Question: Outline the advantages and disadvantages of Ethnographic methods. Include as an illustrative material (i) Your own ethnographic case study, and (ii) examples from both (a) anthropological research in a modern organisational context and (b) more traditional ethnographies.
Answer: ‘Ethnography is the hallmark of social anthropology’. It’s the study of people in naturally occurring settings or ‘fields’ (whether in a ‘New Guinea village or on the streets of New York’), through the use of methods, which capture their social meanings and ordinary activities, involving the anthropologist participating directly in the setting and ‘immersing himself within the culture’ over a period of time (Spradley 1979:3).’
Despite its prominence, at present ethnography has an undecided status within all the social science disciplines. On the one hand, it has come to be widely accepted as a legitimate approach to modern day social research....(short extract)
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- Subject: Anthropology
- Course: Anthropology
- Level: Degree
- Year: 2nd/3rd
- Mark: 65%
- Words: 5650
- Date submitted: March 02, 2009
- Date written: March, 2004
- References: Yes
- Document type: Essay*
- Essay ID: 854
