigel Barley (1986) calls 'the innocent anthropologist' may be wracked with uncertainty when s/he 'enters the field'. Sarah Gilmore describes how on the first day of her ethnographic studies of a major league football club in the UK, she had no idea of what she was supposed to do, except that she had to look as if she knew what she was doing (in Gilmore and Harding, forthcoming). Another Sarah, Bloomfield (in this volume) had no such qualms: the ethnographic elements of her study were an adventure that gave her a privileged peep behind a façade that few people can cross. The aim of this volume is to prepare you, the reader, to 'enter the field' with as much confidence as Sarah Bloomfield (Chapter 13). To do this, we will ask you to treat each chapter as an action-learning project. This Introduction provides the guidelines, roadmap and template for this. It summarizes each

Ethnography as an Inquiry Process In Social Science Research

Tribhuvan University Journal

This article is an attempt to present the concept of ethnography as a qualitative inquiry process in social science research. The paper begins with the introduction to ethnography followed by the discussion of ethnography both as an approach and a research method. It then illustrates how ethnographic research is carried out using various ethnographic methods that include participant observation, interviewing and collection of the documents and artifacts. Highlighting the different ways of organizing, analyzing and writing ethnographic data, the article suggests ways of writing the ethnographic research.