GLST 290
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ETHNOGRAPHIC INTERVIEW: RESEARCH BASICS ASSIGNMENT INSTRUCTIONS
OVERVIEW
An ethnographic interview entails “purposeful, documented conversations with research
participants”
1
and is one element of an ethnography. Researchers engage in ethnography by
“studying multiple aspects of life in a particular place or among a group of people to create a
picture of how those people understand and live in the world”
2
Ethnography can be used in any
context and is a helpful tool because it enables the researcher to explore the world through the
eyes of their research participant. This is the first of four assignments of the Ethnographic
Interview series.
INSTRUCTIONS
The concepts listed below will enable you to start thinking about the process and usefulness of
the ethnographic interview. Use the Howell and Paris textbook and Dr. Harper’s Worldview
presentation to answer the questions listed by each concept. The questions do not need to be
included in the submission of this assignment.
1. Anthropological Perspective – What is the anthropological perspective and how does it
help the researcher better understand the research participant and even their own culture?
Why is this concept significant to the ethnographic interview process?
2. Participant Observation – How does the researcher move from observer to participant?
How does the researcher’s openness about their research intensions impact the experience
and research findings? What role does rapport play in the quality of the
researcher/research participant relationship and what impact might it have on the research
findings? Why is this concept significant to the ethnographic interview process?
3. Ethnographic Interviews – Describe the different types of ethnographic interviews and
other methods that could be used to complement participant observation.
4. Rapid Ethnographic Assessment Procedures (REAP) – Describe the elements that make
up REAP and discuss one benefit and one challenge of using REAP.
5. Worldview – What is worldview and how does this element impact the
researcher/research participant relationship? How might worldview impact the role of
researcher as an observer and a participant in the ethnographic interview process?
The assignment may be written as a bulleted or numbered list but must include complete
sentences. The assignment should include the following elements:
Length of Assignment: 2 pages of content
o In addition to the 2 pages, the paper should include a title page and bibliography.
Format of Assignment: Current Turabian formatting is required.
Number of Citations: 5 citations from the textbook and the Worldview presentation are
required.
1
Brian M. Howell and Jenell Paris, Introducing Cultural Anthropology: A Christian Perspective, (Grand Rapids,
MI: Baker Publishing Group, 2019), 13.
2
Ibid., 11.
GLST 290
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Acceptable Sources: Introducing Cultural Anthropology: A Christian Perspective by
Brian M. Howell and Jenell Paris and Dr. Melody Harper’s Worldview presentation.
Additional sources are not required for this assignment.
Note: Your assignment will be checked for originality via the Turnitin plagiarism tool.
Enthnographic Interview 1
Enthnographic Interview
Insert your name
Institution Affiliation
Enthnographic Interview 2
1
Anthropological Perspective reflects on the human diversity study. The study
incorporates knowledge application to assist people from various backgrounds in most cases.
Examples of anthropological perspectives include fieldwork, cultural relativism, bio-cultural
focus, holism and human diversity (Ferraro & Andreatta, 2018). Since anthropological
Perspective helps understand other people’s concepts, including their culture, it is always easy to
gain the participant’s clearer Perspective. In other words, anthropological Perspective interprets
the participant’s behavior based on their culture (Ferraro & Andreatta, 2018).
On the other hand, anthropological Perspective usually comes in handy during the
ethnographic interview process since it allows the interviewer to understand the interviewee’s
perspectives, attitudes and cultural insider’s motivations (Howell and Paris, 2019, p.83). In other
words, it helps researchers or interviewers seize opportunities, which help them learn about
specific individuals.
2.
A researcher usually switches from observer to participant through what is known as
participant observation. In this case, the researchers usually enter a particular group with shared
cultural aspects and identity to understand how the community operates (Allen, 2017, p. 11).
This means that he learns the experiences by spending time with them, observing their patterns,
speeches and actions. In the end, he gains an extensive understanding of the culture or group
(Allen, 2017, p. 27). During the process, openness is usually important since it implies that
detailed research tends to be reported on an ongoing basis.
Enthnographic Interview 3
On the other hand, it allows other participants to understand how the research happens.
Rapport in research is critical in building relationships, especially among the participants. It
allows the participants to give information willingly and the researcher to access data without
difficulties because of the trust during the process. In the end, the findings are likely to be of
quality (Allen, 2017, p. 27). Rapport in an ethnographic interview is critical in confounding
research objectivity.
3
Ethnographic interviewing entails a qualitative research type, which mostly combines
directed one-on-one interviews and observations. In most cases, the objective is to interview
individuals based on their culture or natural setting as they perform their daily activities or tasks
(Skinner, 2012, p. 18). Normally, the interviewer usually focuses on asking the participants
questions on some of the activities they are engaging in. The two most common ethnographic
interviews are situational conversations and information conversational interviews (Skinner,
2012, P. 29). As previously mentioned, this type of interview mostly incorporates the qualitative
methodology or qualitative research type. This method mostly focuses on attaining information
based on informal communication.
4
In this context, REAP entails a package based on the ethnographic method, which
combines various techniques such as documentary search, observation, and interview techniques
to analyze the type of life a particular group lives. It highlights various elements such as social
habits, beliefs, customs, institutions, and values. It also include, knowledge, arts, and technology
(Howell and Paris, 2019, p. 72). Common methods under REAP are grand tour interviewing,
Enthnographic Interview 4
participant observation and follow-up interviews. Perhaps the most significant advantage linked
to it is that it contributes extensively to stakeholder viewpoints, including establishing long-term
associations (Howell and Paris, 2019, p. 83). However, the approach can sometimes be
disadvantageous since information interpretation, and data use could be challenging, especially
for the responders.
5.
Worldview entails a collection of values, attitudes, expectations and stories based on the
world. In most cases, the stories are critical in informing human action and thought. Worldview
is usually expressed based on philosophy, religion, scientific beliefs, and ethics (Cobern, 2000, p.
27). Worldviews are critical for researchers/research participants since it comes in handy when
the researcher is planning a given study based on philosophical worldview assumptions.
Additionally, it prepares the participant during the ethnographic interview process since it allows
them to understand the global perspectives, attitudes and insiders’ motivations and views.
Enthnographic Interview 5
References
Allen, M. (2017). The SAGE encyclopedia of communication research methods. 4 4. http://0-
sk.sagepub.com.pugwash.lib.warwick.ac.uk/reference/the-sage-encyclopedia-of-
communication-research-methods/.
Association Of Social Anthropologists Of The UK And The Commonwealth, & Skinner, J.
(2012). The interview: an ethnographic approach. http://site.ebrary.com/id/10729346.
Brian M. Howell and Jenell Paris, (2019). Introducing Cultural Anthropology: A Christian
Perspective, (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Publishing Group).
Cobern, W. (2000). Everyday Thoughts about Nature A Worldview Investigation of Important
Concepts Students Use to Make Sense of Nature with Specific Attention of Science.
Dordrecht : Springer Netherlands : Imprint: Springer
Ferraro, G. P., & Andreatta, S. (2018). Cultural anthropology an applied perspective. Boston,
Massachusetts : Cengage Learning
OUTLINE
1.
Anthropological Perspective reflects on the human diversity study. In most cases, the
study incorporates knowledge application to assist people from various backgrounds.
Examples of anthropological perspectives include fieldwork, cultural relativism, bio
cultural focus, holism and human diversity (Ferraro, & Andreatta, 2018).
Since anthropological perspective helps understand other people’s concepts,
including their culture, it is always easy to gain the participant’s clearer perspective.
In other words, anthropological perspective interprets the participant’s behavior based
on their culture (Ferraro, & Andreatta, 2018).
On the other hand, anthropological perspective usually comes in handy during
ethnographic interview process since it allows the interviewer to understand the
interviewee’s perspectives, attitudes and cultural insider’s motivations (Howell and
Paris, 2019, p.83).
In other words, it helps researchers or the interviewers seize opportunities, which help
them learn about specific individuals.
2.
A researcher usually switches from observer to participant through what is known as
participant observation. In this case, the researchers usually enter a particular group
with shared cultural aspects and identity to understand how the community operates
(Allen, 2017, p. 11).
This means that he learns the experiences by spending time with them whereby he
observes their patterns, speeches and actions. In the end, he gains an extensive
understanding of the culture or group (Allen, 2017, p. 27).
During the process, openness is usually important since it usually implies that a
particular research tend to be reported based on an ongoing basis.
On the other hand, it allows others to participants to understand ways in which the
research happens. Rapport in a research is critical in building relationships especially
among the participants.
It allows the participants to give information willingly and the researcher to access
data without difficulties because of the trust that exists during the process. In the end,
the findings are likely to be of quality (Allen, 2017, p. 27). Rapport in an
ethnographic interview is critical in confounding research objectivity.
3
Ethnographic interviewing entails a qualitative research type, which mostly combines
directed one-on-one interviews and observations. In most cases, the objective is to
interview an individual based on their culture or natural setting as they perform their
daily activities or tasks (Skinner, 2012, p. 18).
Normally, the interviewer usually focuses on asking the participants questions on
some of the activities they are engaging in. The two most common ethnographic
interviews are situational conversations and information conversational interviews
(Skinner, 2012, P. 29).
As previously mention, this type of interview mostly incorporates the qualitative
methodology or qualitative research type. This method mostly focuses on attaining
information based on conversational communication.
4
In this context, REAP entails a packaged based on ethnographic method, which
combines various techniques such as documentary search, observation and interview
techniques in analyzing the type of life, which a particular group lives.
In most cases, it highlights various elements such as social habits, beliefs, customs,
institutions and values. Other important elements are knowledge, arts and technology
(Howell and Paris, 2019, p. 72). Common methods under REAP are grand tour
interviewing, participant observation and follow up interviews.
Perhaps the most significant advantage linked to it is that it contributes extensively to
stakeholder viewpoints, including the establishment of long-term associations (Howell
and Paris, 2019, p. 83).
However, the approach can sometimes be disadvantageous since information
interpretation and data use could be challenging especially for the responders.
5
Worldview entails a collection of values, attitudes, expectations and stories based on
the world. In most cases, the stories are critical in informing human action and
thought.
Worldview is usually expressed based on philosophy, religion, scientific beliefs, and
ethics (Cobern, 2000, p. 27). Worldviews are critical for researchers/research
participants since it comes in handy when the researcher is planning a given study
based on philosophical worldview assumptions.
Additionally, it prepares the participant during the ethnographic interview process
since it allows them to understand the global perspectives, attitudes and insiders’
motivations and views.
