an article by Katherine Robinson (Goldsmiths, University of London, UK) and Ruth Sheldon (Birkbeck, University of London, UK) published in The Sociological Review Volume 67 Issue 1 (January 2019)
Abstract
This article is concerned with what happens to precarious community buildings in times of austerity. It responds to a landscape of capitalist realism, in which instrumental, economic forms of value are mobilised to justify the closure of ordinary buildings whose survival is not identified as a political priority.
The study focuses on two London cases of a library and an elderly day centre under threat of closure, and traces how grammars of austerity rendered these buildings substitutable.
Considering how abstract sociological conceptions of value/s can struggle to break into the embedded common sense of austerity, the authors explore how ethnographic practices of collaboration and attentiveness can help amplify alternative expressions of the meanings of these buildings for their communities.
Enacting a form of ethnographic witnessing, which learns from Wittgenstein, the authors highlight the creative, vernacular registers and gestures of library users and day centre members, and show how these were anchored in the buildings themselves. In this way, the article supplements noisier, more hyperbolic accounts of the violence of austerity by amplifying quotidian responses, which express how ordinary buildings and the forms of life they sustain, matter.
Showing posts with label ethnography. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ethnography. Show all posts
Monday, 21 January 2019
Thursday, 6 December 2018
Socially disabled: the fight disabled people face against loneliness and stress
an article by Jason Olsen (Ulster University, Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK) published in Disability & Society Volume 33 Issue 7 (2018)
Abstract
In 2018, the United Kingdom appointed its first Minister for Loneliness.
This article discusses some of the barriers which may contribute to why disabled people were found to be one of the largest groups affected by loneliness. Utilizing ethnographic examples supported by facts, the article demonstrates how even when seeking to fight loneliness, and to reduce the stressors of everyday life, disabled people are often at a disadvantage, or excluded.
The article raises questions concerning self-social exclusion and discusses recommended avenues for further research.
Full text (PDF 6pp)
Abstract
In 2018, the United Kingdom appointed its first Minister for Loneliness.
This article discusses some of the barriers which may contribute to why disabled people were found to be one of the largest groups affected by loneliness. Utilizing ethnographic examples supported by facts, the article demonstrates how even when seeking to fight loneliness, and to reduce the stressors of everyday life, disabled people are often at a disadvantage, or excluded.
The article raises questions concerning self-social exclusion and discusses recommended avenues for further research.
Full text (PDF 6pp)
Wednesday, 21 November 2018
Cities and the political imagination
an article by Rivke Jaffe (University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands) published in The Sociological Review Volume 66 Issue 6 (November 2018)
Abstract
How can we recognize the political in the city?
How might urban scholars engage with forms of urban politics outside of established sites of research such as those associated with representative democracy or collective mobilizations?
This article suggests that new perspectives on urban politics might be enabled through reinvigorated connections between the social sciences and humanities, and by combining long-term urban ethnography and cultural analysis. Reading forms of creative expression in relation to power struggles in and over urban space can direct our attention towards negotiations of authority and political belonging that are often overlooked within urban studies.
The article explores the possibilities of such an approach by focusing on the idea of the political imagination as socially and materially embedded in urban landscapes. Expressive culture generates both analytical and normative frames, guiding everyday understandings of how urban power works, where and in whose hands it is concentrated, and whether we see this as just or unjust.
Such frames can legitimize or delegitimize specific distributions of urban resources and risks, and can normalize or denaturalize specific structures of decision-making.
Through a discussion of popular music and visual culture, the article considers how everyday practices both feed into, and are informed by, imaginations of urban rule and political belonging.
Full text (PDF 14pp)
Abstract
How can we recognize the political in the city?
How might urban scholars engage with forms of urban politics outside of established sites of research such as those associated with representative democracy or collective mobilizations?
This article suggests that new perspectives on urban politics might be enabled through reinvigorated connections between the social sciences and humanities, and by combining long-term urban ethnography and cultural analysis. Reading forms of creative expression in relation to power struggles in and over urban space can direct our attention towards negotiations of authority and political belonging that are often overlooked within urban studies.
The article explores the possibilities of such an approach by focusing on the idea of the political imagination as socially and materially embedded in urban landscapes. Expressive culture generates both analytical and normative frames, guiding everyday understandings of how urban power works, where and in whose hands it is concentrated, and whether we see this as just or unjust.
Such frames can legitimize or delegitimize specific distributions of urban resources and risks, and can normalize or denaturalize specific structures of decision-making.
Through a discussion of popular music and visual culture, the article considers how everyday practices both feed into, and are informed by, imaginations of urban rule and political belonging.
Full text (PDF 14pp)
Thursday, 16 February 2017
Watching the watchers: conducting ethnographic research on covert police investigation in the United Kingdom
an article by Shane Mac Giollabhuí (University of Dublin, Republic of Ireland), Benjamin Goold (University of British Columbia, Canada) and Bethan Loftus (University of Manchester, UK) published in Qualitative Research Volume 16 Issue 6 (December 2016)
Abstract
It has long been claimed that the police are the most visible symbol of the criminal justice system (Bittner, 1974). There is, however, a significant strand of policing – covert investigation that relies routinely on methods of deception – that resists public revelation (Ross, 2008).
The growing importance of covert police investigation has profound implications for the relationship between citizen and the state in a democratic society, but it is relatively unexplored by police researchers.
In this article, we describe the methodology of the first ethnographic study of how the introduction of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (2000) – a piece of ‘enabling’ legislation that regulates the conditions under which law enforcement agencies can intervene in the privacy of individuals – has effected the conduct of covert police investigation in the United Kingdom.
We describe our ethnographic experience in the ‘secret world’ of covert policing, which is familiar in many respects to ethnographers of uniformed officers, but which also differed significantly.
We contend that the organizing principle of surveillance – the imperative to maintain the secrecy of an operation – had a marked impact on our ethnographic experience, which eroded significantly our status as non-participant observers and altered out reflexive experience by activating the ‘usefulness’ of our gender.
Full text (PDF)
Abstract
It has long been claimed that the police are the most visible symbol of the criminal justice system (Bittner, 1974). There is, however, a significant strand of policing – covert investigation that relies routinely on methods of deception – that resists public revelation (Ross, 2008).
The growing importance of covert police investigation has profound implications for the relationship between citizen and the state in a democratic society, but it is relatively unexplored by police researchers.
In this article, we describe the methodology of the first ethnographic study of how the introduction of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (2000) – a piece of ‘enabling’ legislation that regulates the conditions under which law enforcement agencies can intervene in the privacy of individuals – has effected the conduct of covert police investigation in the United Kingdom.
We describe our ethnographic experience in the ‘secret world’ of covert policing, which is familiar in many respects to ethnographers of uniformed officers, but which also differed significantly.
We contend that the organizing principle of surveillance – the imperative to maintain the secrecy of an operation – had a marked impact on our ethnographic experience, which eroded significantly our status as non-participant observers and altered out reflexive experience by activating the ‘usefulness’ of our gender.
Full text (PDF)
Wednesday, 22 July 2015
Street-level planning; the shifty nature of “local knowledge and practice”
an article by Nina Holm Vohnsen (Aarhus University, Denmark) published in Journal of Organizational Ethnography Volume 4 Issue 2 (2015)
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore and problematizes one of the oft-cited reasons why the implementation of public policy and other development initiatives goes wrong – namely that there is a mismatch or antagonistic relationship between street-level worker’s decisions and priorities on the one hand and on the other hand the policy-makers’ or administrators’ directives and priorities.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper builds on seven months of ethnographic fieldwork set in a Danish municipal unit which administered the sickness benefit legislation.
Findings
Through the reading of an ethnographic example of implementation of labour market policy this paper suggests that when policy invariably is distorted at the administrative level it is not necessarily due to lack of will among street-level workers to comply with legislation or centrally devised directives but rather because: in practice, planning and implementation are concurrent processes that continuously feed into each other; and that the concerns and the “local knowledge and practice” that guide planning-implementation do not belong to individual people but are dynamic perspectives that individual people might take up in certain situations.
Originality/value
This challenges conventional descriptions of street-level workers as a distinct group of people with distinctive concerns and attitudes to their work. The paper suggests instead the metaphor “vector of concern” to capture the way street-level workers’ changes of perspectives might cause interventions to disintegrate and evolve in potentially conflicting directions.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore and problematizes one of the oft-cited reasons why the implementation of public policy and other development initiatives goes wrong – namely that there is a mismatch or antagonistic relationship between street-level worker’s decisions and priorities on the one hand and on the other hand the policy-makers’ or administrators’ directives and priorities.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper builds on seven months of ethnographic fieldwork set in a Danish municipal unit which administered the sickness benefit legislation.
Findings
Through the reading of an ethnographic example of implementation of labour market policy this paper suggests that when policy invariably is distorted at the administrative level it is not necessarily due to lack of will among street-level workers to comply with legislation or centrally devised directives but rather because: in practice, planning and implementation are concurrent processes that continuously feed into each other; and that the concerns and the “local knowledge and practice” that guide planning-implementation do not belong to individual people but are dynamic perspectives that individual people might take up in certain situations.
Originality/value
This challenges conventional descriptions of street-level workers as a distinct group of people with distinctive concerns and attitudes to their work. The paper suggests instead the metaphor “vector of concern” to capture the way street-level workers’ changes of perspectives might cause interventions to disintegrate and evolve in potentially conflicting directions.
Wednesday, 4 February 2015
‘Why would you want to do that?’: Defining emotional dirty work
an article by Robert McMurray (Durham University, UK) and Jenna Ward (De Montfort University, UK) published in Human Relations Volume 68 Number 9 (September 2014)
Abstract
This article considers how and why people work with difficult emotions.
Extending Hughes’ typology of the physical, social and moral taints that constitute ‘dirty work’, the article explores the nature of a previously neglected and undefined concept, emotional dirt.
Drawing on data from a situated ethnographic study of Samaritans, we consider how the handling of difficult and burdensome emotions, which are often written out of rational accounts of work, is outsourced to others who act as society’s agents in the containment of emotional dirt. We provide the first explicit definition of emotional dirt, and contribute an extension to the existing tripartite classification of occupational taint.
Moreover, in naming emotional dirt we seek to open up a sphere of research dedicated to understanding its emergence, nature and relational effects. To this end, we demonstrate how taint emerges as a sociological consequence of the performance of emotional labour as emotional dirty work, while considering how management of the difficult, negative or out-of-place emotions of others can be framed as a positive experience such that it can be good to feel bad when handling emotional dirt.
Abstract
This article considers how and why people work with difficult emotions.
Extending Hughes’ typology of the physical, social and moral taints that constitute ‘dirty work’, the article explores the nature of a previously neglected and undefined concept, emotional dirt.
Drawing on data from a situated ethnographic study of Samaritans, we consider how the handling of difficult and burdensome emotions, which are often written out of rational accounts of work, is outsourced to others who act as society’s agents in the containment of emotional dirt. We provide the first explicit definition of emotional dirt, and contribute an extension to the existing tripartite classification of occupational taint.
Moreover, in naming emotional dirt we seek to open up a sphere of research dedicated to understanding its emergence, nature and relational effects. To this end, we demonstrate how taint emerges as a sociological consequence of the performance of emotional labour as emotional dirty work, while considering how management of the difficult, negative or out-of-place emotions of others can be framed as a positive experience such that it can be good to feel bad when handling emotional dirt.
Tuesday, 6 January 2015
“How people read and write and they don't even notice”: everyday lives and literacies on a Midlands council estate
an article by Susan Jones (University of Nottingham) published in Literacy Volume 48 Issue 2 (July 2014)
Abstract
This article presents data from a British Academy-funded study of the everyday literacy practices of three families living on a predominantly white working-class council housing estate on the edge of a Midlands city. The study explored, as one participant succinctly put it, “how people read and write and they don't even notice”. This alludes to the ways in which everyday practices may not be recognised as part of a dominant model of literacy.
The study considered too the ways in which these literacy practices are part of a wider policy context that also fails to notice the impact of austerity politics on everyday lives. An emphasis on quantitative measures of disadvantage and public discourse which vilifies those facing economic challenge can overshadow the resilience and resourcefulness of individuals and families in making meaning from their experiences.
Drawing together consideration of everyday lives and the everyday literacies which are part of them, this article explores the impact of the current policy context on access to both economic and cultural resources, showing how literacy, as part of this context, should be recognised as a powerful means not only of constricting lives but also of constructing them.
Abstract
This article presents data from a British Academy-funded study of the everyday literacy practices of three families living on a predominantly white working-class council housing estate on the edge of a Midlands city. The study explored, as one participant succinctly put it, “how people read and write and they don't even notice”. This alludes to the ways in which everyday practices may not be recognised as part of a dominant model of literacy.
The study considered too the ways in which these literacy practices are part of a wider policy context that also fails to notice the impact of austerity politics on everyday lives. An emphasis on quantitative measures of disadvantage and public discourse which vilifies those facing economic challenge can overshadow the resilience and resourcefulness of individuals and families in making meaning from their experiences.
Drawing together consideration of everyday lives and the everyday literacies which are part of them, this article explores the impact of the current policy context on access to both economic and cultural resources, showing how literacy, as part of this context, should be recognised as a powerful means not only of constricting lives but also of constructing them.
Wednesday, 24 April 2013
Gendered divisions on classed routes to vocational education
an article by Sirpa Lappalainen, Reetta Mietola and Elina Lahelma (University of Helsinki, Finland) published in Gender and Education Volume 25 Issue 2 (2013)
Abstract
In this article our focus is on the persistent gendered divisions in educational routes of young people who choose a vocational path after compulsory education in Finland.
We analyse how gendered subjectivities are constructed within the practices of educational and vocational guidance and within student cultures in the comprehensive school, as well as the way in which young people process understandings of themselves and their expectations during and after vocational education. In addition, we explore young people’s ways to negotiate with disciplinary practices of the educational system.
The paper draws on three ethnographic studies, and on feminist post-structural and materialist theories, intertwined with contextualised ethnographic perspectives. Our analysis reveals some patterns that might work as obstacles in the process towards reducing gender segregation in education and the labour market. We suggest that whilst gendered choices are sometimes taken for granted, gender dichotomy is often emphasised even if young people choose ‘differently’.
Abstract
In this article our focus is on the persistent gendered divisions in educational routes of young people who choose a vocational path after compulsory education in Finland.
We analyse how gendered subjectivities are constructed within the practices of educational and vocational guidance and within student cultures in the comprehensive school, as well as the way in which young people process understandings of themselves and their expectations during and after vocational education. In addition, we explore young people’s ways to negotiate with disciplinary practices of the educational system.
The paper draws on three ethnographic studies, and on feminist post-structural and materialist theories, intertwined with contextualised ethnographic perspectives. Our analysis reveals some patterns that might work as obstacles in the process towards reducing gender segregation in education and the labour market. We suggest that whilst gendered choices are sometimes taken for granted, gender dichotomy is often emphasised even if young people choose ‘differently’.
Monday, 17 December 2012
The Edge of the Island: Cultural Ideology and Neighbourhood Identity at the Gentrification Frontier
an article by Gordon C. C. Douglas (University of Chicago, Illinois) published in Urban Studies Volume 49 Number 16 (December 2012)
Abstract
Building on recent ethnographic accounts that have drawn attention to the nuanced ideologies of contemporary gentrifiers, this article brings cultural considerations to bear on the geography of gentrification’s fringes.
Through a case study of a neighbourhood at the gentrification frontier in Chicago, it examines the factors driving first-wave ‘pioneers’ into an area with little prior popular identity or interest. Conscious of the wider gentrification process, these individuals are essentially seeking (and creating) a particular time and place within it – they idealise the ‘edge’ itself.
Yet while they are actively fleeing advanced gentrification, their actions pave the way for its further expansion. The study finds that gentrification’s borders are subjective and relative in the minds of the newcomers themselves, who frame the process in terms of their own ideologies. These sub-cultural ideals are central to understanding the expansion of the gentrification frontier today.
Abstract
Building on recent ethnographic accounts that have drawn attention to the nuanced ideologies of contemporary gentrifiers, this article brings cultural considerations to bear on the geography of gentrification’s fringes.
Through a case study of a neighbourhood at the gentrification frontier in Chicago, it examines the factors driving first-wave ‘pioneers’ into an area with little prior popular identity or interest. Conscious of the wider gentrification process, these individuals are essentially seeking (and creating) a particular time and place within it – they idealise the ‘edge’ itself.
Yet while they are actively fleeing advanced gentrification, their actions pave the way for its further expansion. The study finds that gentrification’s borders are subjective and relative in the minds of the newcomers themselves, who frame the process in terms of their own ideologies. These sub-cultural ideals are central to understanding the expansion of the gentrification frontier today.
Wednesday, 28 November 2012
Work as dance
an article by John Chandler (University of East London, UK)published in Organization Volume 19 Number 6 (November 2012)
Abstract
This article argues that use of the dance analogy has potential as an heuristic device in ethnographies of work.
The nature and variety of dance is explored as a way of studying movement, gendered embodiment, audience, emotion and rhythm at work. It can thus serve to provide a richly multi-dimensional view of work, while also having the potential to draw attention to the unfolding of patterns of work over time.
While such an approach has much in common with classic studies of work, as well as some more recent work that emphasises work as embodied practice, it may also open up new avenues or at least unsettle some of the dominant ways of researching work and its organisation.
As such it is offered as a stimulus to debate on the nature of work and its organization and how it might be understood. There are, however, limitations to the dance analogy and these mean that the approach might be best seen as a useful complement to approaches which focus on the verbal, rather than sufficient in itself.
Abstract
This article argues that use of the dance analogy has potential as an heuristic device in ethnographies of work.
The nature and variety of dance is explored as a way of studying movement, gendered embodiment, audience, emotion and rhythm at work. It can thus serve to provide a richly multi-dimensional view of work, while also having the potential to draw attention to the unfolding of patterns of work over time.
While such an approach has much in common with classic studies of work, as well as some more recent work that emphasises work as embodied practice, it may also open up new avenues or at least unsettle some of the dominant ways of researching work and its organisation.
As such it is offered as a stimulus to debate on the nature of work and its organization and how it might be understood. There are, however, limitations to the dance analogy and these mean that the approach might be best seen as a useful complement to approaches which focus on the verbal, rather than sufficient in itself.
Thursday, 7 June 2012
The irony of serendipity: disruptions in social information behaviour
an article by Jörgen Skågeby, (Department of Journalism, Media and Communication, Stockholm University, Sweden) published in Library Hi Tech Volume 30 Issue 2 (2012)
Abstract
Purpose
This paper seeks to propose that the current social media surge gives rise to what can be called social information behaviour. Social information behaviour is characterised, at least partly, by a tension between serendipity and disruption. While serendipity is a promoted feature of social media and social information behaviour, social disruption can be seen as its ironic counterpart. This paper goes on to explore different kinds of social disruption that emerge with the use of social media services.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper uses a meta-ethnographical approach and draws on results from three online ethnographic studies. User activities are conceptualised as social information behaviour and focus is put on potential social disruption.
Findings
The paper discusses five prevalent tensions relating to social disruption: market logic and social logic; public and private; work and non-work; individual and collective; and IRL (In Real Life) or AFK (Away From Keyboard).
Research limitations/implications
The paper mainly focuses on the disruptive side of social information behaviour. Future work would include studies and comparisons of serendipitous effects.
Practical implications
The findings are relevant for library and information science academics, analysts and professionals interested in social information behaviour as it emerges over new social mediating technologies.
Originality/value
This paper proposes the notion of social information behaviour and provides a conceptual analytical pair in serendipity and social disruption. Theoretical discussion is conducted with reference to “ironic technics”. The paper compiles and highlights prevalent social disruptions from previous online ethnographical studies on social media usage.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper seeks to propose that the current social media surge gives rise to what can be called social information behaviour. Social information behaviour is characterised, at least partly, by a tension between serendipity and disruption. While serendipity is a promoted feature of social media and social information behaviour, social disruption can be seen as its ironic counterpart. This paper goes on to explore different kinds of social disruption that emerge with the use of social media services.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper uses a meta-ethnographical approach and draws on results from three online ethnographic studies. User activities are conceptualised as social information behaviour and focus is put on potential social disruption.
Findings
The paper discusses five prevalent tensions relating to social disruption: market logic and social logic; public and private; work and non-work; individual and collective; and IRL (In Real Life) or AFK (Away From Keyboard).
Research limitations/implications
The paper mainly focuses on the disruptive side of social information behaviour. Future work would include studies and comparisons of serendipitous effects.
Practical implications
The findings are relevant for library and information science academics, analysts and professionals interested in social information behaviour as it emerges over new social mediating technologies.
Originality/value
This paper proposes the notion of social information behaviour and provides a conceptual analytical pair in serendipity and social disruption. Theoretical discussion is conducted with reference to “ironic technics”. The paper compiles and highlights prevalent social disruptions from previous online ethnographical studies on social media usage.
Wednesday, 9 May 2012
After method? Ethnography in the knowledge economy
an article by David Mills and Richard Ratcliffe (University of Oxford) published in Qualitative Research Volume 12 Number 2 (April 2012)
Abstract
In this article we argue that the knowledge economy is reshaping anthropological research and popular understandings of ethnography. Interviews with British social anthropologists working in, and outside, academia provide insights into how the practices and meanings of ethnography are being reworked.
UK policy expectations that research (and its impact) can be measured, monitored and accounted for in monetary terms place particular demands on qualitative social research.
To make our case, we focus on the prominence of the business metaphor of the ‘value chain’ in contemporary accounting practice and its use in the quantitative measurement of social research. Within social anthropology this new economy of measurement can be seen in debates over fieldwork practice. We show that as anthropology departments harden their methodological allegiances to fieldwork, very different understandings of ethnography are being developed beyond the academy.
We conclude that methods, and debates over methods, are prisms through which to understand the changing social and economic expectations placed upon qualitative research.
Abstract
In this article we argue that the knowledge economy is reshaping anthropological research and popular understandings of ethnography. Interviews with British social anthropologists working in, and outside, academia provide insights into how the practices and meanings of ethnography are being reworked.
UK policy expectations that research (and its impact) can be measured, monitored and accounted for in monetary terms place particular demands on qualitative social research.
To make our case, we focus on the prominence of the business metaphor of the ‘value chain’ in contemporary accounting practice and its use in the quantitative measurement of social research. Within social anthropology this new economy of measurement can be seen in debates over fieldwork practice. We show that as anthropology departments harden their methodological allegiances to fieldwork, very different understandings of ethnography are being developed beyond the academy.
We conclude that methods, and debates over methods, are prisms through which to understand the changing social and economic expectations placed upon qualitative research.
Tuesday, 8 May 2012
Making organisational ethnography
an article by Tony J. Watson, (Nottingham University Business School) published in Journal of Organizational Ethnography Volume 1 Issue 1 (2012)
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the “manifesto” for organisational ethnography being put forward in the first issue of the Journal of Organizational Ethnography.
Design/methodology/approach
The author draws upon several decades of personal experience of field research and ethnographic writing, in and around organisations, to suggest ways in which this type of research and publication can be advanced.
Findings
It is wise to see ethnography as much more than a research method; it is a way of presenting research – research which can be carried out using a variety of investigative methods in addition to the essential activity of intensive field research. To work fully within the spirit of ethnography, it is vital to set organisational activities within the broad societal order of which they are part. Ethnographic researchers should consider undertaking “everyday ethnography” (seeking ethnographic insights in the course of their daily lives) as an element of their studies.
Originality/value
The paper provides a clear and bold guide to the nature and practice of organisational ethnography based on extensive research and writing experience in the field.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the “manifesto” for organisational ethnography being put forward in the first issue of the Journal of Organizational Ethnography.
Design/methodology/approach
The author draws upon several decades of personal experience of field research and ethnographic writing, in and around organisations, to suggest ways in which this type of research and publication can be advanced.
Findings
It is wise to see ethnography as much more than a research method; it is a way of presenting research – research which can be carried out using a variety of investigative methods in addition to the essential activity of intensive field research. To work fully within the spirit of ethnography, it is vital to set organisational activities within the broad societal order of which they are part. Ethnographic researchers should consider undertaking “everyday ethnography” (seeking ethnographic insights in the course of their daily lives) as an element of their studies.
Originality/value
The paper provides a clear and bold guide to the nature and practice of organisational ethnography based on extensive research and writing experience in the field.
Thursday, 15 December 2011
Ethnography goes online: towards a user-centred methodology to research interpersonal communication on the Internet
an article by Roser Beneito-Montagut (Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Spain) published in Qualitative Research Volume 11 Number 6 (December 2011)
Abstract
Ethnographic research is increasingly concerned with how the Internet operates within our everyday life. This article attempts to offer a methodological contribution of online communication and an exploration of initial empirical data generated with this methodology. The article calls for a specification of how ethnography can be applied appropriately to the study of relationships online. It departs from the real versus virtual dichotomy, offering a user-centred methodology to study interpersonal communications on the internet. It suggests the use of three main strategies to pay tribute to the characteristics of uses online: multi-situated, online and offline, and flexible and multimedia data collection methods. This approach facilitates a holistic analysis of the way in which social information and communication technologies operate within society in everyday life. It deals with the problem of defining the setting of research online and proposes an expanded ethnography. The article specifies details of this methodology for research into interpersonal communications and emotions online. It does so by drawing on empirical data generated in a study on everyday life and emotions on the internet. Epistemic questions related to this methodological approach will also be discussed. Overall, the exemplification suggests that the methodological approach proposed here is able to capture the uses and understandings of the Internet.
Abstract
Ethnographic research is increasingly concerned with how the Internet operates within our everyday life. This article attempts to offer a methodological contribution of online communication and an exploration of initial empirical data generated with this methodology. The article calls for a specification of how ethnography can be applied appropriately to the study of relationships online. It departs from the real versus virtual dichotomy, offering a user-centred methodology to study interpersonal communications on the internet. It suggests the use of three main strategies to pay tribute to the characteristics of uses online: multi-situated, online and offline, and flexible and multimedia data collection methods. This approach facilitates a holistic analysis of the way in which social information and communication technologies operate within society in everyday life. It deals with the problem of defining the setting of research online and proposes an expanded ethnography. The article specifies details of this methodology for research into interpersonal communications and emotions online. It does so by drawing on empirical data generated in a study on everyday life and emotions on the internet. Epistemic questions related to this methodological approach will also be discussed. Overall, the exemplification suggests that the methodological approach proposed here is able to capture the uses and understandings of the Internet.
Monday, 7 November 2011
‘Being there’ the experience of shadowing a British Muslim Hospital chaplain
by Sophie Gilliat-Ray (Cardiff University) published in Qualitative Research Volume 11 Number 5 (October 2011)
Abstract
This article critically evaluates ‘shadowing’ as a qualitative research method.
Sometimes described as the relatively straightforward opportunity to observe and record the actions and behaviours of a single individual during the course of their everyday working activities (McDonald, 2005), this article demonstrates that shadowing is often a highly disruptive and to some extent performative undertaking, both for the researched and for the researcher. Yet, it is precisely the disruptive potential of shadowing that makes it a valuable data collection method, offering the opportunity to gain significant insights that would be largely unobtainable via any other method.
Following a brief discussion of shadowing as a research tool and an introduction to the ‘Muslim Chaplaincy Project’, the remainder of the article describes the experience of shadowing an individual Muslim hospital chaplain in detail. What becomes apparent is that shadowing has the potential to blur into other qualitative data collection methods (e.g. interviewing), especially when those we are shadowing have developed roles that engage them in various discursive communities, and a range of cooperative networks. Shadowing such individuals complicates our understanding of how this method operates in practice.
Abstract
This article critically evaluates ‘shadowing’ as a qualitative research method.
Sometimes described as the relatively straightforward opportunity to observe and record the actions and behaviours of a single individual during the course of their everyday working activities (McDonald, 2005), this article demonstrates that shadowing is often a highly disruptive and to some extent performative undertaking, both for the researched and for the researcher. Yet, it is precisely the disruptive potential of shadowing that makes it a valuable data collection method, offering the opportunity to gain significant insights that would be largely unobtainable via any other method.
Following a brief discussion of shadowing as a research tool and an introduction to the ‘Muslim Chaplaincy Project’, the remainder of the article describes the experience of shadowing an individual Muslim hospital chaplain in detail. What becomes apparent is that shadowing has the potential to blur into other qualitative data collection methods (e.g. interviewing), especially when those we are shadowing have developed roles that engage them in various discursive communities, and a range of cooperative networks. Shadowing such individuals complicates our understanding of how this method operates in practice.
Wednesday, 19 October 2011
Ethnicity, job search and labor market reintegration of the unemployed
an article by Amelie F. Constant, Martin Kahanec, Ulf Rinne and Klaus F. Zimmermann published in International Journal of Manpower Volume 32 Issue 7 (2011)
Abstract
PurposeThis paper seeks to shed further light on the native-migrant differences in economic outcomes. The aim is to investigate labor market reintegration, patterns of job search, and reservation wages across unemployed migrants and natives in Germany.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is based on the IZA Evaluation Dataset, a recently collected rich survey of a representative sample of entrants into unemployment in Germany. The data include a large number of migration variables, allowing us to adapt a recently developed concept of ethnic identity: the ethnosizer. The authors analyse these data using the OLS technique as well as probabilistic regression models.
Findings
The results indicate that separated migrants have a relatively slow reintegration into the labour market. It can be argued that this group exerts a relatively low search effort and that it has reservation wages which are moderate, yet still above the level which would imply similar employment probabilities as other groups of migrants.
Research limitations/implications
The findings indicate that special attention needs to be paid by policy makers to various forms of social and cultural integration, as it has significant repercussions on matching in the labour market.
Originality/value
The paper identifies a previously unmapped relationship between ethnic identity and labour market outcomes.
Abstract
PurposeThis paper seeks to shed further light on the native-migrant differences in economic outcomes. The aim is to investigate labor market reintegration, patterns of job search, and reservation wages across unemployed migrants and natives in Germany.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is based on the IZA Evaluation Dataset, a recently collected rich survey of a representative sample of entrants into unemployment in Germany. The data include a large number of migration variables, allowing us to adapt a recently developed concept of ethnic identity: the ethnosizer. The authors analyse these data using the OLS technique as well as probabilistic regression models.
Findings
The results indicate that separated migrants have a relatively slow reintegration into the labour market. It can be argued that this group exerts a relatively low search effort and that it has reservation wages which are moderate, yet still above the level which would imply similar employment probabilities as other groups of migrants.
Research limitations/implications
The findings indicate that special attention needs to be paid by policy makers to various forms of social and cultural integration, as it has significant repercussions on matching in the labour market.
Originality/value
The paper identifies a previously unmapped relationship between ethnic identity and labour market outcomes.
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