1
Chapter 16 Ethnographic research
Suggested Activities
1. The Center for the Ethnography of Everyday Life (CEEL) is an exciting and powerful way to
illustrate the nature of ethnography to students. The center promotes fascinating research about
2. Another activity for the class as a follow up Activity 1 is to have students generate ideas for
future CEEL projects. This prompts students to think about the types of topics that an
ethnographer might study and those types of research topics that are not well suited to
ethnographic research.
3. Students are generally interested in ethnographies. They are generally accessible and the topics
ethnographies in education address often have broad appeal. Share a couple recent ethnographies
with your students. In addition to those that can be obtained from CEEL as noted in Activities 1
and 2. Ethnography and Education published by Routledge is a good source. This journal is
To support this activity, assign students to browse the abstracts of issues of the journal as a
• Does the article tackle or discuss principles of ethnography as a method or does it
present a study?
• If the article is a methods contribution, what is the main argument the authors
stress (e.g., multiple sources, time in field, comparison of ethnography to other
approaches?)
• If the article presents a study:
• Is the study about context, experience, process or something else?
• What are the data sources mentioned in the abstract?
2
• How long was the researcher in the field (if not stated make a guess)?
• Does the abstract draw conclusions or make claims? If so summarize.
4. Several articles presented in Ethnography and Education also directly address the tensions
ethnographers feel when conducting research, provide methodological direction to ethnographers,
or address the methodologies of ethnography directly. Articles from this journal can be excellent
resources for fledgling researchers and will be of interest to many. The methodological articles,
in particular, can assist you with guiding students through Chapter 16 content.
3
Chapter 16 Test Items
• 1.-2. Daniel is an ethnographic researcher who studies the daily lives of Migrant children.
• 1. Which of the following is most likely a primary data collection technique for Daniel to
use in his study?
a. Surveys
b. Standardized assessments
c. Interviews
d. Participant observation
• 2. Of the following, which is the most likely field of study for Dan’s training?
a. Cultural anthropology
b. Clinical psychology
c. Demographic sociology
d. Spatial geography
3. Ethnographers are most interested in data that support
a. relationships among variables.
b. predictions variables can support.
c. understandings of people in context.
d. calculations of pertinent statistics.
• 4. Which of the following researchers most clearly illustrates behavior similar to
that of an ethnographer who is studying gifted education?
a. Laurie conducts observations in several classrooms for one week each.
b. Mindy surveys the gifted students regarding their self-concept and correlates self-
concept with their IQ score.
c. Len conducts a database study that compares the standardized test scores of students in
pull-out gifted programs and those enrolled in advanced classes.
d. Dave observes in a single gifted classroom for the academic year.
• 5. Which of the following researchers most clearly illustrates behavior similar to
that of an ethnographer who is studying character education programs?
a. Mickey compares achievement of those in character education programs to
achievement of those not in such programs.
b. Maya examines how enrollment in character education programs predicts career
outcomes.
c. Michele assists as a support teacher in a character education program for the academic
year.
d. Mindy surveys students in character education programs about why they enroll in such
programs.
• 6. Kent is an ethnographer interested in the experiences of superintendents who deal
with serious school violence incidents. Of the following which is most likely a primary
research strategy for Kent?
4
a. He will survey superintendents regarding the strategies they have in place to handle
such incidents.
b. He will shadow a superintendent during and for six months after a serious incident.
c. He will interview superintendents who have dealt with such incidents regarding the
perceived strengths and weaknesses of their approach.
d. He will observe and interview parents whose children were affected by a serious
school violence incident.
• 7. Which of the following is the most likely primary data source for Jane, an
ethnographic researcher who studies the lives of those who train service animals?
a. Surveys of her population about why they became trainers.
b. Personality assessments of animal trainers.
c. Interviews of eight animal trainers.
d. Observations as an assistant to an animal trainer.
• 8. Which of the following researchers most clearly illustrates behavior similar to
that of an ethnographer who is studying homeschoolers’ practices?
a. Tina examines Department of Education data to determine how many hours a day
homeschoolers’ teach.
b. Danylko compares the incidence of homeschooling in the US versus in the Ukraine.
c. Oakes studies three homeschoolers daily routines over the course of a two-year span.
d. Vachel surveys homeschoolers to determine how many teach languages to their
pupils.
9. Participant observation is the primary method of study in which of the following types of
research?
a. Descriptive
b. Correlational
c. Ethnography
d. Causal-comparative
10. One of the goals while engaging in participant observation is to
a. remain objective.
b. be brief.
c. engage fully.
d. seek truth.
11. The type of research specifically concerned with the description, analysis, and
interpretation of the culture of a group is referred to as ________________ research.
a. experimental
b. ethnographic
c. causal-comparative
d. narrative
• 12.-13. Tim is interested in understanding the PDS movement spearheaded by a consortium of
teacher-researchers, university researchers, and funding agents. He wants to understand
the “culture of change” within the group and how that evolves over time.
• 12. Of the following, Tim will likely employ
a. experimental research.
b. ethnographic research.
c. causal-comparative research.
d. narrative research.
5
• 13. Of the following, which type of data collection strategy will be of primary concern for
Tim?
a. Participant observation
b. Surveys
c. Achievement tests
d. Teacher constructed assessments
• 14. Frida recently published a study of school custodians. If she conducted ethnographic
research, which of the following were likely primary data sources for her study?
a. Surveys
b. Job application forms
c. Demographic information
d. Observations
• 15. Danika recently presented her dissertation study at a national conference. The
focus of her research was standardized testing. If she conducted ethnographic research
which were likely primary data sources for her study?
a. A district’s scores on the tests administered.
b. A matrix showing correspondence between curriculum and the test.
c. Observations of curriculum coordinators.
d. Interviews parents whose students did not fair well on the test.
16. According to your text, which of the following should ethnographic researchers consider
when defining culture?
a. Shared cultural knowledge
b. Descriptive culture
c. Cultural understanding
d. Cultural orientation
17. According to your text, which of the following is NOT a form of ethnographic research?
a. Critical ethnography
b. Immersion ethnography
c. Ethnographic case study
d. Realist ethnography
18. According to your text, which of the following is a form of
ethnographic research?
a. Objective ethnography
b. Realist ethnography
c. Empirical ethnography
d. Descriptive ethnography
• 19. Of the following research topics, which would most likely be addressed through
ethnographic research?
a. The benefits of drama experiences on standardized tests
b. The relationship between drama experiences and personality type
c. The drama skill development of novice actors in their first production
d. The differences between novice and experienced actors on acting attitude profiles
• 20. Jill is an ethnographic researcher who is interested in the before school gymnasium club
(BSGC) students. Students in the BSGC come to school early each day to play
unstructured games in the middle school gym. Which of the following is a typical data
collection scenario for her research?
a. Jill collects surveys from parents and teachers regarding the BSGC.
b. Jill considers the trends of number of students in the BSGC for an academic year.
6
c. Jill goes to BSGC and observes student behaviors for the academic year.
d. Jill compares BSGC students’ and non BSGC students’ overall activity level, BMI,
and reported stress levels.
• 21. The purpose of ethnographic research project that examines study hall behaviors might be
to
a. understand the nature of students’ study hall behaviors.
b. report the number of study hall minutes wasted by typical sophomore students.
c. prove study hall should be mandated for all students
d. show the relationship between study hall time and academic achievement
22. According to your text, the first step in ethnographic research is to
a. describe the site
b. select the sample
c. identify the purpose of the study
d. seek permissions to study the setting.
• 23. Eadan an ethnographic researcher is interested in studying the experiences of
emerging scholars navigating their dissertation committees as they conduct narrative
research. Which of the following is a typical primary data collection strategy for Eadan?
a. He will use a LimeSurveyPro to distribute a survey to all students at his university
conducting qualitative research.
b. He will scour all recently completed dissertations to interview those scholars about
their experiences.
c. He will interview faculty members about their opinions about the feasibility and the
challenges of completing a narrative dissertation.
d. He will select a couple of emerging narrative scholars to follow and observe through
the dissertation process.
24. According to your text, after describing the site and sample selection, an ethnographic
researcher will then
a. identify the purpose of the study.
b. describe the researcher’s role.
c. pose initial ethnographic research questions.
d. describe data collection methods.
25. Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of ethnographic research?
a. Prolonged time in the research setting
b. Multiple data collection techniques
c. A deductive approach to data collection
d. Discerning patterns and regularities of human behavior
26. Which of the following is a primary purpose of the ethnographic researcher?
a. To describe and interpret culture.
b. To generate findings that is replicable.
c. To objectively report general findings.
d. To directly measure mentalistic constructs.
• 27. Qing is an ethnographic researcher interested in understanding the culture of
youth track and field athletics. He needs to focus on behaviors that will help him to do
so. Which of the following is something Qing will attend to?
a. Ethnographic understanding
b. Deductive reasoning
c. Narrative reasoning
d. Cultural understanding
7
• 28. Recent research in early childhood literacy motivation has indicated that a subset of
learners report being very motivated for reading but their teachers and parents do not
report them to be motivated. Ingram, an ethnographic researcher, wants to further study
this discrepancy. Which of the following is the most likely research strategy for Ingram?
a. Ingram will correlate students’ comprehension scores with their reported motivation.
b. Ingram will examine the differences in reading achievement between students’ who
reported being motivated and those who did not report motivation.
c. Ingram will observe children in classroom settings during literacy activities.
d. Ingram will determine the range of responses generally found on her motivation
scales.
• 29. Those interested in school violence are concerned with alienated middle school children.
Eada, an ethnographic researcher, wants to explore the experiences of these children in
more depth. Which of the following is the most likely research strategy for Eada?
a. Eada will assess alienated children from several schools with Likert scales that
address violent tendencies.
b. Eada will observe, question, and study a subset of alienated children in one middle
school over the course of a semester.
c. Eada will provide a questionnaire to a single alienated child in a middle school and
follow up with counseling.
d. Eada will compare violent tendencies between children teachers identified as
alienated versus those not identified.
• 30. Paulo is an ethnographic researcher interested in studying career transitions. He has
identified the purpose of his study, framed the study within a larger theoretical
orientation, described the rationale for the study and posed initial ethnographic research
questions. Next, Paulo will
a. write the ethnographic account.
b. describe the overall approach and rationale for the study.
c. describe the site and sample selection.
d. describe data collection methods.
31. An ethnographic account is generally written as a(n)
a. narrative.
b. technical report.
c. autobiography.
d. biography.
32. Of the following, which is often considered a significant challenge of ethnographic
research?
a. The lack of reliability in ethnographic research.
b. The lack of internal validity of ethnographic research.
c. The amount of time ethnographic research takes.
d. The number of standardized instruments needed to conduct ethnographic research.
33. Which of the following is NOT a type of ethnographic research generally found in
education?
8
a. Ethnographic case study
b. Critical ethnography
c. Realist ethnography
d. Ethnographic novels
34. Which of the following types of ethnography is defined as an objective, scientifically
written ethnography?
a. Realist ethnography
b. Life history
c. Critical ethnography
d. Ethnographic novel
35. Of the following types of ethnographies, which represents a report of the ethnographer’s
field work experiences?
a. Microethnography
b. Critical ethnography
c. Ethnographic case study
d. Confessional ethnography
• 36. Vasha is a member of a relatively large number of African Americans in
Appalachia. Her ancestors escaped the slave states and set roots in southern West
Virginia. She is studying the role that informal education in the home plays in this
cultural group. Her work will be a reflective self-examination as she is a member of the
culture that she is studying. Which of the following types of ethnographies is Vasha
likely conducting?
a. Realist ethnography
b. Authoethnography
c. Feminist ethnography
d. Confessional ethnography
• 37. Anu has focused his ethnography on teenagers in the foster care system. The aim
of his work is to advocate for a larger number of placements for these children as many
families feel the challenges of raising foster teenage children are too great, and therefore
select to foster younger children. Anu’s ethnography would be best classified as a(n)
a. autoethnography.
b. critical ethnography.
c. realist ethnography.
d. confessional ethnography.
• 38. In a recent study, Gaia spent a full cycle in a home school community. She worked with
home school families and their children to better understand the home schooling
community and culture. Gaia has written a report of her fieldwork experiences. What
type of ethnography does Gaia’s report present?
a. Confessional ethnography
b. Life history
c. Critical ethnography.
d. Ethnographic case study
9
• 39. Mia has completed an ethnographic study of the role of achievement testing in Taiwanese
gifted schools. Of the following, which type of ethnography does her study most likely
represent?
a. Ethnographic case study
b. Feminist ethnography
c. Life history
d. Autoethnography
40. Which of the following is a characteristic of ethnographic research?
a. Data are primarily collected through fieldwork experiences.
b. Ethnographic research is most often completed by research teams.
c. Ethnographic research requires little training but instead relies on intuition.
d. Ethnographic research is objective and devoid of political context.
41. Of the following, which is NOT a characteristic of ethnographic research?
a. Ethnographic research may be conducted with just one case.
b. Ethnographic research is most often completed in a laboratory.
c. Ethnographic research frames human behavior within a socio-political context.
d. Ethnographic research uses culture as a lens to interpret findings.
• 42. Brad is researching the incidence of eating disorders in boys’ Olympic development
sports programs. As an ethnographic researcher which of the following is likely part of
Brad’s behaviors.
a. Brad is testing the hypothesis that some Olympic development programs have a high
incidence of boys’ eating disorders.
b. Brad uses a survey technique and collects data from several different sports to
compare incidence of eating disorders.
c. Brad goes to Olympic Development sports programs and follows a couple targeted
athletes for several years as they progress through their programs.
d. Brad interviews coaches about the acceptance and incidence of boys’ eating disorders
in Olympic Development programs worldwide.
43. When researchers rely on more than one means of data collection to describe, analyze,
and interpret a research setting, they are said to be using which of the following
procedures?
a. Context validity
b. Triangulation
c. Generalization
d. Integration
• 44. As an ethnographic researcher studying new teachers’ ‘voice’, Wes goes to a school and
observes the activities and other aspects of the school. He goes to faculty meetings and
spends most days shadowing his two participants for the academic year. Wes is engaging
in
a. purposeful description.
b. subjective orientation.
c. cultural criticism.
d. participant observation.
• 45.-48. Millie is an ethnographic researcher studying the development of language in young
children from bilingual homes. She studies these children in childcare settings in which
the child’s second language is the language used. She observes the children as a ‘visitor’
in their classes for the first three months of their emersion in their new school setting.
While there she takes down extensive notes in a notebook as she observes. She also often
10
records small brief notes to herself on little green sheets that she keeps separate from her
notebook.
• 45. Given this scenario, Millie is most likely demonstrating which of the following types of
ethnography?
a. Life History
b. Confessional ethnography
c. Autoethnography
d. Ethnographic case study
• 46. The extensive notes Millie records in her notebook best represent
a. memos.
b. protocols.
c. field notes.
d. jottings.
• 47. In this scenario, Millie can best be categorized as which of the following types of
observer?
a. Active participant observer
b. Privileged, active observer
c. Passive observer
d. Nonformal observer
• 48. The brief notes that Millie records on the green sheets best represent
a. memos.
b. protocols.
c. field notes.
d. jottings.
• 49.-50. Xavier is an ethnographer studying doctor/patient relations. As a certified
Physician’s Assistant, he agrees to donate some of his skills in the weekend clinic in
return for the opportunity to conduct his study. While doing his work, he meets with
patients and physicians and is able to play both the role of observer and physician’s
assistant.
• 49. In this scenario, Xavier best represents which of the following types of observer?
a. Active participant observer
b. Privileged, active observer
c. Passive observer
d. Nonformal observer
1. 50. By agreeing to donate hours in the weekend clinic to gain access for his study, Xavier is
best illustrating
a. reciprocity.
b. tolerance for ambiguity.
c. triangulation.
d. maintaining rapport.
51. Which of the following statements regarding field notes is consistent with
recommendations made in your text?
a. Field notes should only contain factual observations.
b. Field notes should be as concise as possible
c. Field notes should be written as soon as possible after an observation.
d. Field notes are generally used only as a secondary data source in ethnographic
research.
11
52. Which of the following is considered an important social behavior for participant
observation?
a. Maintaining a ‘social distance’ from the participants
b. Critiquing the participants that you are observing
c. Allowing a tolerance for ambiguity and maintaining patience
d. Keeping your work privileged for ethical considerations
53. Which of the following is NOT consistent with the guidelines for fieldwork and field
notes as presented in your text?
a. Clearly separate description from interpretation and judgment
b. Maintain a ‘safe distance’ and use nonformal observation when possible.
c. Gather a variety of information from different perspectives
d. Represent people in their own terms
• 54.-55. Shar is interested in the experiences of high profile community members who
serve community service for Driving Under the Influence of drugs or alcohol. For her
study she is going to engage in community service with several offenders.
• 54. Shar’s status would best be described as which of the following types of
observers?
a. Passive observer
b. Determined observer
c. Privileged active observer
d. Active participant observer
• 55. Shar’s ethnographic report will most likely represent which of the following
types of ethnographies?
a. Autoethnography
b. Critical ethnography
c. Microethnography
d. Ethnographic case study
12
Chapter 16 Answers