CMNS 260 Lecture Notes - Lecture 12: Ethnomethodology, Participatory Action Research, Thick Description
8 May 2018
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Other data collection methods: focus groups & fieldwork
Focus groups
• Keod: A fous goup is a tpe of goup iteie i hih a iteiee asks uestios to
the goup, ad ases ae gie i a ope disussio aog the goup ees.
• Roles: Moderator, Participants, Observers
Focus Group Set-ups
• Sometimes combined with techniques of observation used in experimental research (such as
having a group of observers outside of focus group)
• Often used in qualitative research & but can be used to geneate uatitatie data too.
Typology of (qualitative) interview questions
• Introducing questions
• Follow-up questions
• Probing questions
• Specificity questions
• Direct/indirect questions
• Structuring questions
• Interpreting questions
• Silence
Interview guide (or interview schedule)
• A list of uestios that a eseah ishes to addess i the ouse of ualitatie iteie.
Advantages and limitations of focus group interviewing
• Strengths
o Can be cheaper and faster than individual interviews
o Seeks perspective of the interviewees
o Potential for rich description
o Development of new theories
o Development of new avenues of research
• Weaknesses
o Problems with validity and reliability
o Poles ith goup thik idiiduals a aie at osesus that doest atuall
take into account differences among individuals in the group
Field Research, Ethnography and Participatory Action Research
• Another group of approaches to gathering information
• Researcher becomes (more or less) a participant who observes (& interacts) with people in their
atual settigs
Field research/Ethnography
• Keod: Ethogaph: ephasizes poidig a e detailed desiptio of a diffeet ultue
fo the iepoit of a iside i that ultue i ode to peit a geate udestadig of it.
• Emphasis on how people engage in social action and (sometimes) what it means to them.
o Ethno = folk, graphy = describing, understanding, recording
• Ethnomethodology: a variation in the method that focuses on how people make sense of the
ways they do things (such as common-sense knowledge in microsituations, e.g. H. Garfinkel)
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2
Natualis & the otio of the aties poit of ie
• Ealie studies of othe ultues ofte ioled eadig taele aouts ahai
athopolog
• Boisla Malioskis ioations:
o Observation of people in natural setting
o Stated goig to lie ut staed i oloial uildigs o the eada
o Late pooted liig off the eada a eal fo of patiipat oseatio
• Theory & methods combined
Recall Questions about research: interpretive approaches (simplified)
1. Why conduct research?
o To understand meanings
2. Nature of Social Reality?
o Importance of human consciousness
o Multiple social realities possible
o Socially constructed
3. Nature of Human Beings?
o People use meanings, have reason
4. Science and common-sense?
o Must study common sense, pragmatic
5. What constitutes Explanation or Theory?
o Ideographic
o Thik desiptios
6. Hour to judge explanation
o Use reason no logical contradictions
o Makes sense to others
7. Good evidence?
o In context, has meaning for social actors
8. Social/Political Values?
o Does not try to be value free
o State biases
Diverse methods for gathering information in field research
• Using reports of others (travelers, missionaries etc.)
• Participant observation (with different levels of involvement from complete member to
complete observer)
• Interviews in the field
• Non-participant observation
• Unobtrusive measures
o Analysis of texts in use by members in field site (for example, musical lyrics, community
news sources, signage, etc...)
Methodological approaches in fieldwork
• Not every ethnographer shares all of these principles:
o Avoid prior hypotheses
o Concepts identified & developed during study
o Often no pre-existing questionnaire or instrument
o Sampling: theoretical or judgement
o Collect data through observation & interviewing
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Document Summary
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