What is the difference between phenomenological and ethnographic research

Kellydubose's Blog Just another WordPress. Course Description and Objectives ». Ethnographic vs Phenomenological Research Designs Phenomenological Research Design Ethnographic Research Design The goal of phenomenological research is to fully understand the essence of some phenomenon.

This is usually accomplished with long, intensive individual interviews. The purpose is to describe and interpret the experiences of participants in order to understand the essence of the experience as perceived by the participants. The basis is that there are multiple ways of interpreting the same experience, and that the meaning of the experience to each participant is what constitutes reality. Focuses on the consciousness of human experiences. The goal of ethnographic research is to describe and interpret a cultural or social group.

Ethnographers spend extensive time in the setting being studied and use observations, interviews, and other analyses to understand the nature of the culture.

Ethnography is an in-depth description and interpretation of cultural patterns and meanings within a culture or social group. The main emphasis is on groups. Ethnographers study specific cultural themes. A phenomenological research problem focuses on what is essential for the meaning of the event, episode, or interaction. The problem can be stated directly or less directly. Usually there is a single, central question in the research. Several sub questions are used to orient the researcher in collecting data and framing the results.

An ethnographic research problem consists of foreshadowed questions, which are initially general and are subject to change as the study is conducted. You are commenting using your WordPress. You are commenting using your Google account.

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Compare and contrast phenomenological and ethnographic research designs Research Designs Phenomenological Non-experimental, qualitative, descriptive Ethnographic Non-experimental, qualitative, descriptive Research Problems Phenomenological focused on what is essential for the meaning of the event, episode, or interaction. Usually a single central question. Subquestions are used to orient the researcher in collecting data and framing the results Ethnographic Foreshadowed questions start general and are subject to change during the study.

So, what does it matter whether you use phenomenology or ethnography? Well, not only does this shape the questions asked in the research, but also the way it is performed. Meanwhile, if you want to know about experiences within society, or cultural values, you might also use interviews but probably include very different questions. Or you might use a focus group to hear how a group of teenagers discuss the issue, or even use a period of observation, for example in school or on a respite holiday, to gain that data.

So you see, it is important before you start, to think about what kind of qualitative researcher you might be? The main difference between ethnography and phenomenology is that ethnography focuses on the collective experiences within a certain culture whereas phenomenology focuses on the individual experiences.

What is the difference between Ethnography and Phenomenology. Ethnography is a detailed and in-depth study of the collectivistic experiences within a certain culture. In other words, it is the systematic study of people and cultures.

Ethnographers researchers engaged in ethnography spend extensive time periods in the setting or community that is being studies. This may take weeks, months or even years. This is because understanding the attitudes, beliefs , and behaviours relating to a culture require long-term observations. Ethnographers gather necessary data for analysis by interacting with and interviewing members of the culture and analysing documents and artifacts related to that culture.

Thus, observation, interviews, and analysis are the main methods of data collection used in ethnography.