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Observing The Group and Taking Field Notes: Scope

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15 views2 pages

Observing The Group and Taking Field Notes: Scope

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biggykhair
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Observing the group and taking field notes

The core of ethnography is observation of the group from the inside. Field notes are
taken to record these observations while immersed in the setting; they form the basis of
the final written ethnography. They are usually written by hand, but other solutions such
as voice recordings can be useful alternatives.

Field notes record any and all important data: phenomena observed, conversations had,
preliminary analysis. For example, if you’re researching how service staff interact with
customers, you should write down anything you notice about these interactions—body
language, phrases used repeatedly, differences and similarities between staff, customer
reactions.

Field notes exampleSpent afternoon observing differences between the service approaches of different
staff behind the counter. Samira is the most actively engaged with the customers—engages them in
conversation, tendency to smile and laugh. Matthew presents more neutrally—customer made a joke
earlier, he smiled politely but did not engage further. Customer was not noticeably perturbed.

Don’t be afraid to also note down things you notice that fall outside the pre-
formulated scope of your research; anything may prove relevant, and it’s better to have
extra notes you might discard later than to end up with missing data.

Field notes should be as detailed and clear as possible. It’s important to take time to go
over your notes, expand on them with further detail, and keep them organized (including
information such as dates and locations).

Writing up an ethnography
After observations are concluded, there’s still the task of writing them up into an
ethnography. This entails going through the field notes and formulating a convincing
account of the behaviors and dynamics observed.

The structure of an ethnography


An ethnography can take many different forms: It may be an article, a thesis, or an
entire book, for example.

Ethnographies often do not follow the standard structure of a scientific paper, though
like most academic texts, they should have an introduction and conclusion. For
example, this paper begins by describing the historical background of the research, then
focuses on various themes in turn before concluding.

An ethnography may still use a more traditional structure, however, especially when
used in combination with other research methods. For example, this paper follows the
standard structure for empirical research: introduction, methods, results, discussion,
and conclusion.
The content of an ethnography
The goal of a written ethnography is to provide a rich, authoritative account of the social
setting in which you were embedded—to convince the reader that your observations
and interpretations are representative of reality.

Ethnography tends to take a less impersonal approach than other research methods.
Due to the embedded nature of the work, an ethnography often necessarily involves
discussion of your personal experiences and feelings during the research.

Example of personal reflection in an ethnographyDuring the second week, I became frustrated with my
lack of progress in gaining the confidence of more than just my initial informants. The staff appeared to
distrust me as an outsider…

Ethnography is not limited to making observations; it also attempts to explain the


phenomena observed in a structured, narrative way. For this, you may draw on theory,
but also on your direct experience and intuitions, which may well contradict the
assumptions that you brought into the research.

Example of analysis in an ethnographyDespite the claims of Griffiths (2019), my own


observations indicate that retail workers do not always develop any particular bond with one
another in response to the stresses of their work. There are several possible reasons for this
discrepancy: It may be that the layout of this particular store discourages such bond-forming
interaction, or that my own presence was disruptive…

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