Sociology research methods part 2

Ethnography - firsthand participation/observation in some social world and the production of written accounts of that world ● Often involves deep immersion in others' worlds ● Observes how people respond to events as they happen, and what circumstances give rise to those events ● Can helps capture what people experience as meaningful and important in particular social settings Why use ethnography ● Captures social life as participants experience it rather than in categories the researcher predetermines or in artificial lab conditions ● Develops detailed descriptions about processes and things too complicated to quantify ● Can observe behavior that people aren't consciously aware of ● Helps make it possible for outsiders to grasp a situation from the inside, as a participant might Why use ethnography ● Captures social life as participants experience it rather than in categories the researcher predetermines or in artificial lab conditions ● Develops detailed descriptions about processes and things too complicated to quantify ● Can observe behavior that people aren't consciously aware of ● Helps make it possible for outsiders to grasp a situation from the inside, as a participant might Applied uses: ● Market research - e.g. what needs are currently not being met, how do people attach cultural meaning to products ● Evaluation research - e.g. where is government falling short in providing a good experience to people trying to use government services ● Usability research - studies how people use (especially tech) products, aiming to improve machine-human interface Example of ethnography research-google following people around and seeing what type of features make people more attracted to their phones -are programmings doing the jobs they are set out to do -usability research=intell did a study with new notebooks and children, how children use new computers vs how parents use new computers Types of Ethnography Participant observation vs. non-participant observation Covert vs. overt participation observation-Barbara study on if people in poverty are in poverty because they are lazy aren't working hard enough or is it their environment covert-undercover, lead people to believe you're a genuine participant overt-you let people know what your'e doing(credibility) Ethical issues not completely avoided by informing others of research purposes ● People might know you're researching them but not understand exactly what you're researching ● People might become used to researcher's presence and forget research is going on ● Marginal and transient members of the setting might not be aware of research project, even if you try to inform them Reactive Effects Reactive effects - the changes in individual or group behavior that result from the knowledge of being observed ● Not necessarily a bad thing; can reveal things normally hidden/invisible ● Act of writing can be very visible to others and influence the quality of researcher's relationships with people studied; reinforces sense of researcher as outsider The "Field" Time spent participating/observing = "fieldwork" or time "in the field" ● Gatekeeper - a person in a field setting who can grant researchers access to the setting(Martin getting permission from the principle to observe the kids) ● Key informant - an insider willing and well-positioned to share access and information with a researcher(Goffman, the person who she got in contact with and gave her information) ● Researcher should be ready to explain why he/she is involved in the field, how they might benefit from that involvement, and what they should expect from the researcher Tips for behavior in the field ● Have a simple, one-sentence explanation of your project ● Be yourself ● Don't interfere ● Listen actively ● Show up at every opportunity ● Pay attention to everything, especially when you're bored ● Protect your sources ● Write down everything, that day ● Don't try to be the center of attention Things to pay attention to while in the field: ● Initial impressions such as what the setting looks/feels like and who's there ● Interactions - how people come to interact, how they interact, what they say/do ● Things that provoke strong reactions in yourself or the people you're observing ○ Observe how others react; don't assume they react as you do ● What kinds of problems occur and how people deal with them ● Things the people studied consider meaningful ○ Ex: what they stop and watch, what they talk/gossip about ○ What meanings people attach to particular activities (but note that meanings rarely hold across the board but rather reflect particular positions, contexts, and/or practical concerns) ● Different forms of events you've already witnessed - variations from or exceptions to emerging patterns, and possible conditions/causes that may account for these differences Fieldnotes - accounts describing experiences and observations the researcher has made during fieldwork ● Not necessarily one "best" description of any particular event; different descriptions of "the same" situations and events possible ● See examples in Sakai optional readings folder ● Ethnographer should also document own activities, circumstances, and emotional responses ● Fieldnotes essentially become your data later on when you start to think about your project's conclusions; therefore, they should be as specific and detailed as possible

no notes