Exploring ethnographic genres and developing validity appraisal tools

Abstract

The current paper discusses the historical evolvement of ethnography, identifies the various genres that have developed and argues that the development of ethnographic genres has been informed by a variety of epistemologies that have different aims, methods of data collection and analysis, and styles of presentation. The different genres of ethnography are systematised and categorised into three broad categories, namely classical ethnography, critical ethnography and interpretive ethnography. Each one of these genres are analysed and linked to the unique aims, methods of data collection and analysis, and styles of presentation that are congruent with the epistemology that informs it. Furthermore, it is asserted that different ethnographic genres require different criteria for judging their validity and these criteria should be contextualised and related to the epistemology that informed the specific genre, rather than using a set of unifying criteria for judging all ethnographic studies. Finally, this paper develops a series of steps that coherently link the epistemology, the aims, the data collection, the data analysis, the researcher’s representation in the study, and the presentation of the study for each genre so as to enable researchers and readers of ethnographic studies to accordingly assess the validity of each ethnographic genre.