EthnographicResearchCOSTAction:FromSharingtoCaring

PennyTravlouUniversityofEdinburgh

24June2017Troyes

Ethnography

• Ethnographyisthefirsthandpersonalstudyofalocalculturalsetting.

• Ethnographerstrytounderstandthewholeofaparticularculture,notjustfragments(e.g.theeconomy).

• Theearlyethnographersconductedresearchalmostexclusivelyamongsmall-scale,relativelyisolatedsocieties,withsimpletechnologiesandeconomics.

WhatisEthnography?Ethnographyisamethodologywhichinvolvesimmersioninthesocialworld:watching,listening,talkingandparticipating.

Theresearcher’sobservationsandexperiencesformthedata.

“Thickdescription”(Geertz)“The exclusive and immediate goal of

ethnography, as of all social research, is to produce knowledge”

Writing Culture: The Poetics and Politics of Ethnography

(Clifford and Marcus, 1986)

• From participant observation to “writing” • Ethnography as process • Partial truth • Experimental • Ethical • Reflexivity • Dialogical mode • Co-authorship

Ethnographic Research DesignEthnographic Research Methods

A. In-situ fieldwork Participant Observation In-depth interviews (Or) focus group discussions

B. Online fieldwork Online platforms observation = discourse

analysis Online interviews (via Skype, Jitsi, email)

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EthnographicResearch■ Researchdesign:problems,cases,samplesinfieldwork■ Access■ Fieldrelations■ Insideraccounts:listeningandaskingquestions■ Documents■ Recordingandorganizingdata■ Theprocessofanalysis■ Writingethnography■ Ethics

(Hammersley,M.andAtkinson,P.(1983)Ethnography.Routledge)

researchplanning

entrée

datacollectio

n

interpretation

ensuringethicalstandard

sresearchrepresentation

EthnographicProcessDesign

EthnographicStudy–DataProcess

ResearchEthicsStrategyFederal Guidelines – Consent Form

1) Fair explanation of the procedures to be followed and their purposes;

2) Description of the attendant discomforts and risks reasonably to be expected;

3) Description of the benefits reasonably to be expected; 4) Disclosure of the appropriate alternative procedures that might

be advantageous to the participant; 5) An offer to answer inquiries concerning the procedures; 6) An instruction that the person is free to withdraw consent and

to discontinue participation in the project at any time without prejudicing the status of the participant.

Multi-sited ethnographic fieldwork Focus on cultural processes that are not

contained by social, ethnic, religious or national boundaries.

The ethnographer follows the process from site to site, often doing fieldwork in sites and with people who traditionally were never subject to ethnographic analysis.

As George Marcus describes it, “multisited research is designed around chains, paths, threads, conjunctions, or juxtapositions of locations” as ethnographers trace “a complex cultural phenomenon . . . that turns out to be contingent and malleable as one traces it.”

Multi-sitedEthnography

• A multisited ethnography also offers the possibility of juxtaposing more than one place and more than one point of view, thereby bringing to light connections among them that would otherwise remain unsuspected or undetected.

• Paul Rabinow, “Reflections on Fieldwork in Alameda,” Making PCR

Netnography• Netnography=InterNET+EthNOGRAPHY NetnographyisdoingEthnographicstudyonline• Internet–sourceofinformationforusers’productchoices&

designofproducte.g.peer-to-peerplatforms• keeprecordofinteractions

• Forresearchers,netnographyprovidesculturally-groundedunderstandingof:

• language• meanings• practices

TheStagesoftheEthnographicStudy

• Followthecommunity• Followtheartefact• Followthemetaphor• Followthestory• Followthelife• Followtheconflict• Followtheline(Followtherhizome)

ReflexiveFieldwork

• Fieldworkisviewedmoreasadialogue,aco-productionbetweentheethnographerandthenativeinformant.

•Reflexivityexplores“thewaysinwhicharesearcher'sinvolvementwithaparticularstudyinfluences,actsuponandinformssuchresearch."

(NightingaleandCromby,1999,p.228).

CollaborativeEthnography

• …anapproachtoethnographythatdeliberatelyandexplicitlyemphasizescollaboration

• ateverypointintheethnographicprocess,withoutveilingit—fromprojectconceptualization,tofieldwork,and,especially,throughthewritingprocess…yieldstextsthatareco-conceivedorco-writtenwithlocalcommunitiesofcollaboratorsandconsidermultipleaudiencesoutsidetheconfinesofacademicdiscourses,includinglocalconstituencies…

P2PEthnography• P2PEthnography,asEthnography,canbedefinedasaqualitative

researchdesignaimedatexploringculturalphenomena.DifferentfromEthnography,itsaimisnottoproducefieldstudiesorcasereports,buttoestablishcontinuouslyavailable,accessible,participatory,performativeandcollaborativeprocesseswhichallowgainingunderstandingsabouttheknowledgeandthesystemsofmeaningsinthelivesofasocialgroup,anditsinteractionswithotherones.

• P2PEthnographyrepresentsaparticipatory,performativeapproach,inwhichresearchandunderstandingrequiregainingawarenessofone’spositionwithintherelationalecosystem(fromcultural,emotional,aesthetic,perceptive,cognitivepointsofview)oftheobservedsocialgroup,andtoestablishormodifyrelationsandinterconnectionsbothwithinthegroup,outsideofit,andin-between,influid,dynamic,possibilisticways.

(adaptedfromAOS)

HumanEcosystems

P2PEthnography: PrototypeProtocol4stages

Stage1:perceivedorganisationalmodels• Whointeractswithwho?• Whoisresponsibleforwhat?• Whoisrelatedwithwho?

Stage2:Communication/Information/Knowledge• WhodoIcommunicatewith?• Whodeliversmeinformationandknowledge?• TowhomdoIdeliverinformationandknowledge?• Wheredoestheinformationandknowledgethatisdeliveredtomecomefrom?• Whereisitheaded?• AmIthe(wo)man-in-the-middleforinformationandknowledgeofsomesort?• WhataretheknowledgereferenceswhichIuse?• Aretheyhuman?Websites?Texts?Oral?• WhatknowledgedoIproduce?• Arethesetypesofflowsunidirectional,bidirectional,a-directional?

P2PEthnography: PrototypeProtocol4stages

Stage3:Missedopportunities• Whatinteraction/information/knowledgewouldIliketohave?• WhatwouldIneed?• Whohasthisinformationorknowledge?• How/when/wherewouldIliketohaveit?

Stage:Knowledgesharing• WhatknowledgedoIproduce?• DoIplantoshareit,transmititormakeitaccessible/available/usablein

someway?• Usingwhichtools,technology,media?• Dedicatedtowhom?• Interoperablewithwhat?• Withinwhichknowledgeecosystems?

P2PEthnographyToolkit

• Polyphonicunderstanding• Micro-histories• ThirdInfoscape(*theinclusivespaceofcommunication,informationandknowledgebasedonamultitudeofco-exisistingself-expressionsandself-representations).

DesigningaP2PEthnography

• Multi-sitedEthnography• CollaborativeEthnography• RhizomicEthnography• Polyphonicfieldsite

spaces

practices actors

CollaborativeEconomy

EthnographicResearchFramework

InitialQuestions–CountryReports

• Whatisthetypeandmodelofcollaborativeeconomythatisused/representedinthiscasestudy?

• Whoarethekeystakeholdersininthiscasestudy(e.g.government,localauthorities,non-profitorganisations,businesses,socialinnovation,grassrootsinitiatives,groups,individualsetc.)?Whatisthentheecosystemofcollaborativeeconomyinthiscasestudy?Isitatopdownorbottomupinitiative?

• Howsustainableisthiscasestudy?Whatarethemechanismsandstrategiesimplementedtosecureitssustainablefuture?

• Howistechnologyimplementedinthiscasestudy?Whatarethetechnologicaltoolsusedtosupportit?

EthnographicResearch:GenericThemes

• Generaldescriptionofcasestudy• Space/locatione.ginternational,transnational,national,regional

• Actors/Stakeholders:government,localauthorities,NGOs,startups,grassrootsinitiatives

• Activities:how‘casestudy’isused• Technology:collaborativeplatform,socialmedia,plug-ins

EthnographicResearch:CollaborativeEconomyThemes

• Definitions• Legislation:nationallevelandtransnationallevel• Decisionmakingpractices• Usability

• Impactonnational/localeconomy-society

• Stakeholders• Commerce

• Consumers:collaborativeconsumption?

• Profit/budgeting

• Management,maintainance• Sustainability• Barriers/obstacles• Businesspartnerships• Funding/crowdfunding• Currencyoptionseg.Bitcoin,faircoin• Participation

• Labour:digitallabour,precariousness,employmentopportunities,affectivelabour,workers’rights,legislation

• Culturalvalues:nationale.g.sharingvalues,gifteconomy

• Accessibility,inclusivity,digitalliteracy/divide

• Licensing:e.g.CreativeCommons• Opensource?

EthnographicResearch:Keywords

• Trust• Ownership• Collaboration• Participation• Attribution• Risk• Conflict• Failure

• WhydousersuseAirbnbinsteadoftraditionalaccommodationand/orotherP2Pwebsites?

• WhatarethemostcommonlyperceivedrisksofusingAirbnb?

• WhichelementsofAirbnbprofilesorlistingsdousersfindmostimportantindecidingwhomtheycantrust?

• WhatarethemechanismsbywhichAirbnbengenderstrustamongitsusers?