Abstract
This chapter explores the use of a range of ethnographic methods within qualitative methodology. Alongside introducing the building blocks of ethnographic methods, with a focus on reflexivity, participant-observation, fieldwork, and visual and sensory methods, it will draw upon my experiences in studying young Chinese Australians’ lived experiences in health and physical activity. My experiences in the field provide insights into the potentials and perils of using some of these ethnographic methods and issues navigating research ethics. I emphasize the advantages of an approach that allows for innovative and unique interactions between the researcher and research participants within the participants’ real-life environments. The use of innovative ethnographic methods encourages thinking and practice beyond traditional modes of enquiry and beyond understanding the participants’ lived experiences through texts and numbers alone.
Keywords
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Atkinson P, Hammersley M. Ethnography: principles in practice. 3rd ed. London/New York: Routledge; 2007.
Atkinson P, Coffey A, Delamont S, editors. Handbook of ethnography. London: SAGE; 2001. p. 1–7.
Azzarito L. Ways of seeing the body in kinesiology: a case for visual methodologies. Quest. 2010;62(2):155–70.
Baker TA, Wang CC. Photovoice: use of a participatory action research method to explore the chronic pain experience in older adults. Qual Health Res. 2006;16(10):1405–13.
Banks M. Using visual data in qualitative research. London: SAGE; 2008.
Berg BL. Methods for the social sciences. Boston: Pearson Education; 2004.
Bernard HR. Research methods in anthropology: qualitative and quantitative approaches. Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield; 2017.
Bryman A. Social research methods. 5th ed. New York: Oxford University Press; 2016.
Bustle LS, editor. Image, inquiry, and transformative practice: engaging learners in creative and critical inquiry through visual representation, vol. 203. New York: Peter Lang Pub Incorporated; 2003.
Carpiano RM. Come take a walk with me: the “go-along” interview as a novel method for studying the implications of place for health and well-being. Health Place. 2009;15(1):263–72.
Carrington S, Allen K, Osmolowski D. Visual narrative: a technique to enhance secondary students’ contribution to the development of inclusive, socially just school environments – lessons from a box of crayons. J Res Spec Educ Needs. 2007;7(1):8–15.
Casey ES. Between geography and philosophy: what does it mean to be in the place-world? Ann Assoc Am Geogr. 2001;91(4):683–93.
Chang H. Autoethnography as method. London/New York: Routledge; 2008.
Clark-Ibáñez M. Inner-city children in sharper focus: sociology of childhood and photo elicitation interviews. In: Stanczak GC, editor. Visual research methods: image, society, and representation. London: SAGE; 2007. p. 167–96.
Costello L, McDermott ML, Wallace R. Netnography: range of practices, misperceptions, and missed opportunities. Int J Qual Methods. 2017;16(1):1–12.
Davies CA. Reflexive ethnography: a guide to researching selves and others. New York: Routledge; 2008.
DeWalt KM, DeWalt BR. Participant observation: a guide for fieldworkers. Walnut Creek: Rowman Altamira; 2011.
Dowling. Methods of critical place inquiry. In: Tuck E, McKenzie M, editors. Place in research: theory, methodology, and methods, vol. 9. New York/London: Routledge; 2015.
Downey G. Learning capoeira: lessons in cunning from an Afro-Brazilian art. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2005.
Dwyer SC, Buckle JL. The space between: on being an insider-outsider in qualitative research. Int J Qual Methods. 2009;8(1):54–63.
Finlay L, Gough B. Reflexivity: a practical guide for researchers in health and social sciences. Oxford: Blackwell Science; 2003.
Fletcher T. ‘Does he look like a Paki?’ An exploration of ‘whiteness’, positionality and reflexivity in inter-racial sports research. Q Res Sport, Exerc Health. 2014;6(2):244–60.
Goffman E. On fieldwork. J Contemp Ethnogr. 1989;18(2):123–32.
Guba EG, Lincoln YS. Competing paradigms in qualitative research. In: Denzin NK, Lincoln YS, editors. Handbook of qualitative research. Thousand Oaks: SAGE; 1994. p. 105–17.
Harper D. Talking about pictures: a case for photo elicitation. Vis Stud. 2002;17(1):13–26.
Harper D. Visual sociology. New York: Routledge; 2012.
Harrison B. Seeing health and illness worlds–using visual methodologies in a sociology of health and illness: a methodological review. Sociol Health Illn. 2002;24(6):856–72.
Hill J, Azzarito L. Representing valued bodies in PE: a visual inquiry with British Asian girls. Phys Educ Sport Pedagog. 2012;17(3):263–76.
Howes D. Empire of the senses. Oxford: Berg Publishers; 2005.
Ingold T. The perception of the environment: essays on livelihood, dwelling and skill. London: Routledge; 2000.
Ingold T. Bindings against boundaries: entanglements of life in an open world. Environ Plan A. 2008;40(8):1796–810.
Jackson M. At home in the world. Durham: Duke University Press; 1995. p. 163.
Kozinets R. Netnography: redefined. London: SAGE; 2015.
Liamputtong P. Performing qualitative cross-cultural research. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 2010.
Liamputtong P. Qualitative research methods. 4th ed. South Melbourne: Oxford University Press; 2013.
Liamputtong P. Research methods in health: foundations for evidence-based practice. 3rd ed. Melbourne: Oxford University Press; 2017.
Liamputtong P, Rumbold J. Knowing differently: arts-based and collaborative research methods. New York: Nova Publishers; 2008.
Marshall C, Rossman GB. Designing qualitative research. 5th ed. London: SAGE; 2014.
McCorkel JA, Myers K. What difference does difference make? Position and privilege in the field. Qual Sociol. 2003;26(2):199–231.
Merleau-Ponty M. The primacy of perception and other essays on phenomenological psychology, the philosophy of art, history, and politics. Illinois: Northwestern University Press; 1964.
Merriam SB, Tisdell EJ. Qualitative research: a guide to design and implementation. San Francisco: Wiley; 2015.
Millington B, Wilson B. Media analysis in physical cultural studies: from production to reception. In: Young K, Atkinson M, editors. Qualitative research on sport and physical culture. Bingley: Emerald Group Publishing Limited; 2012. p. 129–50.
Morrison ZJ, Gregory D, Thibodeau S. “Thanks for using me”: an exploration of exit strategy in qualitative research. Int J Qual Methods. 2012;11(4):416–27.
O’reilly K. Ethnographic methods. London/New York: Routledge; 2012.
Pang B. Conducting research with young Chinese-Australian students in health and physical education and physical activity: epistemology, positionality and methodologies. Sport Educ Soc. 2016;1–12.
Pang B, Macdonald D, Hay P. ‘Do I have a choice?’ The influences of family values and investments on Chinese migrant young people’s lifestyles and physical activity participation in Australia. Sport Educ Soc. 2015;20(8):1048–64.
Pink S. Doing visual ethnography. London: SAGE; 2007.
Pink S, editor. Visual interventions: applied visual anthropology, vol. 4. Oxford: Berghahn Books; 2009.
Pink S. Doing sensory ethnography. London: SAGE; 2015.
Rapley T. Analysing conversation. In: Seale C, editor. Researching society and culture. London: SAGE; 2004. p. 383–96.
Rich E, O’Connell K. Visual methods in physical culture: body culture exhibition. In: Young K, editor. Qualitative research on sport and physical culture. Bingley: Emerald Group Publishing Limited; 2012. p. 101–27.
Rose G. Visual methodologies: an introduction to researching with visual materials. London: SAGE; 2016.
Schwandt TA. Three epistemological stances for qualitative inquiry: interpretivism, hermeneutics, and social constructionism. In: Handbook of qualitative research, vol. 2. Thousand Oaks: SAGE; 2000. p. 189–213.
Schwartz D. Visual ethnography: using photography in qualitative research. Qual Sociol. 1989;12(2):119–54.
Sparkes A. Telling tales in sport and physical activity: a qualitative journey. Champaign: Human Kinetics; 2002.
Sunderland N, Bristed H, Gudes O, Boddy J, Da Silva M. What does it feel like to live here? Exploring sensory ethnography as a collaborative methodology for investigating social determinants of health in place. Health Place. 2012;18(5):1056–67.
Thrift N. Intensities of feeling: towards a spatial politics of affect. Geogr Ann Ser B. 2004;86(1):57–78.
Tuck E, McKenzie M. Place in research: theory, methodology, and methods, vol. 9. New York/London: Routledge; 2015.
Varis P. Chapter 3 Digital ethnography. In: Georgakopoulou A, Spilioti T, editors. The Routledge handbook of language and digital communication. London/New York: Routledge; 2016. p. 55–68.
Willis C, Anderson K. Ethnography as health research. In: Liamputtong P, editor. Research methods in health: foundations for evidence-based practices. 3rd ed. Melbourne: Oxford University Press; 2017. p. 121–37.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this entry
Cite this entry
Pang, B. (2019). Ethnographic Method. In: Liamputtong, P. (eds) Handbook of Research Methods in Health Social Sciences. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-5251-4_81
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-5251-4_81
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-10-5250-7
Online ISBN: 978-981-10-5251-4
eBook Packages: Social SciencesReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences