Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
sequence” (p. 331). It is usually an idealized blueprint or road map that helps
the ethnographer conceptualize how each step will follow the one before to
build knowledge and understanding. The design is usually presented in the
form of a proposal to solicit funds from a sponsor. The proposal will include
background information, including historical information and a literature
search, specific aims, rationale, methods, and significance, as well as a
timetableandbudget.(Partsoftheproposalcanbereusedforsuchproductsas
papers, articles, final reports, and books). A useful research design limits the
scope of the endeavor, links theory to method, guides the ethnographer, and
assures the sponsor.
Fieldwork is the most characteristic element of any ethnographic research
design. This approach shapes the design of all ethnographic work. Classical
ethnography requires from 6 months to 2 years or more in the field. Fieldwork
isexploratoryinnature.Theethnographerbeginswithasurveyperiodtolearn
the basics: the native language, the kinship ties, census information, historical
data, and the basic structure and function of the culture under study for the
months to come. Even when the ethnographer has specific hypotheses to test
in the field, information gathering proceeds inductively. (See Brim & Spain,
1974, for a discussion of hypothesis testing in anthropology.) Typically, the
ethnographer generates more hypotheses than concrete findings in a study.
After this survey or get-acquainted period, the ethnographer begins to draw
clearer geographic and conceptual boundaries. During this postsurvey phase,
the ethnographer identifies significant themes, problems, or gaps in the basic
understanding of the place or program. Judgmental sampling techniques are
useful in learning more about how a group thinks about the system under
study. For example, in a study of conflict among the staff in a research library,
I selected the most vocal and articulate group of disgruntled librarians to
explain the subculture's perception of an ongoing conflict. A random sample
wouldhavebeenusefultodepictarepresentativepictureofthelibraryclimate,
but it might have ensured that I systematically missed the most rebellious and
distraught librarians. Those librarians were the ones I needed to listen to in
order to understand the powerful undercurrents in the system.
In many applied settings, long-term continuous fieldwork is neither possi-
ble nor desirable. Although Malinowski's position that long-term continuous
work in the field is essential applies to foreign cultures, it may be an over-
statementforworkconductedinone'sownculture.IntheCIPstudymentioned
previously,Ivisitedsitesfor2-weekperiodseveryfewmonthsduringa3-year
study.This approach allowed me to conduct intensive fieldwork, pull back and
makesenseofwhatIhadobservedandrecorded,andthenreturntothefieldto
testmyhypotheses.TheeffortwassuccessfulbecauseIwasabletoseepatterns
