Ethnographic methods and interpretive analysis: Expanding the methodological options of psychologists

Abstract

This paper focuses on two procedures which, although established in anthropology and sociology, appear particularly well-suited for developmental research due to their ability to embed developmental processes in their historical and socio-cultural contexts; i.e., ethnographic data collection and interpretive analysis. Our aims are to underscore the congruence between the procedures' underlying principles (i.e., rationale, tenets, etc.) and the social constructionist philosophy of science and to contrast these principles with those of quantitative research. The methodological implications of social constructionism are explicated, and ethnographic data collection and interpretive analysis are shown to be effective in meeting these conditions because of the commitments to prolonged engagement, field entry, triangulation of information sources, and negative case analysis. Second, the philosophical underpinnings of interpretive and quantitative research are contrasted in order to underscore the need to evaluate individual studies with the appropriate criteria. Finally, we demonstrate the utility of interpretive procedures for developmental research by reviewing a recent application of these approaches in developmental psychology and by underscoring some of the integrative possibilities between its findings and the findings of others employing quantitative methods. Substantively, this research allowed promising insights into the process of young children's friendships, especially concerning the origins of friendships, conflicts, and children's knowledge of friendship. We hope not only to foster a better understanding of interpretive research among traditionally trained developmentalists, but also to stimulate the development of social constructionism as a research paradigm by explicating some of its methodological requirements and ramifications.