Communicating Culture

researching lived experience

Research

Examine the nature of researchObservation and writing

Physical Description (1)

Select a section of this room which is immediately across from where you are sitting. Describe this section of the room in detail. I’ll ask you to stop after 15 minutes.

Doing Research: producing social knowledge;

communicating cultureQuestion: Aren’t some research methods

better than others?Research cannot be reduced to purely method –

how we go about collecting informationDoing research is an attempt to understand

social reality in the production of social knowledge about the world

In communicating that knowledge to others we are involved in communicating culture

The kind of knowledge/culture we produce ultimately depends on our assumptions about the world – our particular worldview

Doing Research: producing social knowledge;

communicating cultureDifferent models of reality lead to different

theories of representation. These in turn lead to:Propositions about what reality is: what we believe

to exist – ontologyWays to establish what can be accepted as real: how

do we validate our knowledge – epistemologyStrategies for validating the claims

Methodology – how are we to discover and validate what we think exists?

Techniques for collecting dataMethods – ways to generate materials

Doing Research: producing social knowledge;

communicating cultureSubjectivist and Objectivist Approaches

The subjectivist and objectivist approaches in the handout denote extreme idealised positions

In practice researchers occupy a range of positions in between

Qualitative researchers tend to be more sympathetic to the subjectivist approach

[see handout]

Doing Research: producing social knowledge;

communicating cultureFour methods used in qualitative research:

Observation – situations, peopleTextual analysis – documents, various mediaInterviews – direct talkTranscripts – transcription of audio/video recordings

Methods are techniques which take on specific meanings according to the methodology in which they are used.

SM imposes meaning: QR discovers meaningSM insensitive to social nature of language: QR is a

learning language approachSM use third hand information: QR attempts to get

at first hand information[See Handout]

One popular version of ethnography

Preference for naturally occurring data – observation rather than experimentation; unstructured rather than structured interviews

Avoiding concepts, theories and pre-conceived ideas at an early stage

Emphasis on meanings rather than numbers Preference for meanings rather than behaviour

– understanding the world from the participants viewpoint

A concern for the ‘micro’ features of social life

One popular version of ethnography

Reflexivity – acknowledging the role of the researcher as integral to the production of knowledge/culture

Anti-realism – problematising representation. Can we accurately represent reality? What is the relation between social reality and language?

Summary Qualitative work:

Is holistic Looks at relationships within a system or subculture Referes to the personal, face-to-face interactions in a

given setting Is focused to understand the social setting Demands equal time in the field and in analysis Incorporates a complete description of the researcher Relies on the researcher as a research tool Is responsible to ethical concerns Acknowledges ethical issues in fieldwork Considers, in many cases, participants as co-researchers

in the project

Janesick (2004): 7

Physical Description (1)

DiscussionHow did you approach this exercise?How is this exercise like the previous?

Unlike?What was the most difficult part of

the exercise?

Physical Description (2)

Select an area on campus to observe. Set aside 30 minutes of quiet time to describe it. Set reasonable goals for the description. For example, select one part of the library or one section of the student union.

Again, take down your notes in fieldwork form and then type them up in report format.

Reading …

Hall, S., Ed. (1997). Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices. London, Sage. pp. 13-64

Van Maanen, J. (1988). Tales of the Field, On Writing Ethnography. London, University of Chicago Press. Ch. 3

Tedlock, B. (2000). Ethnography and Ethnographic Representation. The Handbook of Qualitative Research. N. K. Denzin and Y. S. Lincoln. London, Sage: 455-486.

Fetterman, D. M. (1998). Ethnography: Step by Step. London, Sage: Ch 1. Also available online at: http://www.stanford.edu/~davidf/class/Chapter1.htm

Hammersley, M. and P. Atkinson (1995). Ethnography: Principles in Practice. London, Routledge: 1-22