ETHNOGRAPHY RESEARCH IN EDUCATIONAL: A LITERATURE REVIEW

Andi Hamzah Fansury1, Rampeng21,2Assistant Professor, Department ofEnglish Education,

Universitas Bosowa, Indonesia.

ABSTRACT
Ethnography is a type of qualitative research that gathers observations, interviews,and
documentary data to produce detailed and comprehensive accounts of different social
phenomena. Ethnographic study helps in developing the theoretical base for problems in
education of a particular group. Ethnographic research does not often start with a strong
theoretical base, not it is much concerned with theory testing. There may be theory development,
but formal theory enters research only after its relevance has been established. In ethnographic
research, theory emerges from the data as grounded theory-not as preconceived theory.
Ethnographic study helps in the development of a theory as it does not simply tabulate that a
certain behavior has occurred, but it attempts to understand what the behavior means the persons
under study.
Keywords: StudentsEthnography,Education, Research

INTRODUCTION
Every individual has their own beliefs about the best way to teach. How do they know
that their beliefs are correct, though? Is it possible to support your beliefs with more valid
evidence than just that you believe it to be true, it is true from your personal experiences, or that
an expert said that it is true? Sometimes two people have two opposite beliefs, so is it possible to
determine which person is right? For example, some individuals think that pupils should be
given constant positive encouragement to improve academic achievement. On the other hand,
other individuals think that positive encouragement will decrease academic achievement because
a pupil will think that they do not need to keep putting forth effort. These are two opposite
beliefs, so which is true?Educational researchis the answer to all of the above questions.
Educational research uses the scientific method to study best practices in teaching. An
educational research study can be conducted to answer the question: Will students learn better or
worse when they are given positive encouragement? To do this, the scientific method will be
employed to compare a group of students who are given positive encouragement with a group of
students given negative criticism and a control group of students given no encouragement. After
receiving positive encouragement, negative criticism, or no encouragement, individuals in these
groups will then be compared on important dependent learning variables such as their
performance, effort, and motivation. Once this has been done, the data will provide a definitive
answer about whether positive encouragement, negative criticism, or no encouragement results
in the best academic performance. Educational research that uses the scientific method to collect
scientific data can provide a definite answer about best practices in teaching.The basis for
educational research is the scientific method. The scientific method uses directed questions and
manipulation of variablesto systematically find information about the teaching and learning
process.[1]In this scenario questions are answered by the analysis of data that is collected
specifically for the purpose of answering these questions. Hypotheses are written and
subsequently proved or disproved by data which leads to the creation of new hypotheses. The
two main types of data that are used under this method are qualitativeand quantitative.
Qualitative research is a broad methodological approach that encompasses many research
methods. The aim of qualitative research may vary with the disciplinary background, such as a
psychologist seeking to gather an in-depth understanding of human behavior and the reasons that
govern such behavior. Qualitative methods examine the why and how of decision making, not
just what, where, when, or "who", and have a strong basis in the field of sociology to understand
government and social programs. Qualitative research is popular among political science, social
work, and special education and education researchers. Ethnography is a type of qualitative
research that gathers observations, interviews and documentary data to produce detailed and
comprehensive accounts of different social phenomena. Ethnography offers a way forward here,
to help overcome these limitations of relying solely on interview data. Through the collection of
observations, interviews and documentary data, which are triangulated (i.e. compared and
contrasted with one another) ethnographic research offers a qualitative approach with the
potential to yield detailed and comprehensive accounts of different social phenomenon (actions,
behaviour, interactions, beliefs). Through its use of in situobservations ethnographers can
‘immerse’ themselves in a social setting, thereby generating a rich understanding of social
action. Participant observation also provides ethnographers an opportunity to gather empirical
insights into social practices which are normally ‘hidden’ from the public gaze. Additionally,
since it aims to generate holistic social accounts, ethnographic research can identify, explore and
link social phenomena which, on the surface, have little connection with each other. As such,
ethnographic research differs from other forms of qualitative research such as phenomenology
(the analysis of interviews to understand individual's lived experiences) or discourse analysis (the
analysis of talk and/or documents to understand the influence of embedded discourses).

DEFINITION OF ETHNOGRAPHIC RESEARCH

Ethnography is the study of social interaction and culture groups, whether these groups
are defined as societies, communities, organizations or teams. The term ethnography comes from
the Greek words ethnos(people) and graphei(to write). The central aim of ethnography is to
provide rich, holistic insights into peoples’ world views and actions, as well as the nature of the
location they inhabit (Hughes 1992Hughes CC. “Ethnography”: What's in a word–Process?
Product? Promise?. Qual Res 1992; 2(4): 439–450[Google Scholar]). As Hammersley
(1985Hammersley M. Ethnography: What it is and what it does. Research and evaluation
methods in special education: Quantitative and qualitative techniques in case study work,
SHegarty, PEvans. Nefar-Nelson, Windsor1985; 152–163[Google Scholar]) stated, “the task [of
ethnographers] is to document the culture, the perspectives and practices of the people in these
settings. The aim is to ‘get inside’ the way each group of people sees the world” (p152).Since its
conception in the early twentieth century, ethnography has evolved into a diverse set of
methodological practices used across many academic disciplines, including anthropology,
sociology and education. The diversity of ethnographic approaches across multiple disciplines
has contributed to the growing challenge in defining ethnography without reducing its
complexity or bounding its multitude of conceptualisations. However, as outlined by
Hammersley and Atkinson (2007Hammersley M, Atkinson P. Ethnography: Principles in
practice3rd. Taylor & Francis, London2007[Google Scholar]), there are several key features that
set ethnographic research apart from other qualitative research methodologies.

ETHNOGRAPHIC RESEARCH IN EDUCATION

Ethnographic research has broad implications for many fields, including education.
Ethnography in education is the process of providing holistic and scientific descriptions of
educational systems, processes, and phenomena within their specific contexts. Ethnographic
study in education helps in addressing the problems of education of a particular group (e.g.
students, teachers, principals, professors, administrators, planners, etc) with respect to their
culture. Ethnography is a research linked with culture and education is also a study that has
culture involve in it. In the educational research, problems like the following have been dealt
with observational studies of educational institutions and phenomena: school and community;
schools; personnel; curriculums; and educational processes.Ethnography has found a growing
use in educational research. The main technique is participant observation.The researcher
becomes the part of the cultural group, like of students, teachers, etc. and observes and takes
extensive notes on some aspects of their life. The participation continues for a fairly long
period.To best understand the problem of education of a particular group, a researcher spends
considerable time with the group. Researcher starts learning the cultural ways the group behaves
or thinks. The researcher gathers data in the setting where the participants are located and where
their shared patterns can be studied for example, classroom can be a setting for learning the
shared patterns of behavior of students. Example: An Ethnographic Researcher carries out a
study on-How the students in a particular class respond to substitute teacher.
Data Collection
Ethnographer can first collect the data through any of the source:
1.Participant-Observation
2.Semi-structured interviews
3.Structured interviews
4.Key informant interview
5.Focus group interview
6.Content analysis of secondary text or visual material
7.Tests
8.Projective techniques
Ethnographic researcher will start observing how the students behave with a substitute
teacher, what make them behave in that particular manner, what problems or interest they have
with the teaching by a substitute teacher, etc. Ethnographer will make field notes of his/ her
observations. Teachers or any other person from school administration can play the role of key
informantsthat will inform the researcher about the students. Key informants can provide
guidance to the researcher on where to find information and resources on topics study interest,
how to access and gain participation of the study participants, and how to interpret the study
findings.Analyses of Data:After the data collection, ethnographer will analyze the data in order
to provide a description of both the students and their classroom; analyzing patterns of behavior,
beliefs, and language; and reaching some conclusions about the meaning learned from studying
students, their reaction with the substitute teachers, and their behaviour in the class in following
context. The analysis process involves considerations of words, tone, context, non-verbal,
internal consistency, frequency, extensiveness, intensity, specificity of responses and big ideas.
Data reduction strategies are essential in the analysis.Qualitative Description of Data and Theory
Building:After the collection and analyses of data researcher will draw some instances through
observation or reflection and this will help in building theoretical base of the study. Ethnographic
research is Inductive i.e. theory comes from the culture before the data is expressed. In
ethnographic research theory develops from the data as rounded theory-not as preconceived
theory.Once researcher will gain and analyze the data, he/she will provide description of the
theme. He will give a detail rendering of the students and describe the scenes in the classroom in
order to depict what is going on in the cultural sharing group of the students. This description
needs to be detailed and thick, and needs to identify specifics. This description provided by the
researcher will help the readers to understand the response of the particular group of students to
the substitute teachers. In the Description part researcher will describe the following:
a.How students behave with a substitute teacher?
b.Do they face any problems when a substitute teacher comes for teaching?
c.Do they become more interested in learning when a substitute teacher comes to teach?
d.Does the teaching by substitute teacher effects students’ learning or achievement level?
e.How the students cope with the problem of discontinuation of teaching by a regular
teacher?
This description by the ethnographer will help in understanding the theme of the study.
This description will help in the development of a theoretical base for a particular problem in
education of a particular group. Description will give the detail of the entire activity and this will
help in the development of a theory for a particular educational problem.Interpretation of Theme
and Conclusions:After description and analyses comes interpretation. In interpretation, the
ethnographer draws inferences and conclusions about what has learned. This phase of the
analyses is the most subjective. In this section researcher will make a personal assessment,
returning to the cultural theme being explored, and raising further questions based on the data. It
might also include addressing problems raised in a particular selected field. In the above example
of the ethnographic research in education, researcher will now interpret the already described and
analyzed data. He/she will now attach a meaning and significance to the analyses, explaining
descriptive patterns and looking for relationships and linkages among descriptive dimensions.
Here the researcher can interpret the theme in the following manner:a.By raising the problem of
discontinuation of regular teachers in schools.b.By telling the advantages or disadvantages of
teaching by substitute teachers.c.By suggesting how the students can be made to behave well
with a substitute teacher.
By suggesting the needs of students in order to get familiar with a substitute
teacher.Interpretation of the theme will help in developing conclusion of the study.Other
Example of Ethnographic Research:A Study on ‘Poverty affects on schooling of children’Here
researcher will collect data either through participant observation or through interview (including
interview of key informants also). He /she will collect data and make field notes i.e. drawing
instances from observation or other source of information. For example, researcher can draw the
following instances:Poor students face socio-economic problems that affect their learning
capacity. They also lack resources such as books, copies, pencils, schoolbag, dirty and ragged
uniform etc. All these factors make teacher furious and they show indifferent attitude towards
economically disadvantaged students. Other students in class room also keep indifferent attitude
towards them. These students were also sometimes bullied by other affluent students. Moreover,
they face various problems in their homes also, such as lack of proper nutrition, double burden of
household chores, lack of attention paid by parents in their education etc. this mental and
physical disturbance affects their willingness to attend school. In this way the poverty comes in
the way of their education.After drawing such instances researcher will analyze and interpret the
data and also provide a holistic qualitative description of the whole problem. After description
he/she will draw conclusion in which suggestions to deal with the problem will be given by the
researcher.

CONCLUSION
Ethnographic study helps in developing the theoretical base for problems in education of
a particular group. Ethnographic research does not often start with a strong theoretical base, not
it is much concerned with theory testing. There may be theory development, but formal theory
enters research only after its relevance has been established. In ethnographic research, theory
emerges from the data as grounded theory-not as preconceived theory. Ethnographic study helps
in the development of a theory as it does not simply tabulate that a certain behavior has occurred,
but it attempts to understand what the behavior means the persons under study.

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