In her presentation on Qualitative Data, Victoria Odenyiyi from the UAL Decolonising Arts Institute defines linguistic ethnography as:
An interpretive approach which studies the local and immediate actions of actors from their point of view and considers how these interactions are embedded in wider social structures
(Copland and Creese, 2015 as cites by Odenyiyi, 2024)
As much of my research is rooted in methods of observation and field recording (Tjora, 2006) its important for me to outline certain ethnographic considerations with my research, borrowing from a rich pool of literature around these subjects including foundation work around Naturalistic Inquiry (Lincoln & Guba, 1985).
Key Considerations: 1. What am I observing? As mentioned earlier in Workshop 2, I had a wonderful conversation with Tim where we discussed at length my method of observation. He questioned whether the observations around friendship and community could truly be interpreted by observing from a distance and together we reflected on whether my observations needed to be underpinned by an understanding of the role of things like semiotics and body language: perhaps a good starting point. Bruce and Cate Curtis (2017) highlight the interconnectedness of signs, symbols, and meanings within social settings in ethnographic research; paying attention not just to what students do but how they communicate, share values, and negotiate roles within their groups.
2. How am I observing? Tjora (2006) recognises the value and importance of different forms of observing from the immediacy of detailed field notes that are perhaps more objective to perhaps more subjective and interpretive forms of observing that rely more on finding patterns, explaining and generalising what one sees. A key takeaway for me being the need to balance objectivity with the reflexive awareness of the context, emergent themes and patterns within the research.
3.My role is the observation process In undertaking both the interventions as well as the focus groups, I am actively placing myself at wither the centre or the periphery of the environment in which the research is being undertaken. I must on some level acknowledge my influence (Lincoln & Guba, 1985) on the research and findings. Perhaps this is not a bad thing but it makes me think about how I must design the experiment in order to ensure the trustworthiness (Lincoln & Guba, 1985) of my claims. This could include cross-checking in some way – when I place myself at specific distances (literal and metaphorical) to see how this influences the findings and not over-relying on generalisations and the transferability of individual observations.
Case Study/Workshop Activity: In our final workshop, we were made to undertake an observation study on qualitative research. We were each assigned a space and asked to undertake a short data collection activity to answer a key research question. Our space was the Foyer and our research question was: In what ways does the experience of entering LCC building affect student belonging?
I was working with Amy Henry and Danielle Rodojcin (colleagues from LCC and CSM respectively).
Project Name: Foyer Dreams
Data Collected: We collected data through field notes, observation recordings and images. See below the Padlet of data we collected (follow link for access).
Screen Recording of Padlet for Foyer Dreams. Credits: Amy Henry, Danielle Rodojcin and Ravin Raori
We organised the data into three categories as specified in the task: What is salient, What glows and Stumble Data. See Observations in the Padlet.
Reflection: For the most part, this was very validating in terms of recognising the value of what we were already doing in our interventions. It was immediately obvious that there is much one can glean from just sitting in a space but within that, being an active observer. This meant looking at not just the space itself, but how people used it, their body language and emotional engagement. There was so much in the discussions that came out of this that I was able to take back and apply to my own project.
References:
Lincoln, Y. S., & Guba E.G. (1985). Naturalistic inquiry (Vol. 75). Sage.
Tjora, A. H. (2006). Writing small discoveries: an exploration of fresh observers’ observations. Qualitative research, 6(4), 429-451.
Curtis, B., & Curtis, C. (2011). Social research: A Practical Introduction. SAGE Publications, Inc., https://doi.org/10.4135/9781526435415
Copland, F., & Creese, A. (2015). Ethical issues in linguistic ethnography: Balancing the micro and the macro. In Ethics in applied linguistics research. Routledge.
Odenyiyi, V. (2024). Making Sense of Qualitative Data: From data to analysis and back again. UAL Decolonising Arts Insttute.
