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The Professional Stranger: An Informal Introduction To Ethnography
... Over time, we developed a diagram that depicted the complex network in which IU navigates, and gives insight into the many stakeholders that need to be considered in relation to data handling, for example [42]. in Denmark [42] The themes of such early publications are often suggested by debriefing meetings with the research group or supervisor (See section 4 Challenges as learning opportunities above). Such debriefings also help to identify so-called ethnographic rich points (Agar, 1996), episodes encountered by the researchers that are experienced as unusual or surprising, and often lead to a deeper understanding of the research subject. In ethnographic and anthropological research, such rich encounters often provide a starting point for the analysis of the field material. ...
... One approach to practically guiding the data collection and analysis is to look for rich points. Rich points are those surprises and insights that the researchers (and the participants) encounter during the action research [2]. They fuel ethnographic research, which is recommended for both the first needs analysis phase and final evaluation phase of the CMD approach. ...
... It foregrounds rich points and their connection across domains and levels, rather than aiming to translate them into a generalisable pattern [1, p. 9]. This provides the capacity to identify individual 'complications and contradictions, not as evidence for the encyclopaedia, but as problems to explain in their own right' [2]. ...
Action research provides the opportunity to explore the usefulness and usability of software engineering methods in industrial settings, and makes it possible to develop methods, tools and techniques with software engineering practitioners. However, as the research moves beyond the observational approach, it requires a different kind of interaction with the software development organisation. This makes action research a challenging endeavour, and it makes it difficult to teach action research through a course that goes beyond explaining the principles. This chapter is intended to support learning and teaching action research, by providing a rich set of examples, and identifying tools that we found helpful in our action research projects. The core of this chapter focusses on our interaction with the participating developers and domain experts, and the organisational setting. This chapter is structured around a set of challenges that reoccurred in the action research projects in which the authors participated. Each section is accompanied by a toolkit that presents related techniques and tools. The exercises are designed to explore the topics, and practise using the tools and techniques presented. We hope the material in this chapter encourages researchers who are new to action research to further explore this promising opportunity.
... Finally, one could argue that pulling samples across contexts falsely presents a narrative about the larger symphony that is schooling and the communities with which schools are knotted (Nespor, 1997). However, as Agar (1996) reminds us, even in the case of one student, some information will inevitably be left out of the final scholarly work. Though, in a conversation about consent, it is worth pausing to consider if participants can fully consent to the researcher's body/bodies of scholarship. ...
... Working in service toward and with ethical lines of care and consent, I worked to ensure that although these samples are borrowed from the lives to which they ultimately belong, it is also crucial to note that these samples are massively overdetermined (Agar, 1996). By this I mean that the themes related to these samples were recurrent in their contexts and, one can easily argue, are iterations that occur across sociocultural contexts. ...
Speaking from the intersections of curriculum theory and sound studies, the purpose of this paper is to think critically about the sociohistorical, political, and cultural assemblages that form and inform what I am calling a “critical consent curriculum.” This is at once a call for curriculum theorizing to become central to all teacher education programs in terms of how consent is discussed in schools and across systems of schooling, while thinking about the many ways that consent (and,
relatedly, refusal) are enmeshed with one’s relations and relationships (Gilbert, 2018; Gilbert et al., 2011; Glissant, 1990; Hunter & Cowan, 2007).
... The final part of the book provides readers with practical and easy-to-understand ways to collect data and achieve the difficult-to-understand goal of analyzing and understanding qualitative data. Or, as Agar (1980) puts it, "Now is the time to worry about something implicit in discussions of methodology namely the mysterious procedures by which you can turn what you see and hear into intelligible explanations." There is no doubt that making sense of a Lichtman coin is the most difficult thing for students and researchers to do. ...
... Lichtman does an excellent job of focusing on what matters to students and simplifying data analysis and interpretation while remaining cognizant of the complexities of qualitative research. I invented the "Three Cs: Coding, Categorizing, and Conceptualizing" to help students acquire the "hidden processes" mentioned by Agar (1980), and that in itself is an important contribution. It is my sincere hope that future teachers and students will be able to read this text and not only understand and research it but also have the belief and mindset that quality matters. ...
... Then, often using sonic ethnographic techniques (e.g., Gershon, 2019;Wozolek, 2023) I take sound files and other artifacts home and listen to them until participant voices reverberate like my maniacal laughter; estranged yet distinctly a part of me. Then, when I've reached a point where things are massively overdetermined (Agar, 1996), I write. Although I approached the study and analysis with a particular attention, vulnerability, and, frankly, a fear of "getting it all wrong" (Wolcott, 1990, p. 127), I often let go when I write. ...
... While scholars should have ethical commitments to represent narratives as they were presented, we ultimately decide which representative quotes to include to render them sensible to the larger context. As Agar (1996) argued, eventually some data ends up on the proverbial cutting room floor and scholars have the responsibility-and the privilege-of deciding what is brought to the manuscript and what is left behind. For example, although I presented a piece of my text messages above, dialogues between family members continued as I have been writing this paper. ...
Using grief as a node of beginning, this paper considers how all qualitative writing is an intra-action through which the process of engaging with one’s memory, remembering, and collective memory co-constitutes subjectivities and agency within and across the writing process. Therefore, this paper argues that through writing qualitatively, both the author, as well as broader sociopolitical norms and values be and become in ways that are worth our attention and intention as researchers and participants in local and less local contexts.
... The work uses information provided by means of ethnography, due to the complex nature of the phenomena, following several important authors (Agar, 1980) This study is exploratory due two reasons: i) there is no specific sociological literature on pedestrian crossings; and ii) the empirical study provides data that, while consistent with studies in other fields and on related topics, is limited to the analysis of three main points in the city of Braga: i) S. Vicente (North); i) S. João (south); Bragaparque (east). These three places correspond to three important mobility points in the city. ...
Título: Travesías peatonales haciendo tiempo y tejiendo ritmos: una breve visión sobre la ciudad de Braga Resumen: Este estudio destaca el papel de las travesías peatonales en la configuración y revelación de los ritmos y dinámicas de la vida urbana. Más allá de funcionar como simples puntos de tránsito, estas travesías operan como cronotopos-lugares donde el tiempo y el espacio se entrelazan para facilitar interacciones sociales, expresiones de libertad y momentos de ocio. Sin embargo, también representan barreras, a menudo desalentando el movimiento al mismo tiempo que invitan a las personas a navegar, desafiar o incluso transgredir normas establecidas. A través de un estudio exploratorio realizado en Braga, Portugal, este texto examina las prácticas de movilidad y las experiencias vividas en torno a las travesías peatonales. Además, ofrece una reflexión crítica sobre las dimensiones políticas de la infraestructura peatonal, abogando por la integración explícita de las travesías en las políticas de tiempo urbano para fomentar entornos urbanos más cohesivos e inclusivos. Palabras clave: Tiempo, Espacio, Ciudade, Travesías peatonales. Título: Travessias pedonais fazendo tempo e tecendo ritmos: uma breve visão sobre a cidade de Braga Resumo: Este estudo destaca o papel das travessias pedonais na configuração e revelação dos ritmos e dinâmicas da vida urbana. Mais do que funcionarem como meros pontos de trânsito, essas travessias operam como cronotopos-locais onde o tempo e o espaço se cruzam para facilitar interações sociais, expressões de liberdade e momentos de lazer. No entanto, elas também representam barreiras, muitas vezes desencorajando o movimento enquanto simultaneamente convidam as pessoas a navegar, desafiar ou até mesmo transgredir normas estabelecidas. Por meio de um estudo exploratório realizado em Braga, Portugal, este texto examina práticas de mobilidade e as experiências vividas ao redor das travessias pedonais. Além disso, oferece uma reflexão crítica sobre as dimensões políticas da infraestrutura pedonal, defendendo a integração explícita das travessias nas políticas urbanas de tempo para promover ambientes urbanos mais coesos e inclusivos. Palavras-chave: Tempo, Espaço, Cidade, travessias pedonais. Abstract: This study underscores the role of pedestrian crossings in shaping and revealing the rhythms and dynamics of urban life. Beyond functioning as mere transit points, these crossings operate as chronotopes-sites where time and space intersect to facilitate social interactions, expressions of freedom, and moments of leisure. However, they also embody barriers, often discouraging movement while simultaneously inviting people to navigate, challenge, or even transgress established norms. Through an exploratory study conducted in Braga, Portugal, this text examines mobility practices and the lived experiences surrounding pedestrian crossings. It further provides a critical reflection on the political dimensions of pedestrian infrastructure, advocating for the explicit integration of crossings within urban time policies to foster more cohesive, inclusive urban environments.
... This decision stemmed from the authors' aim of exploring (as a first approximation) the social factors of farm workers' biosecurity practices in situ in different contexts, coupled with the study's own economic constraints. Indeed, while fieldwork in traditional ethnography tends to be long-term, it can be appropriate in short-term ethnography when specific and limited objectives are set (Hammersley and Atkinson, 2019;Agar, 1980), as was the case in this study. The following areas of the farms were considered for the fieldwork: pen area, calf area, quarantine and nursing area, milking parlours, feed, substrate and waste storage areas, machinery and equipment rooms, offices and warehouses, and arable land. ...
This study explores the implementation of biosecurity measures by farm workers through daily work routines on dairy cattle farms in Spain. The implementation of biosecurity measures on dairy cattle farms is mainly decided by farmers and veterinarians, but it is carried out by both farmers and farm workers. However, farm workers may be affected by socio-employment factors such as the precariousness of their work such that implementation of biosecurity measures may be context dependent and may differ from official recommendations. An ethnographic approach was used through observations and conversations on four farms in two regions of Spain, two in Galicia (north-west) and two in Catalonia (north-east) to explore these factors. The profiles of participants were farmer-family workers, internal worker-employees and external worker-employees. Results showed that there were social differences, particularly communicative and hierarchical differences, between workers and farmers that influenced the implementation of biosecurity measures. Workers implemented biosecurity practices incompletely, differently or incorrectly from their supervisors’ instructions. Workers also relied on what the authors called an anthropomorphic approach to implementing biosecurity measures, which deviated from farm guidelines. In order to improve the implementation of biosecurity measures on dairy cattle farms, it is necessary to consider workers as key stakeholders in biosecurity. Such consideration could also help to professionalise workers, reduce their turnover and increase their permanence on these farms.
... Content analysis is a method that allows researchers to draw inferences about psychological behaviors and communication styles in a group (Weber, 1990). It involves categorizing words within the text into fewer categories (Kleinheksel et al., 2020), facilitating the construction of concepts based on data rather than preconceived notions or biases (Agar, 1980). ...
Ransomware attacks and similar threats have become increasingly prevalent, often involving demands for ransom payments, sometimes repeated. This underscores the critical importance of organizational learning (OL) in protecting information assets. However, OL alone may not suffice to prevent cyberattacks exploiting zero-day capabilities. Thus, this research explores OL challenges and outcomes, examining notable past cybersecurity incidents in the United States. Through a timeline analysis, initial findings reveal two primary categories of OL challenges: pre-incident factors such as zero-day capabilities, and post-incident factors such as information asymmetry and an uneven playing field that favors cyber offense over defense. These challenges are identified as organizational tensions that serve as a negative force to OL. Building on these insights, the study proposes strategies to mitigate these tensions. In summary, this study contributes valuable insights into OL dynamics within a complex organizational context marked by intricate system dependencies.
... It could be argued that making snap judgements does not allow for person-centred care. It is generally part of a cultural group's behaviour to have "types" of people and to be able to categorise them (Agar, 1980;Atkinson and Housley, 2003). When we meet someone for the first time, we have a natural tendency to categorise that person, and this assists us in predicting how that person might behave. ...
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore how the ethnographic researcher navigates their insider–outsider status and provides a methodological contribution to this important aspect of ethnographic research; this will be framed from the researcher’s perspective using a semi-autoethnographic approach. The ethnographic study being reflected upon explored the culture in a Diagnostic Imaging Department (DID), looking at how radiographers work and what the issues were within their working environment. The original study was carried out within one DID in a District General Hospital in the East of England (Strudwick, 2011).
Design/methodology/approach
In the original study, the researcher used ethnography to study the culture in a DID. Observation was carried out for a four-month period. Field notes were recorded and used to formulate topics for the interviews that were to follow. After the observation, the researcher conducted semi-structured interviews with key informants from the DID. Ten key informants were purposefully sampled from the DID to provide a cross-section of opinion from the staff. The data collected were analysed to identify key themes. This paper reflects on the data from the original study to explore the tensions between the insider and outsider researcher role and how this contributes to the way the ethnographic researcher views the environment, reports on their findings and how they feel about the data from their own perspective.
Findings
Ethnographers carrying out research in their own area of practice need to try to think like an outsider in order to see the environment with a sense of strangeness but also try to make sense of what the participants are thinking and doing. There is a tension between becoming part of the group in order to understand it and looking at the environment as an outsider in order to make a note of what is happening. Findings from the original ethnographic study will be used to illustrate this point and will be used to reflect on the feelings of the researcher, considering her insider and outsider status.
Research limitations/implications
This study was carried out in one diagnostic imaging department in the east of England.
Originality/value
The author, who is a diagnostic radiographer and radiography educator reflects on how she managed the insider–outsider tension during her ethnographic observation and after the event when reflecting on the data from the original study.
... El método etnográfico es una experiencia y un proceso(Agar 1980) que nos permite arribar a una "descripción densa"(Geertz 1987) de lo que estudiamos. 5 Para proteger la identidad de las mujeres en situación de violencia de género, a lo largo del texto no se menciona el nombre de las entrevistadas. ...
En este artículo, reflexionAMOS sobre las estrategias, respuestas y límites que enfrentan las CAMIA (Casas de las Mujeres Indígenas y Afromexicanas del norte de México) en su lucha contra la violencia de género y la defensa de sus derechos, en el marco de la Cuarta Transformación y la pandemia global. Visibilizo que las mujeres indígenas de esta organización construyen sus agendas de género situando sus demandas en sus propias gramáticas culturales, contemplando que su lucha contra la violencia que las afecta (la cual se incrementó con la pandemia) no puede desvincularse de los derechos colectivos de las comunidades a las que pertenecen. Las CAMIA vernacularizan los discursos de los derechos de género como una herramienta importante para extraer mayores concesiones al Estado mexicano, abriendo los debates sobre los órdenes de género, el acceso a la justicia y las políticas sobre equidad e igualdad. Esta resemantización y disputa por la defensa de sus derechos muestra los avances de la actual situación política mexicana, pero a la vez, las fuertes tensiones y desencuentros entre las organizaciones de mujeres indígenas y el gobierno central.
... Antes de retomar el argumento central abordado, debo mencionar un poco más sobre el contexto israelí que me sirvió para mi propia comparación controlada con México. No tenía un mes de ubicado como "profesional extraño" (Agar, 1980) que recibí una invitación de la embajada mexicana para celebrar, no el usual 5 de mayo como cabría esperar, sino nada menos que la Guelaguetza. ¿Guelaguetza en Tel Aviv? ...
A raíz de la discusión sostenida en páginas del Journal of Ethnographic Theory entre Tim Ingold y Alpa Shah, se hace un análisis de la discordancia en la observación participante en ambos componentes. Mientras Ingold lo ve como un aprendizaje, Shah lo percibe como un medio revolucionario. Esta discordancia se percibe de modo más amplio en todas las experiencias etnográficas. Luego de revisar los orígenes históricos de la observación participante, se adentra en sus discordancias cíclicas. Para mejor comprensión de esta disgregación se utilizan dos ejemplos etnográficos personales en Israel y Michoacán. Se concluye que los profesionales estamos perdiendo conocimientos gracias a esta diferencia interna.
... Interviews were conducted in either English, Chinese, or Portuguese, and were recorded and transcribed (The 42 brief interviews were transcribed but not audio recorded.). In addition, we scrutinized a myriad of pertinent documents, including event websites, media reports, statistical data, and tourist maps (Agar, 1996;Stewart, 1998;Willis and Trondman, 2000). We also analyzed the visual and auditory content of the AR games. ...
This study examines the reinvention of Portugal’s traditional arraial festival in the postcolonial city of Macau. It assesses the transposition of the arraial’s cultural significance from a Portuguese summertime event to an innovative tourist attraction that integrates Portuguese colonial symbols with interactive augmented reality experiences in three historic Macau neighborhoods. The research draws on stakeholder interviews, ethnographic observations, and analysis of game content to scrutinize how this tourist festival forges Macau’s hybrid post-colonial identity through visitor virtual engagement with Portuguese heritage. While the arraial is unique among Macau’s tourist festivals for its emphasis on Portuguese culture, it sometimes sanitizes colonial events or perpetuates historical social divides under the premise of harmonious cultural fusion. The research offers insights into the dynamics of tourism in postcolonial regions, the impact of cultural festivals as tourist attractions, and the educational potential of gamification in conveying heritage.
... When this occurs, much of what is happening becomes invisible, even to the principle actor in the group. The task, then, for the teacher who takes on a research role is to make the familiar strange (Agar, 1980)--to stand apart from the group for a time in order to systematically observe its ordinary patterns. Distance is needed to make what is ordinarily invisible (e.g., what the teacher cannot see while engaged in teaching) visible. ...
In this article, the situation of teacher researchers is explored from a sociocultural perspective. Teacher researchers are viewed as an emergent community of educators who position themselves for leadership and change in the traditional, role-based distinctions that divide research and practice. By taking the classroom as the central focal point for researchers and teachers alike, and applying a concept of insiders and outsiders to what happens there, a wide range of actors and issues involved in generating theories and informing practice is made visible. Inquiry, whomever conducts it, is viewed as an active process through which purposes are systematically and intentionally related to issues of setting, time, conditions, actions to be taken, and audience(s). Directions for the future of the teacher research movement are located in a focus on student learning, what we shall choose to count as learning when learning counts, and how we should value the social consequences of learning.
... First socialized in Germany, she spent several years in Latin America, and speaks fluent Portuguese. Being an outsider to the Brazilian culture and the organizations allowed the researcher to recognize specific cultural particularities through contrasts and differences to her home culture and other cultures she has lived in (Agar, 1980;Simmel, 1950). Having previously lived in Brazil provided her valuable insights into the local culture and language, and the ability to quickly connect with the interview participants. ...
Purpose
Recent calls in international management (IM) research ask scholars to conduct more context-sensitive research, however; little attention has been paid to the methodological particularities that inform such context sensitivity. This paper aims to addresses this shortcoming by exploring how emic concepts implicate IM research processes during qualitative field studies.
Design/methodology/approach
We carried out ethnographic fieldwork in Brazilian subsidiaries of three German multinational enterprises. We relied on the researchers’ experiences and data from a larger research project including 63 semi-structured interviews, 7 focus groups, documents and field notes. Adopting a culturally sensitive and self-reflexive lens, we reflect on the researchers’ experiences in the Brazilian sociocultural context from an interpretive paradigm.
Findings
Our findings reveal how seven identified emic concepts affect four prototypical phases of the research process: securing access, collecting data, analyzing data and presenting findings. We discuss how these seven emic concepts influenced the research process and impacted research outcomes, as experienced by the researchers.
Research limitations/implications
Findings are limited by our self-reflexive capabilities as foreign researchers, the limited explanatory power of emic categories, our paradigmatic positioning and the research context.
Practical implications
We contribute to research practice by providing eight suggestions for conducting international fieldwork and proposing avenues for future research.
Originality/value
This research contributes to the epistemological and methodological debate on context-sensitive research by arguing that intercultural sensitivity needs to be managed as an integral dimension for any form of international fieldwork. Findings contribute to interpretive approaches showing how emic concepts affect research practices, with implications for critical management perspectives.
... For instance, they would consider the context in which a statement was made, or the tone of voice used, to enrich data evaluation. Employing a constructivist-interpretive methodology, the research design aimed to explore the "how" and "what" of organizational dynamics, acknowledging the influence of behaviors, beliefs, and language within the cultural context of the group under study (Harris, 1968;Agar, 1996). ...
Online programs have made a lasting impact on institutions of higher learning for several decades. This ethnographic qualitative study focused on the development and support of a distance learning department at a Hispanic-serving institution. The study aimed to identify unique organizational elements specific to this Hispanic-serving institution. The findings were significant, revealing that the Distance Learning department, operating under an “academic umbrella”, functioned as a comprehensive hub for both faculty and student support, offering a wide range of services including technical and instructional technology support. Furthermore, the study found that the department's placement under the “academic umbrella” not only centralized support but also lightened professors’ coursework loads by assisting students with instructional technology support.
... Alongside above points, a significant corpus of research upholds a binary position of the ethnographic researcher as 'an outsider' (Agar, 1986(Agar, , 1996Ahmed, 2000;Lofland, 1995;Walsh, 1998). This is the position some studies of oilfields and similar 'closed' locales largely adopt. ...
Energy-ethnographies of ‘closed’ workplaces detail practices for achieving robust, authentic research. However, few publications highlight -experientially- benefits of developing connections; learning specifics of environments, peoples and customs prior to beginning ethnography proper. Developing knowledge is (a) necessary for organisational locales, to achieve accurate, thorough and representative accounts of peoples, places, and cultures; and (b) grants the researcher ‘insider status’; enhancing depth, quality, authenticity and knowledge. Observations are deconstructed in the context of my past doctoral studies, where an ‘enhanced’ dual ‘embedded-actualised’ ethnography was used to examine linkages between oilmen, masculinities, and safety and risk practices onboard a remote UK North Sea offshore oil-gas drilling platform, with initial research conducted first in an ‘onshore’ site of labour. This ‘dual’ approach facilitated legitimacy, trust, rapport and acceptance, resulting in unique oilfield access, in-depth and novel findings uncommon of similar-topic research. A pathway for scholars to utilise methodological learnings vis-à-vis ‘embeddedness’ is presented.
... The group interview with the school student safety team was undertaken at the beginning of the fieldwork as a means of providing an overview of the situation at the school and informing the subsequent participant observations. The participant observations, in turn, were a central part of the data collection, but also served to build rapport with teachers and students and inform the subsequent interviews, which were undertaken after the first week of fieldwork (Agar 1980;Hammersley and Atkinson 2007). Different kinds of fieldnotes were taken during the fieldwork, including descriptive notes, reflexive notes, and analytic notes (Emerson, Fretz, and Shaw 1995). ...
... Simultáneamente establecimos entrevistas no directivas con autoridades y funcionarios en actividad y retirados del SPF; así como una multiplicidad de conversaciones formales e informales con profesionales con conocimientos específicos vinculados a la agencia penitenciaria en cuestión, que en algunos casos integran o integraron con anterioridad equipos de conducción y trabajo involucrados en el diseño de los sistemas informáticos mencionados. Todo ello a fin de obtener conceptos experienciales que pudieran dar cuenta del modo en que estos actores conciben, viven y asignan contenidos a las respuestas estatales bajo estudio (Agar, 1980). Luego se focalizaron las actividades en el trabajo con documentos oficiales del SPF relacionados al objeto de 1 Prueba de ello es la reciente aprobación de la resolución 78/265 de la Asamblea General de Naciones Unidas «Sistemas seguros y fiables de inteligencia artificial para el desarrollo sostenible». ...
Con la crisis social, política y económica de 2001 en Argentina se inició la ruptura de un modelo de gestión penitenciaria de larga data que con sus vaivenes había sido sostenido centralmente sobre los principios del reformismo punitivo y el ideario resocializador desde la conformación del Estado nacional. Gran parte de este cambio de rumbo quedó plasmado en el Plan Estratégico Operativo 2016-2020 que por primera vez introdujo, además, sistemas informatizados y automatizados para la toma de decisiones en la gestión integral de la población privada de la libertad en Argentina. El artículo está sustentado en un trabajo empírico de corte etnográfico dedicado en particular al estudio del proceso de diseño de uno de estos sistemas con el objeto de repensar los cruces entre sus marcos de conformación y la observancia de los principios establecidos en la normativa nacional, las recomendaciones internacionales en materia de derechos humanos y los discursos institucionales de la agencia penitenciaria que tradicionalmente han guiado la gestión de las prisiones federales en el país. Sin antecedentes en el estudio sobre el uso de estos sistemas en Argentina, lo que se presenta es un conjunto de resultados preliminares que ofrece algunas bases para la discusión y el análisis de los avances, problemas y desafíos que presenta el proceso de tecnologización y digitalización de la gestión penitenciaria nacional.
... What is 'new' is therefore also a question of the perception of differences between 'old/familiar/known' and 'new/unfamiliar/ unknown', which utilise spatial and, above all, temporal scales. For this reason, the new does not become immediately apparent but only through comparison, which is particularly difficult in ethnographic research, not least because usually only current practice is considered and that in a specific local context, which always appears new to the ethnographer as a 'professional stranger' (Agar, 1996), at least in certain respects. ...
Open Access: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/oa-edit/10.4324/9781032629384/novelty-innovation-transformation-educational-ethnographic-research-j%C3%BCrgen-budde-georg-ri%C3%9Fler-anke-wischmann-michael-meier-sternberg
... But where to start the analysis is a conundrum when faced with so much rich data. One useful technique is to look for "rich points" [2]. These are surprises or notable insights that researchers experience while in the field. ...
Ethnography has become one of the established methods for empirical research on software engineering. Although there is a wide variety of introductory books available, there has been no material targeting software engineering students particularly, until now. In this chapter we provide an introduction to teaching and learning ethnography for faculty teaching ethnography to software engineering graduate students and for the students themselves of such courses. The contents of the chapter focuses on what we think is the core basic knowledge for newbies to ethnography as a research method. We complement the text with proposals for exercises, tips for teaching, and pitfalls that we and our students have experienced. The chapter is designed to support part of a course on empirical software engineering and provides pointers and literature for further reading.
... Another anchor point on which the public/private distinction operates is moving. Balancing work, my professional self-a researcher who came to Japan to collect data, or a professional stranger in ethnographic terms (Agar 1996), a self that I wanted to present to my interactants-was confronted with a natural wish to reconnect with friends, make new friendships, and enjoy my private life there. ...
In diesem Beitrag reflektiere ich über die Zusammenhänge von Mobilität, Emotionen, Ideen und Wahrnehmungen im Kontext der öffentlich/privat-Distinktion während meines Feldforschungsauf-enthalts in Japan. Dabei präsentiere ich meine Aufzeichnungen in einem Forschungstagebuch als eine reflexive Methode, durch die ich meine eigene Position und die damit verbundenen Annahmen über soziale Beziehungen im Feld kritisch hinterfragen konnte. Während meiner konzeptionellen Auseinandersetzung mit dem Tagebuch wurde mir die Notwendigkeit bewusst, mich stärker auf subjektive Perspektiven in meiner Forschung zu fokussieren. Dies führte dazu, dass ich im Verlauf meines Aufenthalts meine Forschungsmethoden anpassen konnte.
... Another anchor point on which the public/private distinction operates is moving. Balancing work, my professional self-a researcher who came to Japan to collect data, or a professional stranger in ethnographic terms (Agar 1996), a self that I wanted to present to my interactants-was confronted with a natural wish to reconnect with friends, make new friendships, and enjoy my private life there. 5 While in ethnographies on Japan, ethnographers' relations with interlocutors in the field are described as degrees of intimacy (in a broad sense) or closeness (e.g., Alexy & Cook 2019), linguistic anthropologists have conceptualized social relations in fieldwork as rapport (Goebel 2019(Goebel , 2021, or the conflicting nature of contact as discordance (Takekuro 2018). ...
This Special Issue of the Wiener Linguistische Gazette, titled "Navigating methodological landscapes: Reflexive insights from applied linguistics," addresses the multifaceted challenges that doctoral students face in their research journeys. Framing PhD studies as a complex and often arduous process, this issue brings together contributions by doctoral students who reflect on their methodological struggles and triumphs.
Carina Lozo examines the integration of acoustic phonetics and interactional sociolinguistics, highlighting the epistemological tensions and practical difficulties. Roshanak Nouralian discusses her adoption of Grounded Theory and the enriching yet challenging process of exploring new disciplinary methods. Florian Grosser provides an ethnographic account of conducting fieldwork in Japan, emphasizing the personal and professional complexities, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. Vinicio Ntouvlis explores digital ethnography, focusing on the importance of media ideologies in establishing research relationships online. Lastly, Jenia Yudytska addresses ethical considerations in digital communication research, particularly the need for dynamic approaches to safeguard participant privacy.
Through these diverse perspectives, the Special Issue aims to provide valuable insights and foster a sense of solidarity among doctoral students navigating their own methodological landscapes. This collection is not only a reflection on individual experiences but also a collective effort to voice the often overlooked aspects of doctoral research in applied linguistics.
... Por otra parte, el análisis intensivo, como lo denomina Michael Agar (1980), se inserta en una concepción dialéctica del proceso de investigación, lo que implica que, cada vez que se recolecten (produzcan) datos, deben analizarse para intentar darles sentido, para luego volver a recolectar (producir) más datos y ver si encajan en las explicaciones previamente elaboradas, lo que supone realizar más análisis. Este proceso circular se detiene, al menos de manera ideal, en el momento en que el investigador queda conforme con las explicaciones que ha formulado (Agar, 1980), o cuando la información producida en campo ya no aporte datos nuevos para la construcción de categorías analíticas, lo que en la teoría fundamentada se le conoce como saturación teórica (Charmaz, 2014;Glaser y Strauss, 2017;Creswell, 2012). Para comprobar si se ha alcanzado dicho punto de saturación, el investigador puede preguntarse si hay lagunas en la teoría que está construyendo o en las categorías que está desarrollando, identificar si las definiciones que tiene son vagas o subdesarrolladas, si cree que faltan datos y considera que son coherentes sus hallazgos (Thornberg y Charmaz, 2014, p.167). ...
El estudio de la realidad social desde el ámbito académico implica la selección y el diseño de técnicas de acopio de información, el uso de herramientas para procesar, analizar y validar los datos obtenidos en campo, así como la elección de los formatos y medios para comunicar los hallazgos. A partir de una pluralidad de perfiles y de las experiencias emanadas desde la docencia, el presente volumen examina las diferentes maneras de realizar una investigación en contextos virtuales, contrahegemónicos o tradicionales, con el propósito de potenciar competencias específicas y desarrollar habilidades, sin soslayar la reflexión sobre sus aristas éticas. Si bien en su primera parte el libro expone una inclinación predominantemente cuantitativa, pues sus capítulos mapean y dialogan con varias de las tensiones propias de este enfoque, en la segunda sección se reúnen textos que problematizan algunas cuestiones clave de la metodología cualitativa, dejando al criterio del lector el ejercicio de integración de ambos métodos. Con el deseo de que estas páginas se convirtieran en un recurso que los profesores utilicen en el aula al tiempo que brinden alternativas para los estudiantes al momento de encarar el proceso de investigación, sus aportes también pueden usarse como piezas dirigidas a un objetivo mayor, en este caso la complementariedad y la convivencia entre diversas formas de pensar, ejercer y aprender a investigar.
... Acknowledging the challenges involved in trying to understand a process that is still very much in the making, I consider ethnography a suitable approach for exploring the kind of ongoing sociolinguistic changes I want to shed light on here. By approaching these volatile contexts ethnographicallythat is, talking to and spending time with those who are invested in the practices under scrutiny as a "professional stranger" (Agar 1996) -I do not claim to provide a comprehensive overview of the social transformation in the Swedish north, but rather try to provide a locally sensitive and detailed analysis of processes that will need to be researched for years to come. 2 Taking as my point of departure the politicized and mediatized phenomena of majority language teaching and learning, I want to make sense of whose terms it is on which the societal transformation is taking place, and what limits and affordances this creates for local actors as they plan livable and inclusive spaces for all inhabitants. ...
Following substantial investments in battery production and fossil-free steel, a few select places in northern Sweden are currently undergoing rapid economic and cultural changes. The aim of this article is to explore the role language education plays for three different groups of (im)mobile subjects – refugees, labor migrants, and cosmopolitan elites – in the ongoing social transformations. By using the time-consuming and ideologically charged social practice of teaching and learning languages as a lens, it is argued that although framed as a sustainability project, the pace of the transformation is set by the accelerating logic of capitalism, posing a challenge to the democratic planning of inclusive local communities, as well as to societal subsystems characterized by much slower temporal regimes. Hence, although Sweden is committed to a “just transition” as part of the Paris Agreement, some are obviously benefiting much more than others from this transition. This paper further highlights the potentially high costs for the local communities that “win” the bids for the new green industries. Apart from considerable economic costs in the present, another result might also be increased social stratification and weakening social cohesion in the long term.
... Com'è noto, un aspetto positivo del metodo etnografico è la capacità di cogliere momenti inattesi durante l'esperienza di campo. Michael Agar (1996) chiama "punti ricchi" (rich points) quei momenti di stupore in cui, durante un campo etnografico, il ricercatore capisce che le sue "idee" sul mondo, spesso inconsapevoli, sono inadeguate a capire e spiegare ciò che sta accadendo. Riteniamo che i 'punti ricchi' di Agar possano diventare 'parole ricche' nell'ambito dell'educazione linguistica affettiva. ...
L’articolo propone una ricostruzione storica degli studi accademici su affetto ed emozione, identificando due correnti principali: la Teoria dell’Affetto e le Scienze Affettive. All’interno di ciascuna di queste correnti, saranno identificate le principali fasi storiche e le implicazioni che questi studi hanno avuto (e stanno avendo) nell’ambito dell’educazione linguistica. L’articolo mette in luce alcune questioni critiche riguardanti la ricerca in questo ambito e le loro implicazioni nella nostra società. Infine, mira a offrire alcuni spunti per ridefinire queste aree di ricerca, fornendo alcuni strumenti da applicare nella pratica dell’insegnamento delle lingue, con un particolare focus sull’insegnamento dell’italiano come lingua seconda . Affective studies and language education: a synthesis of the studies on affect and emotions and their role in language education The article proposes a historical synthesis of the academic studies on affect and emotion, identifying two main currents: Affect Theory and Affective Sciences. Within each of these, the main phases, and implications that these studies have had (and are having) in language education will be identified. The article also highlights some critical issues regarding research on affect and emotions and their implications in our society. Finally, it aims to offer some insights to reframe these research areas, providing some tools to be applied in language teaching practice, with a particular focus on teaching Italian as a second language.
... Transcripts were analyzed using MAXQDA, a qualitative data program (VERBI Software, Berlin, Germany). Thematic content analysis 16,17 was performed by an interdisciplinary team which included trained social scientists (CCG, EB, KG, and MM) and infectious disease clinicians (EP and DL). First, our analysis process involved reviewing three transcripts by the large group (CCG, EB, KG, MM, EP, and DL) and a codebook was developed based on a priori research questions and emergent content. ...
Objective
Antimicrobials are frequently used for palliation during end-of-life care, but adverse effects, such as antimicrobial resistance, are a concern. Shared decision-making is beneficial in end-of-life care conversations to help align antimicrobial-prescribing with patient preferences. However, there is limited data regarding optimal incorporation of antimicrobial-prescribing discussions into shared decision-making conversations. We explored healthcare provider, patient, and support caregiver (eg, family member/friend) perceptions of barriers and facilitators to discussing antimicrobial-prescribing during the end-of-life period.
Design
Qualitative study.
Participants
Healthcare providers; palliative care/hospice care patients/caregivers.
Methods
We conducted semi-structured interviews on shared attitudes/beliefs about antimicrobial-prescribing during end-of-life patient care at one acute-care and one long-term-care facility. Interviews were analyzed for thematic content.
Results
Fifteen providers and 13 patients/caregivers completed interviews. Providers recognized the potential benefit of leveraging shared decision-making to guide antimicrobial-prescribing decisions. Barriers included limited face-to-face time with the patient and uncertainty of end-of-life prognosis. Patients/caregivers cited trust, comprehension, and feeling heard as important characteristics which act as facilitators in fostering effective shared decision-making around antimicrobial use. Communication in which providers ensure patients are involved in shared decision-making discussions could be increased to ensure patients and their providers develop a mutually agreeable care plan.
Conclusions
Shared decision-making is a practice that can guide antimicrobial-prescribing decisions during end-of-life care, thus potentially minimizing antimicrobial-related adverse effects. Our findings highlight opportunities for increased shared decision-making around antimicrobial use during end-of-life care. Interventions designed to address the identified barriers to shared decision-making have the potential to improve antimicrobial-prescribing practices at end-of-life.
... Entendiendo el concepto de etnografía a la vez como técnica y como perspectiva o enfoque, siguiendo las definiciones y aportaciones metodológicas de expertos como Agar (1980) Wolcott (1985Wolcott ( , 2008, Rockwell (2009), Pujadas, Comas y Roca (2004. Davidson (1996) analiza el desarrollo de este tipo de identidades y roles académicos en el contexto de Estados Unidos (California) bajo el epíteto de crazy. ...
Este artículo se centra en las aportaciones de la investigación etnográfica sobre las experiencias y dinámicas de vinculación/desvinculación escolar de la infancia en contextos de especial visibilidad en términos de diversidad étnico–cultural y desigualdad social, como son los configurados por los flujos migratorios. Sostiene la necesidad de incorporar, de forma rigurosa, una perspectiva socioantropológica del concepto que complemente y enriquezca, tanto teóricamente como metodológicamente, el enfoque tradicional desde el cual ha sido analizado y «medido» en las propuestas de corte psicologista o psicopedagógico. Para ello, se realiza una revisión de literatura en la materia, relevante a nivel internacional, incluyendo algunos resultados de investigación propios. Se analiza la influencia clave, tanto de los estilos de enseñanza y prácticas organizativas (sobre todo en relación a la atención a la diversidad cultural), como de las dinámicas relacionales presentes en los centros escolares.
... The subject of translation in anthropological research and the use of translators in the field have not received adequate a en on from anthropologists, as Agar (1980) asserts in his book. Another scholar who shares this view is Turner (2010), who argues that there has been insufficient research on the dynamics between researchers and translators. ...
This study seeks to investigate the role and impact of translators in the (anthropological) field during research conducted by foreign anthropologists in Iran. To achieve this, a questionnaire, an apparent open-ended one with six items, was distributed to 30 anthropologists who conducted field research in Iran, aiming to identify invisible interpreters/translators, including local informants, who assisted researchers in overcoming language barriers and communicating with participants during anthropological fieldwork. Given that anthropologists are typically trained to work independently without the aid of translators, certain participants displayed hesitancy in discussing the subject matter. Anthropologists who completed the questionnaire and said they conducted the research without utilizing translators in the field cited their fluency in the local language, perceiving translators as impediments, and their accessibility as the main reasons for their approach. Nevertheless, some of these researchers emphasized the potential benefits of using translators, particularly in terms of enhancing comprehension. Conversely, there were anthropologists who found value in engaging both formal and informal translators, as they served as gateways to communication. As an interdisciplinary study, this article endeavors to shed light on a relatively unexplored aspect of anthropology, namely translation. It is crucial to acknowledge and engage in further discussion regarding the collaboration between professionals from different disciplines, including Translation Studies and anthropology, within various scientific journals and conferences.
The advent of the ethnographer in the “field” marks the beginning of an experience that cuts the researcher off from everyday life in various ways; the introducing framework is crucial for what happens next. Whilst summarising the integration parameters in the fieldwork process, it is easy to assume that (ethnographic) data-producing events rarely occur by chance. From the very first moment of choosing where to conduct fieldwork, the ethnographer is oriented towards an inner journey, and a sequence of choices, that may consequently be admittedly expressed or simply not. From the working hypothesis to the social role through which the ethnographer will conduct fieldwork research, the results are somehow predetermined since initial choices or just inherent conditions also determine the lens through which we perceive reality and thus “our” ethnography.
Expectations for research-based knowledge to contribute to effective and acceptable policy solutions have long been influenced by normative visions of a direct, instrumental contribution of evidence to decision-making. Accordingly, bureaucracies are judged as failing to adhere to evidence-based policy practices or take heed of ‘what works’ in redressing complex policy problems. This chapter contributes to debate through taking a grounded look at the information needs of policy making. Featuring an ethnographic case study of a team of policy staff in the Australian Public Service managing a commissioned evaluation of a government intervention that targeted First Nations Australians, this close-range view details how research and evidence must be made intelligible against the surrounding policy context and to adhere to organisational norms. What policy staff do to contextualise evidence within their policy remit through debating, condensing and distilling information from drafts of the evaluation report—in combination with knowledge gained from across their various policy involvements—shows that what may otherwise appear as an under-utilisation of evidence derives from the need for staff to build confidence in information utilised, and to identify and minimise policy risk in formulating persuasive and credible advice to senior government officials and elected decision-makers.
Ethnography has become one of the established methods for empirical research on software engineering. Although there is a wide variety of introductory books available, there has been no material targeting software engineering students particularly, until now.
In this chapter, we provide an introduction to teaching and learning ethnography for faculty teaching ethnography to software engineering graduate students and for students themselves of such courses.
The contents of the chapter focus on what we think is the core basic knowledge for newbies to ethnography as a research method. We complement the text with proposals for exercises, tips for teaching and pitfalls that we and our students have experienced.
The chapter is designed to support part of a course on empirical software engineering and provides pointers and literature for further reading.
There is a scarcity of studies specifically dedicated to the impact of neoliberalism on translation. While a growing number of studies have touched upon this topic, revealing potential risks engendered by the neoliberal paradigm and its techno-scientific offshoots on translation practice at large and on translators, the way translators tackle the emerging risks in the actual translation process remains largely unexplored. This chapter seeks to contribute to this nascent area of inquiry by investigating one collaborative literary translation project within the Chinese context as a case study. The chapter draws upon the concept of self-efficacy to discuss how translators negotiate the freedom afforded by networked and digital technology with the associated risks. The research findings demonstrate that two translators with varying levels of self-efficacy managed risks differently in the online collaborative translation project in question. The translator with high self-efficacy exhibited a critical stance towards machine translation and strong self-reliance, using her internalized knowledge, linguistic conventions, and external resources to reduce risks. This translator critically checked others’ translations and received others’ comments at the revising and editing stages, without regarding challenging others as an interpersonal risk to be avoided. In contrast, the translator with low self-efficacy tended to unconsciously take risks by heavily relying on machine translation. The same translator was prone to reduce interpersonal risks by leaving uncertainties unaddressed or accepting others’ comments at the expense of her own autonomy. This chapter’s preliminary exploration of translators’ risk-related behaviours in the neoliberal context highlights the need for more empirical studies across diverse cultural contexts, using both qualitative and quantitative methodologies, to investigate the impact of neoliberal transformations on the translators and the translation industry.
Ethnography destabilizes the notion of the frontier as merely a geographic space and conveys its limitations—that lead researchers to reflect on their methodological approaches. Frontier Ethnographies explores the ethnographic edges of contemporary anthropological inquiry in Afghanistan and Pakistan by assembling voices of emerging scholars who have conducted field research within the region in the past two decades. Through examining moments of insecurity, vulnerability, doubt, fear, failure, and daydreaming, researchers reflect on their own experiences of field research and how—faced with frontiers—they have been forced to reimagine or reconstruct their understanding of the social world. The introduction tackles the conceptual framing of the book through three foci: Contesting Frontiers, Unsettling “AfPak” Discourses from the Ground Up, and Reexamining Ethnography in the research on Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Celami artykułu są: syntetyczne przedstawienie sylwetki twórcy SSZ prof. A. Czermińskiego i kluczowych sfer jego dorobku, nakreślenie drogi powstawania i rozwoju tej szkoły naukowej, zainicjowanej i w toku wieloletniej pracy organicznej konsekwentnie tworzonej przez profesora Alfreda Czermińskiego i kolejnych jego następców, wkład teoretycznego i praktycznego dorobku naukowego zespołu SSZ w rozwój teorii i praktyki polskich nauk o zarządzaniu, a także aktywność, inspirację i oddziaływanie przedstawicieli SSZ na rozwój środowiska naukowego i praktycznego nauk o zarządzaniu w Polsce. W artykule przedstawiono zakres oraz twórczą, merytoryczno – metodyczno – instytucjonalno – środowiskową – skalę działania Sopockiej Szkoły Zarządzania w budowaniu wartości poznawczej i praktycznej polskich nauk o zarządzaniu. Jednocześnie artykuł pokazuje jak pasja jednego człowieka, umiejętność zaszczepienia jej w członkach zespołu poparta ogromną pracą, prowadzi do osiągania niesamowitych rezultatów. W artykule wykorzystano perspektywę historyczną i podejście etnograficzne, które badawczo wzmocniono metodą badań longitudinalnych polegających na wieloletniej obserwacji uczestniczącej tej samej grupy. Zastosowana perspektywa, a zwłaszcza podejścia posiada charakter indukcyjny co umożliwia holistyczne spojrzenie oraz tzw. głęboki wgląd w kontekst społeczny i kulturowy badanej organizacji, jaką jest Sopocka Szkoła Zarządzania.
El equipo de investigación que produjo este libro se dedica al estudio de los usos lingüísticos a partir del análisis de emisiones concretas producidas por hablantes reales (Raiter y Zullo, 2004). En este Capítulo, sistematizamos las reflexiones obtenidas en dos investigaciones que construyen corpus con muestras orales. Buscamos así formular una revisión metodológica de la entrevista semiestructurada como herramienta para trabajos sobre la circulación y el uso de diferentes formas lingüísticas o representaciones.
Detta kapitel handlar om studiet av social interaktion i pedagogiska sammanhang. Kapitlet ger en introduktion till den forskningsteori och metod som kallas samtalsanalys (Conversation Analysis på engelska, CA), och som har sina rötter inom sociologin och särskilt etnometodologin. Därför kallas denna forskningsmetod även för etnometodologisk samtalsanalys, eller EMCA. Vi börjar med att presentera varför detta teoretiska och metodologiska tillvägagångssätt är relevant för förståelsen av undervisningssammanhang. Vi diskuterar sedan några centrala begrepp inom EMCA och introducerar grundläggande principer för den teoretiska ramen. Därefter beskrivs i detalj hur empiri hanteras från insamling av forskningsmaterial till identifiering av forskningsfenomen och analys. Som exempelstudie presenteras en undersökning av hur lärare och elever i en SFI-kurs (Svenska För Invandrare) interagerar och tillsammans skapar möjligheter för eleverna att förstå grammatiska strukturer på svenska.
En el presente manuscrito analizo las implicaciones de la investigación co-labor con organizaciones de mujeres indígenas que trabajan con miras a la prevención de la violencia de género. Mis reflexiones parten de cinco estudios de caso que realicé en Bolivia y en México, los cuales son el sustento material para desarrollar los caminos, las formas, los retos, las estrategias o maniobras tácticas que apliqué para llevar a cabo los estudios colaborativos. Desde la reflexividad y la importancia del conocimiento situado busco develar lo que hay detrás de esta metodología, por lo que analizo los retos que afronto como investigadora/colaboradora inmersa en contextos marcados por relaciones de género, poder, inseguridad y violencia. Partiendo de los obstáculos enfrentados, también visibilizo las estrategias que desarrollo para efectuar investigaciones comprometidas, develando los aportes centrales a los procesos que acompañamos y a nuestro quehacer antropológico.
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