Ethnographic Observations Research Articles

Sent out, Kept In: Detainment-Based Discipline in a Public High School

Exclusionary discipline receives considerable scholarly attention, but the concept homogenizes practices that rely on the physical detainment of youth, such as in-school suspension, and practices that do not, such as out-of-school suspension. In this article, I argue that school discipline should be evaluated not only on the basis of whether it is exclusionary but also whether it is detainment-based. Whereas a practice such as in-school suspension relies on students’ physical detention, out-of-school suspension releases them from the school’s carceral control. I draw on three years of ethnographic observations and 108 interviews in a public high school to explore why and how students and adults differently evaluated detainment-based versus non-detainment-based practices. Although both groups drew parallels between detainment-based discipline and carcerality, adults insisted that detainment-based discipline was less “severe.” Students, however, strongly preferred non-detainment-based discipline because it released them to relative “freedom.” I explore the implications of these findings for both researchers and practitioners.

An ethnographical study on building trustful relationships with youth in a community university partnership

ABSTRACT This study explores the dynamics of trust-building with youth within the context of Community University Partnerships (CUPs). It proposes a conceptual model derived from qualitative research conducted in Green Park with six male youths and based on recorded ethnographical observations from 21 visits over a period of 15 months. A Grounded Theory approach led to identifying a conceptual model that illustrates a multi-phase trust-building process that begins with overcoming initial wariness and progresses through understanding and shared experiences. Mindful interactions, respect, and the inclusion of youth perspectives are identified as key facilitators. The research highlights the role of intermediaries, like youth workers, in reinforcing trust and supporting the youth’s engagement with researchers. The study offers significant insights into fostering trust with youth groups, enhancing collaborative strategies, and potentially facilitating more effective CUP outcomes.

Pastoral culture in the economic space of the Kolyma region of Yakutia based on historical and ethnographic observations in the early twentieth century.

The main idea of the presented publication is to highlight the processes of spreading pastoral practices as a separate element of traditional Yakut culture in the Kolyma region of Yakutia in the first half of the twentieth century. The object of the study is the data of historical and ethnographic studies conducted in the 1950s by the staff of the Institute of Language, Literature and History of the Siberian Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences. The materials they have collected are an important source on the ethnocultural history of the region, requiring a modern interpretation of the scientific data they have obtained. The subject of the study of this article is the reflection in these sources of the processes of expansion of pastoral practices to the northeast of Yakutia in the first half of the twentieth century and their adaptation to local natural, cultural and socio-economic conditions, which had not previously been considered in such a perspective and did not become the object of a separate study. The methodological basis of the article was the historical method of analyzing archival data and scientific literature related to the research topic. The use of historical-comparative, historical-systemic, problem-chronological and statistical methods allowed the most complete analysis of the studied processes. It has been revealed that studies conducted in the north-east of Yakutia in the middle of the twentieth century make it possible to more clearly understand the history and culture of its inhabitants, as well as identify the features of their daily life, traditions and customs. The works of scientists of that time are undoubtedly a valuable source of information about life and social relations in Kolyma. At the same time, the processes affecting the interaction of northern cultures in the conditions of adaptation and the formation of new economic models still remain insufficiently studied. Based on the collected materials, the main results of the ongoing integration economic processes in the north-east of Yakutia in the first half of the twentieth century were identified and it was noted that the modernization processes that took place during this period had an even more significant impact on the ethnic composition and economic activities of the indigenous population, accelerating the transition of local aboriginal ethnic groups to new, previously unusual for this region.

Navigating Geoeducational Dilemmas: Singapore as a Migration Hub for Students from China

In a post-pandemic world of escalating tensions between China and the West, increasing numbers of students from China are eschewing Western destinations for places in Asia, including Singapore. For these migrants, this Chinese-majority city-state has emerged as an important geoeducational hub between China and the West. A portmanteau of geopolitics and education, the term geoeducational refers to the reciprocal effects of both. Employing an anthropological approach, this article theorizes the geoeducational as a crucial subdomain of the geosocial—a concept proposed by geographers to analyze how social subjects and spaces are influenced by and impact geopolitics and geoeconomics. Using ethnographic interviews and observations, I argue that Singapore's emergent junctional position helps Chinese student migrants navigate their geoeducational dilemmas. These dilemmas are conditioned by rising US-China superpower competition amid economic stagnation in China and growing xenophobia in the West. Under these conditions, many students see Singapore as a safe liminal place from which they can pursue security, flexibility, freedom, cultural belonging, and family togetherness—by "springboarding" to the West, returning to China, or remaining in Singapore. This article contributes to the mobilities turn in education studies and enhances understanding of multiple migration—migration characterized by multiple changes in destination—by analyzing the interplay between domestic and transnational movements. The geoeducational lens it develops is useful for illuminating international student mobilities cross-culturally and comparatively as well as investigating their systematic interrelationships, including implications for demographic change, brain drain and gain, university financing and rankings, and hypercompetition in a time of eroding meritocracy.

Globalization and changing gender norms: A comparative study of working women in Japan, Singapore, and India

Globalization's impacts on gender roles in Asia remain inadequately understood despite extensive scholarship on women's empowerment worldwide. This comparative study investigates how increasing integration into the global economy shapes gender norms and labor force gender gaps in Japan, Singapore and India. Quantitative analysis of World Bank indicators over 1990-2020 reveals divergent patterns; while female labor participation rates converge towards egalitarian norms in Japan and Singapore (rising from 48.89% to 49.29%, and 51.34% to 60.01% respectively), India exhibits persistence of gaping gender imbalances, only narrowing from 32.7% to 32.9% over thirty years. These macro-level trends provide impetus for follow-up qualitative phenomenological study through 1) ethnographic observations of professional women in Tokyo, Delhi and Singapore and 2) in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 60 total working women (n=20 per site) across corporate, service and informal sectors. Thematic analysis of narratives will elucidate common and distinctive mechanisms by which global and local forces interact to moderate traditional patriarchal attitudes and yield varied empowerment outcomes for Asian women. Blending macro-statistical and ground-level qualitative approaches enables holistic understanding of globalization's socioeconomic influences on renegotiating gender relations in context. Findings will inform theory and practice on global forces, development and women's welfare in late modernity.

Piloting Implementation Design and Preliminary Readiness for Universal Suicide Risk Screening Program in Emergency Department of a Tertiary Care Centre, Nepal: A Mixed Method Study

Introduction: Nearly three quarters of the suicides occur in developing world, however few evidenced-based health systems strategies exist to detect and prevent suicide in these contexts. This pilot study evaluates the feasibility of implementing a universal suicide risk screening program in a Nepalese emergency department. Methods: This study reports the preliminary training phases of a pilot implementation trial in the emergency department to evaluate the program. The approval was obtained from the Nepal Health Research Council (Approval no. 447/2021 P), and the Kathmandu University School of Medical Sciences Institutional Ethical Review Board (Approval no. 237/2021) and Yale University IRB (Protocol ID 2000029480). Implementation assessments included suicide screening acceptability, appropriateness, confidence, system priority, and myth knowledge of staff. Implementation strategies were selected, decolonized, and preliminarily trained followed by phased supportive coaching to initiate the screening package. We designed the implementation package through co-design staff focus groups and embedded ethnography. Results: Co-design focus groups (n=8) occurred with staff and leadership. We trained 26 (76.47%) the staff on the Nepali suicide screening tool followed by supported phased initial screening over two months. Implementation assessments demonstrated increased scores on appropriateness, confidence, system priority, and myth knowledge. The implementation package included key strategies to be deployed over six months. The embedded ethnographic observations revealed barriers to effective implementation, such as anticipated stigma, reluctance to engage families, and distrust in referral processes.Conclusions: The pilot study demonstrated that training improves staff appropriateness, confidence, system priority, and myth knowledge. Despite initial barriers, co-designed strategies and phased coaching facilitates screening uptake, highlighting the program's potential for sustainable implementation.

Ambiance as a Key for a Better Birth Experience.

This research provides insights into childbirth as a sensitive experience, from the perspective of its user, "woman in labour," as well as from the perspective of the event itself, "the childbirth," and the birth space, with its spatial and ambiantal configurations. By adopting an in-situ approach, we conducted a spatial and ambiantal characterization of two childbirth different contexts; Tunis and Grenoble. Along this work, we used various methods such as ethnographic observation and semistructured interviews with mothers and midwives, when following visits to the birth spaces in Grenoble. Our experimental protocol was refined by introducing the capture of emotions, notably through the analysis of electrodermal activity variation, for the case of the Maternity and Neonatology Center in Tunis. In correlation with observations and interviews, the analysis of electrodermal activity reveals the mother's emotional state. Subsequently, we undertook a transposition and synthesis of significant ambiantal situations encountered in the birth space in Grenoble and Tunis, during labour phase of childbirth. Six ambiantal situations-types are identified and distributed across two dimensions: luminous and kinesthetic. The results of this research are extremely useful to guide the choices in design of birth space while at the same time considering the well-being of woman in labour. We will end with an ambiantal project that proposes interventions on spatial quality by introducing an ambiantal dimension to the birth space.

How can Community Music Help Address Loneliness in Contexts of Social Marginalisation? Insights From Two Music for Social Connection Programs.

This study explores how participatory music programs can help build social connection for people experiencing loneliness in contexts of social marginalisation. Loneliness is a growing, global public health issue with social and structural drivers. There is an urgent need to investigate innovative approaches to programming that go beyond opportunities for social contact to address the multiple domains of loneliness. Designed collaboratively with two social sector organisations in an urban context in Australia, this study presents outcomes from two community programs that involved groups of people experiencing or at risk of loneliness engaging in music together. Using a qualitative methodology that included semi-structured and brief interviews, focus groups and ethnographic observation, researchers identified positive shifts in relation to social loneliness (related to social contact), emotional loneliness (related to social bonds and meaningful connections), and existential loneliness (related to community connection and acceptance) for participants of the music programs. This study contributes to an urgent gap in understanding effective programming to support people experiencing loneliness and bolsters emerging evidence about the role arts can play in strengthening health, community and social sector efforts to address inequity.

Red Rice Alcohol in Southern China: Two Ways of Traditional Brewing and Their Implications for Archaeological Research

ABSTRACT China has a long history of making alcohol using different cereals. Recent archaeological studies demonstrate that people began producing hongqujiu (red rice alcohol) in the early Neolithic. However, because this product is produced and consumed in limited areas today, there is limited information about how it is made. This article reports ethnographic observations of the process of making hongqujiu in two villages in Zhejiang Province, China, where local people practice two different brewing methods–wet and dry. Samples from an abandoned jiugang vat, used in the production of red rice alcohol by a local villager, were studied microscopically to provide reference data on starches, fungi, and other microresidues. By providing reference information on the traditional alcohol-making processes, circumstances of consumption, and morphological changes of starch and fungal elements, this study will improve our understanding of alcohol making and consuming practices in archaeological contexts in China and beyond.

‘We are religious, patriotic and self-sacrificial’: Baniya power, cohesion and wealth anxieties in India

ABSTRACT Wealth in India is concentrated amongst a few privileged social groups in urban areas. What is the relationship between wealth, caste, and elite action? I have selected Agarwals, a business caste in Delhi that belongs to the vernacular category baniya, for this case study. By drawing on in-depth interviews and ethnographic observations made over four years, I show that the mercantile claim to political power is economic, moral, and symbolic. This paper broadens the sociological understanding of the wealth and power of the elite by showing how upper-caste identitarianism is undertaken.

Data for whom? Experiences and perceptions of a perinatal eRegistry in two hospitals in Mtwara region, Tanzania

IntroductionDigital data systems have the potential to improve data quality and provide individual-level information to understand gaps in the quality of care. This study explored experiences and perceptions of a...

Musahars’ perspective on nature, culture and cosmology

This paper tries to explore Musahars’ understanding and their behaviors about private property/possession, nature, and cosmology at large. Policymakers and change makers blamed that Musahars did not save private property, food, and money for their future. The establishment narrative in Madhes is, ‘Musahars are the destroyer of private property’. The community was essentialized as a metaphor for Banmanchhe (forest-human), an example of marginalization, and a sample of the illiterate community in Nepal. The main knowledge gap is, what is their understanding of private property, natural resources, and cosmology? How do they interpret themselves, other people, and nature? How do they interpret life, property, happiness, and death? To address such a series of questions, the researcher employed ethnographic observation, and key informant interviews during a fieldwork at Golbazar (Siraha, Nepal), in 2013-2017. Musahars have different understandings of life, private property, and cosmology. They believed that all natural resources were collective property including non-human by nature but powerful people exploited them by making rules of private property relations. Musahars’ cosmological and natural understanding is that they could communicate and understand natural entities (wild animals, soil, trees, water, and air) and cosmological phenomena (spirits, gods, souls) and vice-versa.

The “insider” ethnographic diagnostic radiographer thinking like “an outsider”

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore how the ethnographic researcher navigates their insider–outsider status and provides a methodological contribution to this important aspect of ethnographic research; this will be framed from the researcher’s perspective using a semi-autoethnographic approach. The ethnographic study being reflected upon explored the culture in a Diagnostic Imaging Department (DID), looking at how radiographers work and what the issues were within their working environment. The original study was carried out within one DID in a District General Hospital in the East of England (Strudwick, 2011).Design/methodology/approachIn the original study, the researcher used ethnography to study the culture in a DID. Observation was carried out for a four-month period. Field notes were recorded and used to formulate topics for the interviews that were to follow. After the observation, the researcher conducted semi-structured interviews with key informants from the DID. Ten key informants were purposefully sampled from the DID to provide a cross-section of opinion from the staff. The data collected were analysed to identify key themes. This paper reflects on the data from the original study to explore the tensions between the insider and outsider researcher role and how this contributes to the way the ethnographic researcher views the environment, reports on their findings and how they feel about the data from their own perspective.FindingsEthnographers carrying out research in their own area of practice need to try to think like an outsider in order to see the environment with a sense of strangeness but also try to make sense of what the participants are thinking and doing. There is a tension between becoming part of the group in order to understand it and looking at the environment as an outsider in order to make a note of what is happening. Findings from the original ethnographic study will be used to illustrate this point and will be used to reflect on the feelings of the researcher, considering her insider and outsider status.Research limitations/implicationsThis study was carried out in one diagnostic imaging department in the east of England.Originality/valueThe author, who is a diagnostic radiographer and radiography educator reflects on how she managed the insider–outsider tension during her ethnographic observation and after the event when reflecting on the data from the original study.

Understanding the Culture of Science Research Teachers with Winning Science Investigatory Projects

ABSTRACT The government, in collaboration with other institutions and organizations, has implemented several initiatives to develop a culture of research and innovation in the Philippines and help appease the demands of STEM experts in the country. Science, technology, and engineering (STE) curricular programs are offered in basic education which requires students to produce a scientific research paper. However, the ailing conditions of infrastructure and scarce resources in the country affected the practices and operations of public schools. Nevertheless, these challenges do not hamper select STE-implementing schools from winning science research competitions which is a manifestation of quality research outputs. Thus, this study explored the culture of science research teachers (SRTs) using Charmaz’s Constructivist Grounded Theory framework which would be of optimum benefit to the education system by leveraging the practices of winning STE-implementing schools. Data were gathered through ethnographic interviews and observations (online and face-to-face) from 16 teacher and school head participants from one region following selection criteria. A total of 84 initial codes emerged which resulted in 14 focused codes. Upon analyzing the focused codes, four conceptual categories were drawn. Theoretical codes emerged after identifying connections between categories that explained the culture of SRTs—competition as drivers; competition as enablers; competition as amplifiers; competition as student formators; and competition as bridgers. Overall, the study illustrated a ripple effect of competition-driven culture as a means and end in mind that winning STE-implementing schools starts to emanate from SRTs.

Modelling the modus operandi of online romance fraud: Perspectives of online romance fraudsters

The strategies that online romance fraudsters employ may vary across different socioeconomic, cultural, and political contexts. Drawing on ethnographic interviews and observations of online romance fraudsters in Ghana, this paper develops a model that explains how African online romance fraudsters deceive Western victims. While much of the model aligns with previous studies based on insights from experts, victims, and secondary data, it uncovers significant aspects of offenders' strategies that earlier research overlooked. These findings suggest that African offenders adopt a distinct approach, shaped by regional sociocultural factors, to execute their fraud schemes. The study identifies seven interconnected and systematic stages that African online romance fraudsters use to defraud Western victims: creating fake profiles, conducting reconnaissance, building trust, scamming, reinventing the truth, turning victims into partners, and abandonment. The findings also show how both cultural and personal vulnerabilities become targets for exploitation. This research offers valuable insights for law enforcement agencies, victim support organizations, and other stakeholders to develop effective policies that mitigate romance fraud and reduce its far-reaching impact on victims. The study also encourages further research to expand the understanding of this phenomenon.

UNDERSTANDING MULTILINGUALISM AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT. CASE STUDIES FROM ROMANIA

Drawing on the data provided by the Eurobarometer on Europeans and their languages, on the Relevance theory, and ethnographic observations of contemporary Romanian society and its linguistic habits, this article develops the taxonomy of different subdivisions of multilingualism in the social continuum “pre-university studies - university studies - labor market”. Qualitative research based on ethnographic interviews and testimonies from reallife experiences provides us with a contextual understanding of the term in pre-university education and on the labor market, while quantitative research based on responses to a thematic questionnaire sent to university students of economics provides key clues about their language skills with a view to improving their linguistic performance. The case studies examined in this study will allow us to refine certain preconceived ideas about multilingualism, and to perceive accurate social and cultural patterns of this contemporary dynamic topic.

The staff perspectives of facilitators and barriers to implementing virtual reality for people living with dementia in long-term care.

One emerging technology in long-term care (LTC) is virtual reality (VR), an innovative tool that uses head-mounted devices to provide the viewer with an immersive experience. It has been shown that VR has a positive impact on the well-being of residents living with dementia, and staff are essential in the implementation and sustainable use of technology. Currently, there is a lack of inclusion and focus on direct staff perspectives on VR implementation in LTC. This paper aims to report staff perspectives on VR adoption in a 2-year study on a virtual reality program at three Canadian LTC homes. Our interdisciplinary team (clinicians, people living with dementia and family partners, trainees, and researchers) explored the facilitators and barriers to implementing VR in LTC, guided by the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) and intersectionality supplemented CFIR. Twenty-one participants were recruited, including recreation staff, care aides, nurses, screeners, and leadership team members. The team collected data through staff interviews, focus groups, and ethnographic observation field notes. Reflexive thematic analysis was performed to identify themes reporting the facilitators and barriers for VR implementation in LTC from staff perspectives. The data analysis resulted in three facilitators and four barriers. Facilitators are (1) perceived VR benefits, (2) integrate VR into workflow and routines, and (3) partner with skillful VR champions. Barriers include (1) staff concerns about VR use, (2) financial burden and competing priorities, (3) lack of infrastructure and physical spaces, and (4) staff workload and limited leadership support. This study contributes to the field with staff perspectives on facilitators and barriers to VR implementation. It underscores the rarely discussed aspects of VR implementation, such as funding prioritization and implementation timing. We offer practical strategies to inform future practices and research. Future studies should further explore long-term VR implementation, the involvement of family members as VR facilitators, and the use of VR in LTC.

Environmental Scarcity and Natural Resource-Related Disputes in East Hararghe and West Hararghe Zones, Oromia, Ethiopia

This article reports our longitudinal ethnographic study on the nexus between environmental scarcity and natural resource-related disputes in East Hararghe and West Hararghe zones of the Oromia Region, Ethiopia. The data required for the study were obtained through key informant interviews, informal conversations, ethnographic observations and field notes. We systematically organized and analysed the data in such a way that they would reveal the impacts of the long-standing interactions between environmental scarcity and human factors in laying the foundations for and shaping natural resource-related disputes in the study area. The study suggests that natural resource-related disputes in the study area are rooted in the inability to create systems of societal resilience in the face of increasing environmental scarcity. Based on the findings of the study, we underscore that the concerned government and non-government agencies need to take integrated measures to promote environmental protection, environmental justice, conflict sensitivity and socio-ecological resilience.

Learning and Distributed Expertise in Community‐Based Science

ABSTRACTIn the face of growing social‐ecological challenges, multiple forms of expertise must be brought to bear in environmental problem‐solving. As such, community‐based science has been touted as a potential way to “democratize” scientific knowledge production, allowing for multiple sources of expertise to be harnessed and for learning across stakeholders to occur in new ways. The extent to which this occurs, however, is mediated by a variety of factors. Focusing on the context of a dam removal and river restoration initiative in the Western United States, we leverage community science literacy as a conceptual lens to critically interrogate if and how multiple forms of expertise are taken up through community‐based science toward the goal of watershed revitalization. Based on an analysis of empirical evidence collected from interviews, ethnographic observations, and project artifacts, we found that local residents in the watershed demonstrated robust forms of situated local knowledge that they often leveraged toward the work of science. This occurred through processes of coordination work, which were mediated by opportunities for individuals to shift between roles, the contributions of brokers and boundary spanners, and issues of power, status, and rank. While individuals demonstrated and shared their nuanced local knowledge, dominant science still structured if, when, and how this was taken up in the project. Ultimately, we suggest that leveling hierarchies in community‐based science—and affording broader publics greater epistemic agency in shaping the work of science—is key to fostering social‐ecological transformation through science learning in informal settings.

Anthropocene angst: Authentic geology and stratigraphic sincerity.

In March 2024, the Anthropocene Working Group's proposal for a formal Anthropocene Series/Epoch of the Geologic Time Scale was formally rejected by the Subcommission on Quaternary Stratigraphy. What does the failed formalization effort reveal about the relationship between science and normativity under conditions of 'climate crisis'? Drawing on four years of ethnographic observation of the Anthropocene Working Group, this article explains how the Group developed its proposal, why it failed, and what it reveals about the social construction of geological truth. The effort to formalize an Anthropocene unit was based on a coupling of science and politics, wherein geo-scientists could make normative assertions in the register of scientific fact. Ultimately, the Group failed because it was seen as appropriating incumbent geological techniques to advance claims about the future, transitioning geology from a descriptive science about the past to a site of warning.