Ethnographic research method for psychological and medical studies in light of COVID ‐19 pandemic outbreak: Theoretical approach

Abstract

Ethnographic research is perhaps the most common applicable type of qualitative research method in psychology and medicine. In ethnography studies, the researcher immerses himself in the environment of participants to understand the cultures, challenges, motivations, and topics that arise between them by investigating the environment directly. This type of research method can last for a few days to a few years because it involves in-depth monitoring and data collection based on these foundations. For this reason, the findings of the current study stimuli the researchers in psychology and medicine to conduct studies by applying ethnographic research method to investigate the common cultural patterns: language, thinking, beliefs, and behavior for groups of addicts, the bullies and their bullies, hospitalized psychiatric patients, psychiatric nursing groups, psychologists, counselors and psychotherapists, elderly residents of care homes, abused persons, orphans, persons with special needs, groups of gifted students in gifted schools and centers, and family with special needs children. The ethnographic approach is a very important method in medicine to investigate the health case of the patients with chronic diseases, such as heart diseases, cancer, diabetes, blood pressure, and others. And examine the effectiveness of the treatment plan and take a decision to continue this plan, or change it, in the treatment of a particular disease group. As well as detection of the side effects of drugs and treatment plan for certain groups of patients, and learning about the common culture of pregnant women about the process of pregnancy and childbirth.