What is your understanding of ethnography? What approaches to research does ethnography encompass? How would you define or describe ethnography?
Yes, ethnography is a systematic, comprehensive and topic oriented approach using observation and participation or particularly participant observation. I think the concept of ethnography as "thick description" as coined by Clifford Geertz is relevant here. Ethnographers can also study their own societies or communities, which might be more challenging than studying other foreign societies.
You raise some really interesting points Michael. When you say that ethnography is concerned with the study of people not ourselves, are you conceiving of autoethnography as being such a procedure and the self is simply the lens through which we study the other? One other question I have is that your excellent definition seems to identify ethnography in terms as what it does not involve (experimentation and quantitative approaches). I think the most important characteristics you identify are: systematic, comprehensive and topic oriented. However, I feel that these qualities are often not always at the fore in ethnographic research. Thank you for the references!
Yes, ethnography is a systematic, comprehensive and topic oriented approach using observation and participation or particularly participant observation. I think the concept of ethnography as "thick description" as coined by Clifford Geertz is relevant here. Ethnographers can also study their own societies or communities, which might be more challenging than studying other foreign societies.
I also agree with you El-Sayed that Geertz's conception of thick description is useful in identifying the type of data that ethnographers collect. However, is the definition of the type of data that ethnographers an adequate definition of ethnography?
Ethnography in broad terms defines the scientific study and research that is done on human behavior. There are distinctive features of a culture and various circumstances that form the basis of every social circle or ethnicity.
What is ethnography?
It is one of the approaches of qualitative research to study culture, way of life or certain human practices etc. by immersing oneself into a particular setting to observe, interview or actually experience at first hand to interpret & conclude the data collected.
Can ethnographic studies exist outside of a consideration of culture and how does ethnography study culture rather than individual behaviour or group behaviour?
Ethnography has its place and its use to instill or contribute to a sense of pride in members of a cultural community and raise the consciousness of those outside the community is to be lauded, especially when the members of such communities are themselves actively involved in the ethnographic studies and projects. However, one concern I have is with educational theorists who seek to promote ethnomathematics as a legitimate alternative to «regular» children's mathematics education. (I used the scare-quotes because I don't want to suggest that many current math curricula are untainted by impractical educational theories either.) A focus on traditional concepts of Yoruba mathematics in a primary-level mathematics curriculum for Yoruba children, for example, would only create confusion and impede learning.
The multi local ethnography across different gadgets with inmaterial and intangible communication is the new look that takes the paper of anthropologist community but the effort for formalize the process and the new technical knowledge not exist at the academic world.
Multi local ethnography is very important for comparative or cross-cultural study. It provides the anthropologist with a clear view of the similarities and differences between divers local communities/societies he/she is interested in. I mean instead of relying on ethnography made by other anthropologists for the purpose of making comparative analysis, it is relevant that a researcher uses her/his ethnographic accounts (of different locations) to do a reliable comparative (ethnological) study. I applied this multi local ethnography in my study of 4 communities/societies (Bahrain, Egypt, United Arab Emirates [in the Middle East] and Muslim community in Dearborn (Detroit, Michigan-USA). Please, see: https://www.amazon.com/Muslim-Worldviews-Everyday-El-Sayed-el-Aswad-ebook/dp/B008MLNTQ6/ref=sr_1_fkmrnull_2?keywords=el-Aswad%2C+el-Sayed&qid=1553791658&s=gateway&sr=8-2-fkmrnull
Adding to the answer by @El-Sayed regarding thick description, there are some useful recent articles in Qualitative Inquiry about how to reach thick description and detailing how it I currently being understood in qualitative research.
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