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"Ethnography Fieldwork Methodology."
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Addressing the Issue of Generalizability of Ethnographic Fieldwork
This essay offers a concise review of ethnographers ’longstanding concern with the geographically and temporally bounded character of classical participant-observation fieldwork. It begins by outlining the archetypal construction of fieldwork before examining two contrasting positions on the generalizability of ethnographic data, positions that illustrate the wide spectrum of attitudes held within the discipline. Building on a Geertzian perspective, the essay reconceptualizes generalizability as a mode of theory production aimed at rendering intelligible the conceptual structures that organize social action. I argue that this form of theoretical generalizability is best advanced by engaging three influential critiques of ethnographic practice focusing on the deconstruction of fieldwork’s taken-for-granted premises, the challenge to single-site generalization, and the move beyond reductive inductive–deductive dichotomies.
Journal Article
Fieldwork in Political Theory: Five Arguments for an Ethnographic Sensibility
This article makes a positive case for an ethnographic sensibility in political theory. Drawing on published ethnographies and original fieldwork, it argues that an ethnographic sensibility can contribute to normative reflection in five distinct ways. It can help uncover the nature of situated normative demands (epistemic argument); diagnose obstacles encountered when responding to these demands (diagnostic argument); evaluate practices and institutions against a given set of values (evaluative argument); probe, question and refine our understanding of values (valuational argument); and uncover underlying social ontologies (ontological argument). The contribution of ethnography to normative theory is distinguished from that of other forms of empirical research, and the dangers of perspectival absorption, bias and particularism are addressed.
Journal Article
Time and the field
Radically rethinks the notion of the 'field' in terms of time rather than space. By considering the field in terms of time, the relationship between field and fieldsite is destabilized and emerges as a dynamic and ever-shifting constellation. Updates the discussion of contemporary requirements to ethnographic research practice.
eBook
Going crypto-native: enactive ethnography in online settings
Purpose Digital ethnography is still a growing field within organization studies, with conflicting and still-developing understanding of how it should and can be conducted. This article aims to explore how enactive ethnography, in which the researcher engages in the phenomenon being studied, occurs in online research settings. Design/methodology/approach This article is based on over two years of digital ethnographic fieldwork in an open-source blockchain community. Confessional tales were produced after reviewing field notes to identify the challenges and benefits of such immersive fieldwork. Findings The article provides empirical examples of two challenges and three benefits of enactive ethnography in a digital setting. The challenges included issues of consent and privacy and financial complications due to the central role of tokens in blockchain communities. Benefits included a first-hand understanding of technical practices, experiences of asynchronous environments and the ability to take on multiple community roles. While many additional challenges arose, this article focuses on those unique to the context. Research limitations/implications Due to the confessional nature of the article, it may not be generalizable to all forms of digital ethnography. The article intends to serve instead as a starting point, from which researchers should carefully consider their own research aims and context. Originality/value This article fulfills the need for a greater understanding of the researcher’s positionality in ethnography while providing empirical examples of how practices can be studied in online settings.
Journal Article
Ethnographic Dilemmas and Reflexive Thoughts of a Contemplative Jewish Anthropologist
During ethnographic fieldwork, anthropologists of religion grapple with various dilemmas regarding their participation in the rituals they study. How do they make real-time decisions between full participation and observational distance? Do they manage to participate harmoniously in religious activities even during moments of doubt or questioning of their own faith? Based on my three-year fieldwork in Israeli Reform Jewish congregations, which included observations and in-depth interviews, I demonstrate how my reflexive experience which exposes my internal Jewish dialogue, shaped my patterns of participation and motivation in engaging with various rituals. This autoethnographic description illustrates that my deliberate abstention or avoidance from participation, stemming from differences in religious habitus and my anthropological research approach, enabled congregants to engage in communal activities and thereby contributed to broadening my understanding of different communal scenarios. I discovered, thus, that the vector that determines the nature of participation is a product of the researched practice – in this case, religious performances/practices. Therefore, I suggest that this methodological decision develops ethnographic honesty and loyalty on both sides, the ethnographer’s as well as the informants’.
Journal Article
A Methodology for the Marginalised: Surviving Oppression and Traumatic Fieldwork in the Neoliberal Academy
This article proposes that survival may be considered a research method for social researchers, especially if they are undertaking fieldwork within marginalised communities of which they are a part. Drawing on an autoethnographic account of conducting research while trans, it shows how marginalised researchers may encounter both challenges common within the neoliberal university, and troubles specific to the researcher’s social identity, touching on experiences of casualisation, distressing fieldwork, trauma, and suicide. The article concludes that marginalised researchers should not be held individually responsible for their own survival; rather, they require the active support of research communities and institutional frameworks.
Journal Article
The Space Between: On Being an Insider-Outsider in Qualitative Research
Should qualitative researchers be members of the population they are studying, or should they not? Although this issue has been explored within the context of qualitative research, it has generally been reserved for discussions of observation, field research, and ethnography. The authors expand that discussion and explore membership roles by illustrating the insider status of one author and the outsider status of the other when conducting research with specific parent groups. The strengths and challenges of conducting qualitative research from each membership status are examined. Rather than consider this issue from a dichotomous perspective, the authors explore the notion of the space between that allows researchers to occupy the position of both insider and outsider rather than insider or outsider.
Journal Article
Being an ethnographic researcher in a modern workplace: advantages and challenges of digital ethnography
Purpose As digitalization changes work and organizations, the ethnographic research field and fieldwork become more complex. In this paper, we discuss the advantages and challenges of digital ethnography, drawing on insights from our study. Design/methodology/approach We reflect on our experiences using digital ethnography to study the use of digital technology in informal workplace learning within a knowledge work context. The research topic and setting posed methodological challenges, which we addressed through digital ethnography. Findings The paper provides novel insights for studying a modern workplace, where physical and digital environments intertwine. The main focus of this research was on digital environments; however, with digital ethnography, we can capture a holistic perspective on knowledge work. We describe how we constructed the fluid and emergent research field in interaction with the target organization and its staff, collecting versatile data. Through examples from our fieldwork, we illustrate how we used method triangulation to capture the multisitedness of work. We also reflect on the challenges encountered, such as in relation to access and ethical considerations. We argue that digital ethnography is a particularly suitable methodology for researching modern knowledge work and its environments. Originality/value The paper demonstrates how digital ethnography can be used to study modern workplaces, where digital environments play a significant role, thereby expanding its uses in workplace research. We suggest that by viewing workplaces – and, thus, research fields – as phygital, a combination of physical and digital, we can transcend the online-offline dichotomy and adopt a more holistic perspective.
Journal Article
We Are All Netnographers Now? Fieldwork in an Age of Participatory Warfare
This article explores the ethical and practical challenges of conducting long-term ethnographic fieldwork in conflict zones in an era of widespread smartphone and social media use. It argues that digital technology not only transforms methodological approaches but also reshapes the nature of war itself. Drawing on insights from fieldwork in various conflict zones, including Somalia, Ukraine, and South Sudan, it asks: How does rapidly acquired digital connectivity change the way we conceptualize, approach, and conduct fieldwork in conflict zones? When smartphones are both research tools and potential weapons of war (Ford and Hoskins 2022), how can we use them ethically? Reflecting on three online/offline complexities of the author’s fieldwork experiences in Somalia/Somaliland in 2021, the article suggests that participative warfare and digital research methodologies are intertwined, driven by the proliferation of connected devices. Practical, ethical, and security concerns arise from this intersection. First, researchers may become direct participants in war, whether physically present or not. Second, there is limited awareness of the security risks posed by technology, especially given the rise of mis- and disinformation in conflict settings. Finally, since the traditional notion of the “field” has collapsed, making us potentially reachable anywhere and at any time, we need to reconsider how we establish temporal boundaries to ensure safe and sustainable research practices. The article concludes that researchers must navigate a blended field of offline and online phenomena, underscoring the need to safeguard in-person fieldwork while allowing sufficient time to engage with the digital realm.
Journal Article