BCM240 Blog 3

Collaborative ethnography

Well, nowadays ethnography is very commonly used by many researchers. It is very easy as the researchers observe the interviewees and sometimes may ask interviewees some question. Base on what they have seen and heard, the researchers can be able to surmise and complete their research.

and there is another similar research method called collaborative ethnography. It is not a new method at all. This is an improved version of the traditional one in my opinion. By its name, we can already know that it has to be done by a bunch of people working on it together. When people work together, it has more chance of having an accurate result on the final report.

While the traditional one is just opinions on one side, collaborative ethnography contain the work on both sides, both the researchers and the interviewees. Since collaborative ethnography need the interviewees to do more than what an interviewee does. After the interview, they still have to be there to give opinions about the research and make sure that the research says what they mean. This can definitely avoid misunderstanding and decrease the number of mistakes.

Also when the interviewees can contribute more time to the research, they may have more chances of fine turning their answer and may be able to give a deeper idea to the researchers. That can increase the accuracy of the research.

However, there are also some drawbacks. As the research needs more people involved, it will be a lot more time-consuming. Not all of the people are available all the time. When the researcher needs some interviewee for some comment, they may not be able right at the time. Also when the research need the interviewees to largely involved in the research and spend a long time on it, there will be fewer people willing to take part in it.

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Reference:

Lassiter, Luke Eric. The Chicago Guide to Collaborative Ethnography. University of Chicago Press, 2005.