STUDY FOCUS
OBJECTIVE
DISCIPLINES
Ethnography
Ethnology(Copm)
Ethnohistory
culture/cultural group
describe a culture/cultural
group
Cultural Anthropology
Netography
online groups
Explaining/understanding
cyber society
Sociology/Psychology
Phenomenology
individual experience
Philosophy
Case Study
Individual cases
Understanding
Psychology/Management
Historical Research
Explanation/understandin
g/hypothesizing
Anthropology/history/
sociology
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1. Ethnography
Focus: study human behaviour in the
cultural context in which it is embedded
Ethnography is the work of describing a
culture the way of life of a cultural
group
Associated
Some
Concepts
In
Ethnography
Ethnocentrism (i.e., judging others based on your cultural
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
standards).
Emic perspective (i.e., the insider's perspective) and emic
terms (i.e., specialized words used by people in a group).
Etic perspective (i.e., the external, social scientific view) and
etic terms (i.e., outsider's words or specialized words used by
social scientists).
Going native (i.e., identifying completely with the group being
studied).
Holism (i.e., the idea that the whole is greater than the sum
of its parts; it involves describing the group as a whole unit,
in addition to its parts and their interrelationships).
2. Netography
Relatively a new discipline
Focuses on Exploring and understanding
online groups and societies
3. Phenomenology
Focus: reveal the meaning of the lived
experience from the perspective of
participants
Describe the essences of lived
experience
Essences:
Drawn,
4. Case Study
In depth understanding & exploring the case:
individual, organization, process etc..
1. Intrinsic case study :interest is only in understanding
the particulars of the case.
2. Instrumental case study : interest is in understanding
something more general than the case.
3. Collective case study : is in studying and comparing
multiple cases in a single research study.
5. Historical Research
of Data
Types of Data
External Criticism validity, trustworthiness, or
authenticity of the source.
Internal Criticism reliability or accuracy of the
information contained in the sources
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Selection of Sample
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Types of Sample
Maximum variation sampling (i.e., you select a wide range of cases).
Homogeneous sample selection (i.e., you select a small and
homogeneous case or set of cases for intensive study).
Extreme case sampling (i.e., you select cases that represent the
extremes on some dimension).
Typical-case sampling (i.e., you select typical or prototype cases).
Critical-case sampling (i.e., you select cases that are known to be
very important).
Opportunistic sampling (i.e., you select useful cases as the
opportunity arises).
Mixed purposeful sampling (i.e., you can mix the sampling strategies
tailored to your specific needs).
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Saturation
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Authentication of Data
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Grounded Theory/Constant
Comparison/Grounded
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Quasi-statistics
Count the # of times something is
mentioned in field notes/content as very
rough estimate of frequency
Often enumeration is used to provide
evidence for categories created or to
determine
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Discourse analysis
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Content Analysis
Standard rules of content analysis include:
How big a chunk of data is analyzed at a time (a line, a sentence, a phrase,
aparagraph?) Must state and stay with it.
What are units of meaning?, the categories used. Categories must be:
1. Inclusive (all examples fit a category)
2. Mutually exclusive
Also note context. Start by reading all way through, then specify rules. Could have
emergent theory, but usually theory-driven. After determine categories, do the
counting how often do categories occur. Most of literature emphasizes the quantitative
aspects.
Originated with analyzing newspaper articles for bias - counting things in print. Very
print oriented - can be adapted for visual and verbal as well
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6. Re-coding
7. Development of provisional
categories/concept development
8. Exploration of relationships
between categories
9. Refinement of themes and
categories/concept modification
10. Development of theory
11. Testing of theory against the
data.
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Coding Frames
Data
MT 1
Open coding
Axial Coding
MT 2
MT1
MT 3
MT 3
Axial
*MT=Major Theme
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