Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
THEORY
Theory is a guide to practice; no study, ethnographic or otherwise, can be con-
ductedwithoutanunderlyingtheoryormodel.Whetheritisanexplicitanthro-
pological theory or an implicit personal model about how things work, the
researcher'stheoreticalapproachhelpsdefinetheproblemandhowtotackleit.
When my father taught me how to fix a leaky faucet, he began by explaining
thefirstlawofthermodynamicsandhydraulictheorybeforeshowingmehowto
stoptheleak.Althoughhewasclearlymoreinterestedintheorythaninpractice,
becauseofthatlessonIhaveneverforgottentoshutoffthewaterbeforeworking
on the plumbing. His philosophical approach also helped me to understand how
all the pieces worked together. In essence, he provided a theoretical road map,
explaining the theories by demonstrating how each piece of the fixture worked.
Everyone tackles a problem with a theory or set of theories in mind about
how things work.The trick is to select the most appropriate level of theory for
the task at hand. I argue, for instance, that a simple flowchart would have told
me how to fix the faucet more easily (and in much less time) than my father's
highly technical, explicitly theoretical approach. However, the flowchart
would not have been as effective a tool for bonding between father and son, in
part because it would have been too efficient.
The ethnographer recognizes the importance of understanding the episte-
mological basis for a selected model. A feminist or poststructural epistemol-
ogy, for example, provides a powerful lens with which to see the world, often
in ways that were overlooked in the past. They bring into question the very
nature of our dialogue about what constitute truth, objectivity, and rationality
(or at least beg the question “whose truth?”). The typical model for ethno-
graphic research is based on a phenomenologically oriented paradigm. This
paradigm embraces a multicultural perspective because it accepts multiple
realities.Peopleactontheirindividualperceptions,andthoseactionshavereal
consequences—thus the subjective reality each individual sees is no less real
than an objectively defined and measured reality. Phenomenologically ori-
ented studies are generally inductive; they make few explicit assumptions
about sets of relationships. Such an approach is the basis of grounded theory
(Glaser & Strauss, 1967): The theory underlying a sociocultural system or
community develops directly from empirical data.
A positivistic paradigm stands in stark contrast to phenomenology. Unlike
the typical ethnographer, an experimental psychologist is more likely to adopt
a positivistic paradigm. Positivism assumes the existence of an objective real-
ity, is typically deductive in approach, and establishes a priori assumptions
about relationships.
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