Is Ethnography a Suitable method for Research on Residential Satisfaction and Community Participation.
Ethnography within its wider field of research is described as the study of people’s behaviour in terms of social contexts, with emphasis on interaction in everyday situations (Lindsay, 1997). It is further defined as research that constitutes the art and science of describing a group or culture (Fetterman, 1989). However, the specific definition that will be used throughout this work, is that of its role within qualitative research, which is summarised by Wainwright (1997) in his paper in The Qualitative Report, stating that ethnography can be distinguished as:
“...the attempt to obtain an in-depth understanding of the meanings and ‘definitions of the situation’ presented by informants, rather than the quantitative ‘measurement’ of their characteristics or behaviour'; pp1.
The technique of ethnography is a holistic approach, in order to achieve a complete and comprehensive picture of a social group (Fetterman, 1989). There are two main techniques within ethnography, that is firstly, interviews, and secondly, observational methods of participant and non-participant forms (Goetz and LeCompte, 1984; Hammersley, 1990; Lindsay, 1997; Wainwright, 1997).
This discussion aims to analyse ethnography as a method of qualitative research and discuss its usefulness in a research question based around residential satisfaction and community participation. This will be achieved by analysing the main advantages and disadvantages of both methods of ethnography; that of interviews and observation techniques, with a holistic approach. Hereafter, assessment of the direct usefulness of the method relating explicitly to the two research variables of residential satisfaction and community participation. An overall critique summary and conclusion will follow this, on ethnography’s context and suitability in such a study.
The first form of ethnographic research is interviews. These are where a respondent is asked a number of questions by the interviewer, and the interviewer records the answers. Interviews can be of the in depth conversational type, which are like guided conversations, where the interviewer converses with the respondent; or the second type, which is a semi-structured interview in a format simi...
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...esolves, it depends on the particular set of circumstances. Ethnography in its very nature is ambiguous and very subjective. It does hold some form of relevance in sociological studies, although still, scientists will always question its relevance due to its qualitative nature (Hammersley, 1992; Wainwright, 1997).
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Hayano (1979) first introduced the term “auto-ethnography” in response to his questions around the issue of how people could create ethnographies of their own cultures, but the extent of its relevance and application only arose in the coming years. This relevance was due to the shift away from canonical forms of research that were “author evacuated texts” (Sparkes, 2000, p. 22) towards a more personalised approach. This was a direct echo of the post-modern movement burgeoning at the time, which questioned the scientific paradigm that qualitative research was subjected to. Rather autoethnographies “are highly personalized accounts that draw upon the experience of the author/researcher for the purposes of extending sociological understanding” (Sparkes, 2000, p. 21).
Most millennials are hard workers and also smart, being the generation of technology we utilize what we have because it has works for us in multiple occasions. We also are the only generation that is better at switching from task to task, it’s not hard for us to move forward because of our great work ethics, and our ability to work with new and advanced technology. The type of experience that the Y generation has will affects how our lives will continue to be in the near future.
Ethnography is a research method used to explore different cultures from a personal view. Many anthropologists have sought to use ethnography as their main study method because of its specificity and opportunity to get hands on. Those that participate in ethnographies are expected to accurately record detailed accounts of the society in which they are staying, but at the same time maintain a critical distance.
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On average, the typical millennial needs constant feedback on everything they do, and want to share their entire lives on social media. They want everyone to see their accomplishments. This differs from some of the older generations that may value their privacy and do not want to have their entire lives placed on the Internet. According to the “Millennial General Research Review,” Millennials are considered more accepting of other races and cultures compared to the previous generations. The Millennial generation puts more emphasis on trying to be culturally and racially accepting towards everyone. In addition, they are able to multitask better then any of the other generations, changing from task to task at an extremely accelerated rate and receiving their current information from technology like the internet and television as compared to other forms that were previously popular (“Millennial General Research Review”). Overall, Millennials have many defining characteristics that have helped shape them to who they
Microgeneration’s are already rising and horrifying the group right before them, an example needs to be set to show them that it is possible to work through the generational differences (Stein). People have power in numbers and currently the separation between age and features of generations are preventing them from being one workforce, working together to achieve a common goal—the wellbeing of an entire society. All groups can make an effort to close the gap by being more accepting and open minded to change. As Millennials run into setbacks in their advanced methods, previous generations can help and explain the foundational way of operation. While previous generations fall behind in technological advancements, Millennials can share their expertise on technology. Every generation has its flaws and together the holes can be filled, simply with a little optimism and collaborative work. The key to closing this gap is education – knowledge of the past and present. Programs such like Pollak’s initiative to work with companies and help train directors how to manage and market to the Millennial generation of young adults will contribute to a better understanding on how to handle workplace confrontations (qtd. in Dowdy). Lastly, Millennials too have some contributions they can make to close the gap. As understanding as they are, they
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Not only this, but anthropologists will also employ Ethnography, writing down a description and analysis, based upon the fieldwork. This helps keep a record of what was learned, while also keeping the culture being studied under its own viewpoint. These factors help impact the analysis of a culture, while still being observed under a cultural relativism outlook.
James P. Spradley (1979) described the insider approach to understanding culture as "a quiet revolution" among the social sciences (p. iii). Cultural anthropologists, however, have long emphasized the importance of the ethnographic method, an approach to understanding a different culture through participation, observation, the use of key informants, and interviews. Cultural anthropologists have employed the ethnographic method in an attempt to surmount several formidable cultural questions: How can one understand another's culture? How can culture be qualitatively and quantitatively assessed? What aspects of a culture make it unique and which connect it to other cultures? If ethnographies can provide answers to these difficult questions, then Spradley has correctly identified this method as revolutionary.
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Numerous sociologists have contributed to research society and social interactions. In other words, society has been studied through how humans interact and shape their environment. There are many developed theories and different approaches for these findings, and sociologists have helped us understand the ways society functions. Amongst their many findings is that we construct reality through our interactions with others. This is also known as the social construction of reality, which is defined as different social behaviors, patterns and rules, influencing the human perception of reality. Social behaviors, like ethnocentrism and cultural relativism, plays a role in human behavior. Understanding, significance, and meaning are developed not
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There is a generation that is 80 million strong who is the start of a new millennium. The people of this generation are called the Millennials. Many think of them as closeminded, faulty and not fit to run the major cooperation’s of the world someday, yet the true identities of this group are just starting to be revealed. Millennials can easily and thoroughly understand the new advances in technologies. They are also the most diverse and open minded generation yet. They show a lot of potential and could someday change the world for the better. A writer for Time magazine, Joel Stein, does a wonderful job describing the millennials for who they truly are in his article “The New Greatest Generation.” While Stein agrees with Twenge in that millennials show faults, he maintains that their faults have potential to make them the next greatest generation. Despite the negative connotations millennials receive, they often have the ability to be resourceful with the technology, open-minded to the diversities the world displays and have a lot of potential.
The Millennials generation is widely known to be “entitled, narcissistic, self-interested, unfocused and lazy” as Simon Sinek (2016) said in his interview on Inside Quest about the Millennial generation. Essentially, he is saying that Millennials have issues that will cause them problems for developing in the real world. I agree that Millennials are not prepared for the real world and they do have issues. Sinek (2016) starts off by asserting the Millennial generation is unprepared for the world because of by four categories parenting, technology, impatience, and environment.