So, Carolin made an excellent point on my last post and it made me think a little harder about what I was saying. I realised that I am not really doing an ethnography, but rather I am using ethnographic methods (observation, shadowing, archival and document analysis, etc.) to draw out and develop an understanding of what I see happening. [Does this point up the difference between method and methodology?]
This fits well with the practice-based perspective on knowledge that I have been pursuing for some time now and also means that I do not need to exile myself any further. This practice perspective means that I can acknowledge that I interpret new experiences (including my research findings) through the lens(es) of my previous experiences and understandings of the world, rather than disregarding (or trying to discount) my conceptual underpinnings.
I still get to wear my hat but I wear it to set me apart from everyone else, so it's really not an ethnographer's hat. The up-side of all this is that I don't have to "strip down", which I'm sure is a great relief to everyone! (Especially me... it gets very cold here in winter!)
And what pray tell does an ethnography practitioner's look like? Cool and casual and "hippie researchery", lofty, posh and ambitious or a hanky with the corners tied in knots like a 70's British holidaymaker in bournmouth?
ReplyDeleteThis Sinead is the most important and philosophically relevant question.
All very good points there, Cathy... the truth is, I'm not really sure at the moment. My feeling on it is that the practice-based researcher's hat is emergent, grounded in the contextual hatness of the hair and now. I think it's one of those "I'll know it when I see it" scenarios.
ReplyDeleteBut once I find it, I'll post a pic so that you can see what mine looks like!