Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
and operationalism. Chapter 3 presents the specific data collection methods
and techniques necessary for conducting an ethnography. Methods and tech-
niques under discussion include fieldwork, selection and sampling, gaining
entry, participant observation, interviewing (structured, semistructured, infor-
mal, and retrospective), survey or grand tour questions, specific questions
(such as structural and attribute questions), open-ended and closed-ended
questions, interviewing protocols and strategies, key actor or informant inter-
viewing, gathering of life histories and expressive autobiographical inter-
views, use of lists and forms, questionnaires, projective techniques, and
various unobtrusive measures.
EthnographicresearchequipmentisdiscussedinChapter4.Themostimpor-
tantpieceofequipmentisthehumaninstrument—theethnographer.Othercom-
mon tools include pen and notepad, digital voice recorder, personal digital
assistant (PDA), global positioning system (GPS) navigation tools, laptop and
desktop computers with accompanying software, cameras, digital camcorder,
and cinema and digital video. Internet tools include Internet maps, telephony,
videoconferencing technology, online surveys, file document sharing, digital
photograph file sharing, blogs, collaborative word processing and spreadsheets,
and collaborative Web sites. These tools facilitate the ethnographic mission.
They are used to collect, organize, store, analyze, and present the data.
Chapter5explorestheroleofanalysisthroughoutethnography.Theprocess
includes a discussion of seemingly simple thought processes and more time-
consuming and labor-intensive processes, such as triangulation, documenta-
tion of thought and behavior patterns, and key event analysis. In addition, it
discusses maps, flowcharts, organizational charts, matrices, content analysis,
qualitative data analysis software, statistics, and crystallization.
Chapter 6 describes ethnographic writing. Writing, like analysis, occurs
throughout the ethnographic endeavor. Specific milestones highlight the sig-
nificance of writing in ethnography, including the research proposal, field
notes, memoranda, interim reports, final reports, articles, and books.
Fundamental elements of ethnographic style are also examined, such as thick
description, verbatim quotations, the use of the ethnographic present, and
ethnographic presence. The chapter discusses ethnographically informed
reports and the role of literature and various editorial concerns.
Chapter7,thelaststepinourhikethroughtheethnographiclandscape,pre-
sents a discussion of ethics, focusing on the conceptual crossroads of methods
and ethics in ethnographic research. Ethics, like analysis and writing, cut
across every step in the ethnographer's path. The selection of a problem to
study and the choice of an academic or applied role have ethical implications
for each stage of the study—from inception to publication. Basic underlying
ethical standards include the securing of permission (to protect individual
