Data Analysis in Ethnographic Studies
Studies using ethnographic approaches can also be case studies, and can be analysed using the techniques discussed in the previous section. Ethnographic studies could be, and not infrequently are, analysed using grounded theory. However, you may be interested in research outcomes other than the generation of theory, such as the development of descriptions and explanations. Nevertheless, the general approach of grounded theory analysis, and in particular the iterative process whereby data analysis feeds into subsequent data collection with this then stimulating further analysis, is a feature of the analysis of virtually all ethnographic studies. Hence, using the techniques described in the following section on grounded theory in a relatively relaxed manner ( e.g. not necessarily using the terminology of open coding, axial coding, etc.), is a viable approach. Similarly, if your study can reasonably be conceptualized as a case study, and you find the Miles and Huberman approach congenial, the preceding section provides detailed suggestions for analysis. Box 14.10 provides a varied set of ethnographic studies where the account gives details of the approach to analysis.
The ethnographic approach is typically exploratory. It is a method of discovery, well suited to the study of the unfamiliar, the new and the different. Wolcott (1994) suggests three steps in the analysis and transformation of the data in an ethnographic study: description of the culture-sharing group; analysis of themes of the culture; and interpretation. To do this, your three main tasks are:
- Thinking A vast array of complex information has to be made sense of. There is no substitute for knowing the data well, and thinking about it and what it might be telling you. Any thoughts that occur can form the basis of memos, linked to the data source or to your analysis.