Before, during and after: Realism, Reflexivity and Ethnography

2005 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 294-313 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Michael Roberts ◽  
Teela Sanders
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Production ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Social Structures ◽  
Ethnographic Research ◽  
Research Setting ◽  
Institutional Knowledge ◽  
The Everyday ◽  
Three Stages ◽  
Key Resources ◽  
Realist Methodology

In this paper we argue that what is missing from many ethnographic accounts is a recognition that dilemmas inevitably emerge for the researcher before they make contact with the research setting, during the process of ethnographic research, and subsequently in the lengthy time taken to unravel the theoretical importance of the research after the fieldwork has ended. Using a comparison of two ethnographies as case studies, and by recourse to a realist methodology, such dilemmas are, we argue, overdetermined by many non-observable social structures that influence the everyday research process. We argue that specific mechanisms determine both the process and the outcome of the ethnographic journey in the before, during and after stages of research. For example we demonstrate how biography and the wider process of institutional knowledge production are two key resources that influence research practice. We use the term pragmatic realism as a means to reflect upon some of the connections between the dilemmas of research and real structures in these three stages.

scholarly journals Making Place in the Media City

2012 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 559-577 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maja Klausen
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Urban Space ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Ethnographic Research ◽  
Research Setting ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
The Media ◽  
Urban Exploration ◽  
Late Modern ◽  
Share Information

The article discusses practices of placemaking through empirical fieldwork undertaken in the subculture of urban exploration in Copenhagen. The making and experience of place is discussed, firstly, in relation to methodology and academic representation and secondly, in relation to urban space and media. The article begins by suggesting that the ethnographic research process should be grasped as the making of an ’ethnographic place’ (Pink 2010), which invites readers/audiences to imagine themselves into the places represented. Based on findings from the fieldwork, the article moves on to the methodologies associated with the examination of urban exploration and its academic representation. The article points to a ’multi-sited’ (Marcus 1995) and mobile ethnography (Lee & Ingold 2006) that acknowledges the ethnographer as ’emplaced’ (Howes 2005) in the research setting. Finally, urban exploration and the placemaking practices involved are positioned in a wider theoretical framework focusing on social media and urban space. The urban explorers use different social media platforms to share information and pictures, which is said to accelerate ’a mediatised sense of place’ (Jansson & Falkheimer 2006). Urban exploration is seen as a practice tied to the late modern ’media city’ (Fornäs 2006; McQuire 2010), where spatial experience is transformed due to the increased convergence of mobile and pervasive media with urban space.

scholarly journals A Local Researcher’s Experiences of the Insider–Outsider Position: An Exercise of Self-Reflexivity During Ethnographic GBV and HIV Prevention Research in South Africa

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
pp. 160940692093856
Author(s):  
P. Nwabisa Shai
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Production ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Research Community ◽  
Local Context ◽  
Prevention Research ◽  
Research Setting ◽  
Research Participants ◽  
Dual Identity ◽  
Local Researcher

Examining the researcher’s position during the research process is important to enhance the representation of research participants and the local context where knowledge is produced. This article aims to reflect the experiences of a local researchers’ insider–outsider position during a qualitative study drawing on ethnographic methods. Familiarity with the research community can be advantageous for an insider researcher position while an outsider researcher position may be enable more observance of aspects of daily life to which insiders may be blinded during the inquiry, interpretation, and data analysis. Researchers who often strive for a balance between the two positions can find it challenging yet rewarding. In this study, research participants played a critical role in shaping the local researcher’s dual identity as the outsider position remained at the forefront of interactions with the research process despite familiarity with the local language, culture, and research setting. This view, however, shifted after the local researcher seemed to have “earned” the insider position. Local researchers need to invest in extensive self-reflexivity, acknowledge the vulnerabilities of dual positionality, and capitalize on the shared qualities and differences with research participants to enhance the representation of research participants in the process of knowledge production.

scholarly journals Konceptuel imperialisme og engageret sympati i forskning om kvindelige sexsælgere

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeanett Bjønness
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Everyday Life ◽  
Knowledge Production ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Ethnographic Research ◽  
Critical Reading ◽  
Academic Knowledge ◽  
Female Sex

Conceptual imperialism and engaged sympathy in research on female sex-sellers: This paper investigates academic knowledge production on sex-sellers’ everyday life and strategies. Methodological discussions are first contextualized in public discourse on prostitution in Denmark characterized by a highly polarized debate often opposing ‘the victim’ to ‘the autonomous individual’ and second in the researcher’s autobiography. The paper discusses how the researcher’s ownclassed and gendered experiences affect the ethnographic research process. Does attempted identification with informants sometimes obscure valuable knowledge? Does it even sometimes lead to unintended kinds of ‘othering’ or ‘epistemological imperialism’? The paper builds on data from long term fieldwork in a drop-in center for marginalized Danish women, life history interviews, and a critical reading of contemporary debates on prostitution in Denmark.

scholarly journals Engaging young people through photovoice in coastal resorts

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Tickle
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Data Collection ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Ethnographic Research ◽  
Social Worlds ◽  
Research Setting ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Meaningful Data

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine and reflect upon the value of using a camera with young people in the research process. In particular, the paper discusses the opportunities that a camera can bring when researching young people’s lives, subsequently encouraging the use of photovoice with young people in ethnographic research. Design/methodology/approach The paper examines how photovoice can be a beneficial method of data collection when researching young people’s lives. By adopting a qualitative participatory approach, and employing photovoice as one of the main methods, rich and meaningful data were gathered that traditional qualitative methods alone would not have captured. Findings Photovoice was used alongside traditional methods to explore how young people experienced and perceived policing, safety and security in a coastal resort. Using a camera, captured rich images which alongside the narratives given by the young people, provided profound and detailed accounts. Originality/value Using innovative participatory qualitative research methods with young people and adapting to the research setting allowed for deep and meaningful explorations of young people’s lives to be gathered. Carefully considering the use of appropriate methods of data collection and selecting methods that are “fun” and “interesting” empowered young people and provided the researcher with an insight into their social worlds.

Autómatas Celulares Aplicados al Comportamiento de Células de Cáncer Cervicouterino

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 44-49
Author(s):  
Tania Muñoz Jiménez ◽  
Aurora Torres Soto ◽  
María Dolores Torres Soto
Keyword(s):  
Cellular Automaton ◽  
Medical Model ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Simulation Algorithm ◽  
Stages Of Development ◽  
Literary Research ◽  
Migration Dynamics ◽  
Three Stages ◽  
And Migration ◽  
Best Parameters

En este documento se describe el desarrollo e implementación de un modelo para simular computacionalmente la dinámica del crecimiento y migración del cáncer cervicouterino, considerando sus principales características: proliferación, migración y necrosis, así como sus etapas de desarrollo. El modelo se desarrolló mediante un autómata celular con enfoques paralelo y secuencial. El autómata celular se basó en el modelo de Gompertz para simular las etapas de desarrollo de este cáncer, el cual se dividió en tres etapas cada una con diferentes comportamientos durante la simulación. Se realizó un diseño experimental con parámetros de entrada que se seleccionaron a partir de la investigación literaria y su discusión con médicos expertos. Al final del proceso de investigación, se logró obtener un algoritmo computacional de simulación muy bueno comparado con el modelo médico de Gompertz y se encontraron los mejores parámetros para su ejecución mediante un diseño factorial soportado estadísticamente. This paper describes the development and implementation of a model to computationally simulate the growth and migration dynamics of cervical cancer, considering its main characteristics: proliferation, migration and necrosis, as well as its stages of development. The model was developed by means of a cellular automaton with parallel and sequential approaches. The cellular automaton was based on the model of Gompertz to simulate the stages of development of this cancer, which was divided into three stages, each with different behaviors during the simulation. An experimental design was carried out with input parameters that were selected from literary research and its discussion with expert physicians. At the end of the research process, a very good simulation algorithm was obtained compared to the Gompertz medical model and the best parameters for its execution were found by means of a statistically supported factorial design.

A study of practice based design research models from knowledge integration perspective

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Honghai LI ◽  
Jun CAI
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Production ◽  
Theoretical Basis ◽  
Knowledge Integration ◽  
Design Research ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Two Dimensions ◽  
Design Knowledge ◽  
Research Projects ◽  
Proposed Model ◽  
Design Innovation

The transformation of China's design innovation industry has highlighted the importance of design research. The design research process in practice can be regarded as the process of knowledge production. The design 3.0 mode based on knowledge production MODE2 has been shown in the Chinese design innovation industry. On this cognition, this paper establishes a map with two dimensions of how knowledge integration occurs in practice based design research, which are the design knowledge transfer and contextual transformation of design knowledge. We use this map to carry out the analysis of design research cases. Through the analysis, we define four typical practice based design research models from the viewpoint of knowledge integration. This method and the proposed model can provide a theoretical basis and a path for better management design research projects.

scholarly journals The gendered politics of researching military policy in the age of the ‘knowledge economy’

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Sergio Catignani ◽  
Victoria M. Basham
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Production ◽  
Knowledge Economy ◽  
Power Relationships ◽  
Potential Contribution ◽  
Publicly Funded ◽  
Gendered Politics ◽  
The Everyday ◽  
Gendered Power ◽  
Army Reserves ◽  
Multiple Challenges

Abstract This article explores our experiences of conducting feminist interpretive research on the British Army Reserves. The project, which examined the everyday work-Army-life balance challenges that reservists face, and the roles of their partners/spouses in enabling them to fulfil their military commitments, is an example of a potential contribution to the so-called ‘knowledge economy’, where publicly funded research has come to be seen as ‘functional’ for political, military, economic, and social advancement. As feminist interpretive researchers examining an institution that prizes masculinist and functionalist methodologies, instrumentalised knowledge production, and highly formalised ethics approval processes, we faced multiple challenges to how we were able to conduct our research, who we were able to access, and what we were able to say. We show how military assumptions about what constitutes proper ‘research’, bolstered by knowledge economy logics, reinforces gendered power relationships that keep hidden the significant roles women (in our case, the partners/spouses of reservists) play in state security. Accordingly, we argue that the functionalist and masculinist logics interpretive researchers face in the age of the knowledge economy help more in sustaining orthodox modes of knowledge production about militaries and security, and in reinforcing gendered power relations, than they do in advancing knowledge.

scholarly journals Project-Based Learning in a Transinstitutional Research Setting: Case Study on the Development of Sustainable Food Products

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 233 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hartmut Derler ◽  
Simon Berner ◽  
Daniela Grach ◽  
Alfred Posch ◽  
Ulrike Seebacher
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Food Products ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Project Based Learning ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
Research Setting ◽  
School Students ◽  
Sustainable Food ◽  
Problem Solving Skills

Project-based learning (PBL) has been thoroughly integrated in university sustainable development curricula, but has not been well-established in curricula used at pre-university educational levels. Integrating real-world settings into the teaching of secondary school students can help to promote problem-solving skills and competencies at younger ages, which is a crucial task in sustainability education. Therefore, in this article we describe the results of a case study on the development of sustainable food products that involved a university and two secondary schools in Austria. The methods used in this case study were drawn from the transdisciplinary case study (TCS) and the PBL literature. Data were collected by carrying out participatory research methods such as photovoice, focus group discussions, food diaries, student evaluations, and surveys. We divided the study design into three phases: (1) exploration, (2) product ideation, and (3) product prototyping and optimisation. The case study illustrates that the use of PBL research approaches by students at different levels of education provides promising results, if the research process is clearly structured and managed. When a demand for learning is encountered by students, secondary school teachers and university researchers must provide the students with additional sources of information. The establishment and management of a transinstitutional research setting is a promising, yet time-consuming endeavour.

In a “Half-dark, Half-light Zone”: Mobility, Precarity, and Moral Ambiguity in Vietnam's Urban Waste Economy

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Minh T.N. Nguyen
Keyword(s):  
Mobile Network ◽  
Urban Spaces ◽  
Ethnographic Research ◽  
Urban Waste ◽  
The Public ◽  
Moral Ambiguity ◽  
Everyday Practices ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Everyday ◽  
State Agents

AbstractThis article discusses the everyday practices of a mobile network of migrant waste traders originating from northern Vietnam, locating them in an expanding urban waste economy spanning across major urban centres. Based on ethnographic research, I explore how the expansion of the network is foregrounded by the traders’ dealing with the precarious nature of waste trading, which is rooted in the social ambiguity of waste and migrants working with waste in the urban order. Characterised by waste traders as a “half-dark, half-light zone”, the waste economy is unevenly regulated, made up of highly personalised ties, and relatively hidden from the public. It is therefore rife with opportunities for accumulating wealth, but also full of dangers for the waste traders, whose occupation of marginal urban spaces makes them easy targets of both rent-seeking state agents and rogue actors. While demonstrating resilience, their practices suggest tactics of engaging with power that involve a great deal of moral ambiguity, which I argue is central to the increasing precaritisation of labour and the economy in Vietnam today.

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