Research

The assignment is informal, and no references needed

RESEARCH & EVALUATION Name: ___________________

HANDOUT #9: ETHNOGRAPHIC RESEARCH - DATA COLLECTION & ANALYSIS

Your assignment for next class is to complete the following mini-study in Qualitative methods.

The focus of your mini-ethnography will be how a specific group of participants talks about their views about COVID-19 and the pandemic period.

Step 1: Select two or more of your participants to participate in this study, preferably a group who socialize together on a regular basis (i.e. a couple or group of friends, family members, romantic partners, etc.) Invite your subgroup of participants to a comfortable and non-distracting location; if you can meet with your participants in person, so much the better; otherwise, you can set up an online WebEx or Zoom meeting at a convenient time. Do not meet with your participants over the phone or text chat-- you want to be able to observe their nonverbal communication. Let them know that you would like to talk about what they think about the pandemic. You can make the choice to either join in as an active participant (especially if you would also normally socialize with them) OR to stay on the sidelines as a neutral observer. You also will need to make the choice to either take notes afterwards or record the interaction (with your participants' permission) for later reference.

Step 2: Think of a casual, ice-breaking question to begin with (Ex: “So, how has this last year and a half been for you guys?” or “What do you think you would have said if someone told you back in March 2020 that we’d still be dealing with this at the end of 2021?”, etc.). From that point, let the conversation flow naturally, and do not attempt to steer it in any particular direction. Of course, if you are participating in the conversation, you should chip in with your own opinions as you normally would. Your main focus, regardless of whether you are participating or not, should be to observe your participants' interactions and conversation around this general topic (the pandemic). Which issues, events, topics do they choose to discuss? Who tends to lead the discussion (if anyone)? Can you discern particular roles played by each individual? What is the general tone (positive, negative) of the discussion around particular topics? If the conversation is still going after 15-20 minutes, feel free to change the topic or suggest a break.

· If you chose to take notes in Step 1, excuse yourself at this point and write down your observations.

· If you chose to record the interaction in Step 1, stop the recording; at a later point, re-watch/listen to the recording and write down your observations.

Step 3: Your written observations/notes from Step 2 are for your own reference and do not need to be turned in. In your report document, write a paragraph summary of your conclusions from your ethnographic observations. Think of your summary as telling a coherent story of how your participants share and shape views about the COVID-19 pandemic (both their own and those of others). Add a Header and a Title to your qualitative report document and upload it to the corresponding Week 9 folder.!