Description

Ethnography is a method of qualitative research which seeks to understand the social and cultural practices of everyday life in a particular culture (Spradley, 1980). Ethnography allows the researcher to provide a thorough description of the culture in which they are studying (Geertz, 2000). Ethnographic tools focus on listening and learning from the participants and include field observation, participant observation, interviews, document analysis, focus groups, field notes, and reflexive notes and memos (Spradley, 1980).

Ethnography is a popular method of qualitative research that is used to study education, providing researchers
and educators alike with in-depth insight around topics of learning in participants’ social contexts …providing researchers
and educators alike with in-depth insight around topics of learning in participants’ social contexts.
Stakeholders in education ethnographic studies can include administrators, teachers, parents, students and community members and can take place in a variety of settings in and out of school, including classrooms, homes, and communities (Athanases & Heath, 1995).

References

Athanases, S. & Heath, S. B. (1995). Ethnography in the study of the teaching and learning of English. Research in the Teaching of English, 29(3), 263-287.

Geertz, C. (2000). The interpretation of cultures (2nd ed.). New York: Basic Books.

Spradley, J. (1980). Participant observation. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston.

Key Research Books and Articles on Education Ethnography Methodology

Carspecken, P. F. (1996). Critical ethnography in educational research: A theoretical and practical guide. New York: Routledge.

This book outlines a five-stage approach towards conducting critical ethnography, also referred to as critical qualitative research. The author defines critical ethnography as a type of research that not only describes social interactions but focuses on unpacking social inequalities. The five stages focus on both technical and theoretical aspects of what it means to conduct ethnography as social activism. This book serves as a practical, applicable guide for researchers who seek to conduct qualitative research.

Grenfell, M. (2012). Language, ethnography, and education: Bridging new literacy studies and Bourdieu. New York: Routledge.

This text focuses on ethnography through the lens of Bourdieu’s sociological tenets. The author combines the study of language, literacy and education, offering a new perspective on traditional ways of using ethnography to study education. Throughout the book, Grenfell offers students and researchers alike a new method for conducting ethnography in a classroom setting. Grenfell approaches this in three sections: Bridging New Literacy Studies and Bourdieu–Principles; Language, Ethnography and Education-Practical Studies; and Working at the Intersections–In Theory and Practice.

Heath, S. B., & Street, B. V. (2008). On ethnography: Approaches to language and literacy research. New York: Teachers College Press.

Researchers at Stanford University, Brown University, and King’s College London provide a step-by-step guide for conducting ethnographic research in language and literacy education, from forming research questions to publication. The authors guide Molly, a novice ethnographer, through ethnographic research by answering her questions about different stages of the research process. The authors provide examples from their own field work in literacy education to guide Molly. This book can be used to gain deeper perspectives from two experts about conducting ethnographic research in language and literacy education.

Mills, D., & Morton, M. (2013). Ethnography in education. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Scholars at the University of Oxford and the University of Canterbury guide readers through the application of ethnographic approaches in education by including their teaching and field experience. Through the book’s eight chapters, they provide in-depth explanations of various approaches in ethnographic research and guide researchers on how to find new ways to approach ethnography. This book serves as a comprehensive guidebook for graduate students who are interested in conducting ethnographic research for their dissertations.

Recent Dissertations Using Education Ethnography Methodology

Adams, S. R. (2013). The meaning of race-based professional development: A critical feminist ethnography. Retrieved from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. (Order Number 3556387)

This study seeks to understand the meaning of the experiences of a group of nine diverse educators who participated in a five-day, residential, intensive seminar known as the Teaching for Educational Equity (TFEE) in 2010. Louie F.  Rodriguez’ (2012) “Framework of Recognition for Latina/o Youth” provides a theoretical foundation for interpreting individual interviews over the six months following the TFEE seminar. Using critical feminist ethnographic methodology, the authors developed a collaborative affinity mapping analytic for use with the four local TFEE participants. The authors were able to collaboratively analyze the interview transcripts using TFEE interview analysis, which indicated that all of the five elements of the Rodriguez Framework of Recognition were present and evident in the TFEE seminar. This study suggests that educators must first experience the Framework as learners before they can recreate these learning conditions in their classrooms. Educators must also experience collegial recognition as learners and within their professional settings. Based on these results, Adams developed the Professional Framework of Recognition for Educational Equity (PFREE), which is a new model for creating and delivering race-based professional development for educators.

McNabb, M. B. (2017). Voices of beginning college students on academic probation: A classroom ethnography. Retrieved from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. (Order Number 10278058)

McNabb conducts classroom ethnography with members of an academic probation class in a Midwest university to investigate the experiences of students classified as “beginner underachieved” from multiple perspectives. This study provides in-depth information on how to conduct ethnographic research in a formal setting such as a college classroom; therefore, it can be a helpful example for graduate students who plan to use classroom ethnography.

O’Meara, K. D. (2016). A community of second language writing at Arizona State University: An institutional ethnography. Retrieved from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. (Order Number 10105920)

Institutional ethnography examines the relationships people have with institutional practices and how these individuals interact in light of the ruling relations. O’Meara’s study uses institutional ethnography to examine the lived experiences of nine second language (L2) writing teachers with regard to the interpersonal, material, and spatial relationships inherent in their work using interviews, focus groups, and a mapping heuristic.

Yumarnamto, M. (2016). Indonesian English language teachers’ professional growth and changing identities: An autoethnography and narrative inquiry. Retrieved from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. (Order Number 10124174)

This study explores contributing factors to Indonesian English language teachers’ professional growth and identity. The central research question of this study was: What are the factors and challenges that contribute to Indonesian English teachers’ professional growth and identity formation as reflected in their life histories, critical events, and identity claims? Three additional research questions include: 1) What are the major critical events and identity claims in their life histories which were pertinent in the ELTs’ professional identity formation ? And in what ways do the ELTs consider them pertinent? 2) What are the challenges encountered by the ELTs in the profession? 3) What do those challenges imply about how Indonesian ELTs aspire to develop and fulfill their professional identities? Using Freeman’s (2009) framework, this study used autoethnography and narrative inquiry as methodologies. The data collected involved personal documents, notes, photos, interviews and focus groups.

Internet Resources

Arizona State University. Learning how to look and listen [website]. Retrieved from https://www.learninghowtolookandlisten.com

This website brings together resources from a conference supported by the Spencer Foundation at Arizona State University where groups of scholars gathered to document and illustrate the basic patterns of visual and auditory attention employed by researchers who use video to study social interaction. The site offers different sections, which focus on individuals viewing and discussing the data, groups viewing and discussing the data together, and samples of presentations by established scholars.

Ethnography matters. [website] http://ethnographymatters.net/

Ethnography Matters is a free online space where ethnographers share their experience and knowledge about conducting ethnography in innovative ways. This accessible website might help researchers connect with other ethnographers around the world to create a network. Also, by participating in this cyber platform, ethnographers can exchange their thoughts and ideas about novel ways of conducting ethnography.

Gibbs, Graham. (2012). Ethnography. Part 1 of 2 on ethnography and participant observation. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/V8doV3P0us4

Gibbs, Graham. (2012). What to observe in participant observation. Part 2 of 2 on ethnography and participant observation. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/JADIR-J9Ht4

In this two-part series, Dr. Graham R. Gibbs of the University of Huddersfield offers a lecture to graduate students on the purpose of ethnography and how to conduct ethnographic research. These videos serve as learning tools for students and novice researchers. Part one examines the nature of ethnography, conducting participant observation, managing the role of a researcher when conducting observations, and analyzing examples of existing ethnographic studies. Part two discusses the nuances of observation and taking field notes during ethnographic research, data collection, emic and etic typographies, and recording one’s findings. These videos serve as valuable tools for someone who seeks to learn more about ethnography and possibly use it as a qualitative research method. These videos have over 72,000 combined views and are the foremost training videos for ethnography found on YouTube.

National Park Service. (n.d.). Ethnographic research center [website]. Retrieved from https://www.nps.gov/ethnography/aah/aaheritage/ERCa.htm

The Ethnographic Research Center (EFC) is provided by the National Park Service. This website explains what ethnographic research is and why it is important for your research. By focusing on applying ethnographic methods to learning about African American heritage, the Center helps visitors learn about ethnographic research from the detailed research process and how to apply it to various projects.

The website offers several sections. In the Individual Viewing section, participants conduct individual video analysis sessions by “thinking out loud” while watching a 2-minute video of classroom interaction. In the Group Viewing section, researchers conduct group “interaction analysis” of the classroom interaction with the same video used by participants in their individual analysis session. In Presentations, scholars present how they have used video-based analysis in their past and present research. They show diverse sets of historical, contemporary, and interdisciplinary approaches to video-based analysis from different philosophical orientations. The participants also discuss synthesizing conference themes and further directions for video analysis in education and the social sciences.

TEDxBroadway. (2013). Ethnography: Ellen Issacs at TEDxBroadway. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/nV0jY5VgymI

This YouTube video is an effective guide for graduate students who are interested in incorporating ethnography in their studies. Showing examples of how computers and copiers have been developed in the past decades with images and pictures, this video facilitates the audience’s understanding of how ethnography can be used to examine human behavior within a culture, especially implicit aspects, such as thoughts or emotions. Through this video, graduate students can understand the different ways to use ethnography in their fields, such as service of markets and companies, employment networking, and studies in humanities.

University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education. (n.d.). Ethnography forum: Video library. Retrieved from https://www.gse.upenn.edu/cue/forum/video_library

The Ethnography in Education Research Forum is a meeting of qualitative researchers in education, and its foci include: multicultural issues in education, practitioner/teacher/action research, critical and feminist ethnography, ethnographic evaluation in education, language issues in education, uses of ethnography in math and science, and indigenous language revitalization. Past keynotes from the Ethnography in Education Research Forum are available for viewing, such as the 2016 keynote on mobility, multiplicity, and multimodality, which facilitates reflection on new theoretical tools in education ethnography.