Ethnographic Research Methodology Research Articles

A Software Life-Extending Outsourcing Model: An Ethnographic Action Research of a Product Transformation for a European Telecom Equipment Manufacturer

Maximizing returns on software development costs have been a prime objective of product organizations. As the products mature, the organization explores alternatives to extend an existing product's life or retire it from its product portfolio. This article examines the changing trends of the outsourcing model for software product organizations based on a product's lifecycle and technology maturity. Adopting an ethnographic action research methodology, we study the journey of a software product's (re)aligning outsourcing strategy while evolving a parallel strategy for retiring products by either shifting focus from fixed to variable costs or monetizing them as “software assets.” As part of the conclusion, a software life-extending outsourcing model has been proposed based on the specific phase of product development and technology maturity. The article includes research implications for practice and academia in strategizing outsourcing based on a product's development phase.

In the Crucible of a Professional Learning Community: Becoming a Highly Effective Teacher in Challenging Contexts

Despite evidence for the established role of a professional learning community in supporting teacher professional learning and development, it is still among the most under-utilized resources available to teachers. The current study in a major educational institution in the Gulf sets an example for establishing professional learning communities (PLCs) in unusually challenging academic contexts. These contexts often lack support from the administration for teacher professional learning and development, and there is minimal collaboration among colleagues. While synthesizing ideas from mainstream literature and social psychology, the study expands the conceptual base for establishing PLCs and offers a strategic vision for developing highly effective teachers through participation in a synergistic PLC. Following Interpretive Research Paradigm, the study employed ethnographic research methodology to understand how the participants in the study describe themselves and their actions as well as their interactions with others. Based on a thematic analysis conducted using NVivo software, the findings suggest that goal-oriented collaboration of teachers in a PLC, where empathy, maturity, and abundance mentality are practised, can prepare teachers for professional excellence, leading to significant improvements in student learning and achievement. Keywords: ELT in the Gulf, professional learning community, student achievement, synergy, teacher professional development

Health care of the disadvantaged: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in later life.

Chronic diseases have emerged as the foremost causes of death and disability worldwide. This article employs an ethnographic approach to conduct a gerontological investigation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), the third leading cause of global mortality, trailing only cardiovascular diseases and cancers. This study is rooted in an extensive amalgamation of biomedical literature and official epidemiological data. Additionally, it offers enriched insights through an extensive ethnographic research methodology, encompassing ethnographic fieldwork, participant observation, interviews, and focus groups. The findings expound that individuals grappling with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease often undergo intricate cognitive and emotional experiences, necessitating holistic solutions that consider psychological processes, contextual factors, and subjective age. These challenges extend beyond the purview of a purely medical perspective. This article concludes that the lens of gerontology is invaluable in comprehending chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, particularly due to its association with old age and increased longevity. Among older individuals, diagnosing the condition presents a formidable challenge. Breathlessness, a cardinal symptom, often overlaps with normal age-related declines in pulmonary function, rendering COPD's insidious onset misconstrued as a consequence of aging-related changes.

Cultural capital and underdevelopment in less developed countries: The case of northern Ghana

AbstractDevelopment paradigms under the sustainable development goals (SDGs) identify cultural capital as an indispensable asset for development in less developed countries. However, the phenomenon of culture and underdevelopment nexus has attracted little research attention in Ghana. The study used modernization theory and ethnographic research methodology to explore the role of cultural capital deficits in northern Ghana's underdevelopment. Our findings suggest a close correlation between cultural capital and underdevelopment relative to unethical attitudinal standards, value deficits, and an anti‐development mindset. We recommend the inclusion of cultural reorientation in the design of development intervention programs to uphold high integrity standards. We further suggest that the curriculum and concept of quality education in schools should be broadened to include inculcating high‐value standards. Our study has contributed to academic discourses on cultural capital's role in the search for sustainable development in less developed countries, particularly in implementing the SDGs.

Alcohol abuse in African traditional religion: Education and enlightenment as panacea for integration and development

Alcoholism is endemic in Nigeria’s traditional religion and society. This abuse is especially common at New Yam festivals, Ekpe, Ekpo and Nmanwu masquerades festivals, burial rituals, birth, marriage and naming ceremonies. Some claim that this is driven by specific beliefs and activities in African culture, such as beliefs in ancestors, libation, hospitality and entertaining guests and strangers and the desire to maintain the cultural traditions of the ancestors. Alcohol abuse has generated major health and social issues for abusers, their families and society, plunging families, towns and tribes into crises and conflicts that bring economic and political retrogression. This research studied how the African traditional religion encourages alcohol misuse and how to decrease it for national development. This study was on Nigeria’s South-South region. The study uses qualitative and ethnographic research methodologies, including key informants, in-depth and focus group interviews and the reward deficiency syndrome as a theoretical framework. Although African Traditional Religion (ATR) supports alcohol usage, greed, a lack of self-control, peer pressure, indiscipline and lack of moral upbringing led to alcohol misuse, which harms the person, family, community and country as a whole. Education and enlightenment are a remedy to free alcoholics and utilise them for national integration and development.Contribution: Some say Africans drink a lot because their religious heritage promotes drinking, leading to abuse. However, peer pressure, selfishness, a lack of self-control, bad parenting and not religion push persons with reward deficiency syndrome into alcoholism, according to this research.

MODELING OF TRADITIONAL CHARACTERS USING 3D SOFTWARE THAT IDENTIFIES AND ENHANCES THE CULTURAL HERITAGE OF RIOBAMBA

The new generations are losing the historical and cultural significance of the different characters that participate during the Christmas festivities in the city of Riobamba; the introduction of foreign characters through movies, series, animations, or other media has caused the loss of identity, history, and traditions in the city. The purpose of this research work is to present, rescue, and preserve the cultural manifestations of the town of Riobamba, relying on three characters identified for performing dances and dances of the local culture during the parade of the child King of Kings. The ethnographic or qualitative research methodology was applied, using observation as a data collection technique. Using the Autodesk Maya software for 3D modeling, it was possible to obtain high-quality images of the representative characters. The character modeling process followed the phases of the XP software development methodology. The survey was used to validate the results. It is possible to validate the three characters before a sample of 287 students of the Software. Graphic Design careers, identifying that the Identification and Similarity variables present values between 51.6% and 96.9%, equivalent to satisfactory and very satisfactory; the lowest point has the Chromatic variable. of the Curiquingue character with 43.9% that guarantees a redesign of the character for future works. The enhancement of the cultural heritage of Riobamba is achieved in public surveys since some students state that they do not know the modeled characters but are willing to use souvenirs to make more people aware of the culture and heritage of Riobamba.

Conducting online ethnography during COVID‐19: Methodological reflections from a kindergarten classroom

In this reflection, I contextualize my own experiences conducting educational ethnography in a synchronous online kindergarten classroom during the COVID‐19 pandemic. I highlight how conducting research in online classrooms transforms ethnographic research methodologies and concepts such as the field site. I offer four suggestions, derived from my experiences and guided by an un‐sited approach to this hybrid online field site, to conceptualize a more fluid approach for studying online schooling in general.

Food Culture, Religious Belief and Community Relations: An Ethnographic Study of the Overseas Chinese Catholic

Religion and food culture are two closely related topics in the Christian discourse and have been the subject of extensive anthropological research. This paper takes the Boston Chinese Catholics as a case study, and it adopts an ethnographic research methodology to explore the ways in which the sense of belonging develops in the Church community, based on the analysis of food culture in this context. Chinese Catholics in Boston are mainly Fujian and Hong Kong immigrants, and the class, status, and economic differences between these two communities are well apparent. The Boston Chinese Catholic Church divides food into sacred and secular. During religious rituals, all Catholics share the sacred food, the Holy Body and the Holy Blood, which symbolize the unity of the Catholic Church. In everyday life, Fujian Catholic and Hong Kong Catholic community members follow the dietary habits of their community to maintain a division between each community’s traditions. Over the years, the Boston Chinese Catholic Church has developed a flexible strategy—externally consistent and internally differentiated—to maintain the unity of the Church while embracing the cultural differences of its members. This flexible strategy has also influenced the way in which the Boston Chinese Catholic Church operates. This study indicates that we need to place more emphasis on the diversity and complexity of the members of the overseas Chinese Catholic Church and the specificities of the Catholic religion’s discourse so that we can better understand the overall practices and methods of overseas Chinese Catholicism. This study is a catalyst for the study of overseas Chinese Catholicism, as well as the study of food culture, religion, community, and identity in that context.

The Indian diaspora, cultural heritage and cultural transformation in the Colony of Natal (1895–1960) during the period of indenture

The article chronicles diasporic cultural heritage in Natal during the period of indenture in an Indian community in colonial South Africa. Using the qualitative ethnographic research methodology the focus is on the period 1895–1960. This methodology was chosen as it is a qualitative method where observation and/or interaction has taken place in real-life environments. In this article, the Indian cultural heritage as experienced by Mrs Takurine Mahesh Singh who arrived in Port Natal in 1895 is chronicled through the reflective memories of her South African-born eldest grandson, Mr J.S. Singh (b.1930). Further to this, her life in South Africa is explored as she lived in different worlds through various political systems and this life experience extended to include a cultural transformation. During 1960, the 100th anniversary of the arrival of the indentured Indians to the Colony of Natal was commemorated. Hence, this study considers the period 1895–1960. Moving across continents, the indentured Indians arrived in the Colony to work on the sugar plantations. Cultural heritage may be viewed as a sense of one’s subjective self-perception based on one’s language, ancestry, values, rituals, traditions and religion. During the political era of colonisation and indenture, the Indian nationals became displaced. This displacement created an intrinsic emotional threat. This emotional threat compromised their cultural heritage and consequently led to other forms of cultural transformation. During the oral history interviews, it emerged that the Indian nationals and their descendants in South Africa did not experience abject deculturalisation as they were able to practise aspects of their cultural heritage without the complete loss of their identity. This is one of the findings of the article. The findings indicate that complete deculturalisation did not take place even though cultural transformations resulted in the Indian diaspora in Natal.Contribution: With a unique focus on aspects of cultural heritage in the Indian diaspora, this article contributes to the knowledge of the social memory historiography with a spotlight on descendants of Indian indentured labourers in South Africa. The overarching contribution of this article focusses on the cultural transformation during the period under review.

User Strategies for Prolonging Product Lifetimes: A New Starting Point for Circular Conceptual Design

Product life extension is recognized as an important tool for creating more sustainable production and consumption patterns; yet, there is a lack of studies with comprehensive insights into how consumers interact with products throughout the product’s life span, or knowledge about the strategies consumers apply to change their behaviors and avoid premature disposal. The purpose of this study is to explore the motives and strategies users apply that positively affect product lifetimes, which provides much-needed input on the consumer’s perspective in the circular economy. The study applies a qualitative ethnographic research methodology on 26 households, in which we investigated how differently motivated users engaged with products in their homes; how they approached, developed, and modified products to fit personal needs, and, eventually, end up prolonging product lifetimes. The study contributes a new perspective on user research in the circular economy and suggests a new paradigm for circular conceptual design. Specifically, the study shows how existing user strategies for product longevity can be identified and used as a starting point for designing products and services that prolong product lifetimes.

Continuum of Carcerality: How Liberal Urbanism Governs Homelessness

A distinctive regime of the spatial governance of poverty is underway in Los Angeles, one in which the criminalization of homelessness is yoked to placements in carceral shelter and framed as the right to the housing. In this essay, we uncover the state violence inherent in such liberal urbanism by showing how such placements insert the unhoused into a system of carcerality while promising that they are the path to permanent housing. Seeking to trouble and critique the dominant paradigm of U.S. homeless management, Continuum of Care, we conceptualize a continuum of carcerality that stretches from encampment sweeps to seeming housing solutions. We find that the placements are a ruse, reproducing housing insecurity through exclusion, expulsion, and waiting, a structural condition that we term permanent displaceability. By focusing on an emergent mercenary entity, Urban Alchemy, and its expanding contracts for displacement and security, we show that there is a distinctive political economy associated with the continuum of carcerality. Our analysis is rooted in an ethnographic research methodology that centers the radical praxis of unhoused comrades. To this end, we foreground the demands of a homeless union that formed during the COVID-19 pandemic, UTACH, Unhoused Tenants Against Carceral Housing, which uses the framework of “carceral housing” to hold the state accountable to its promise of housing while refusing the carceral contracts that accompany such a promise. We take up their critique as an example of the ongoing reinscription of the terms of tenancy under conditions of global racial capitalism.

ICT for Sustainable Development: Evidence from Nguruman Community Knowledge Centre, Kajiado County, Kenya

For over a decade, development partners have advocated the application of ICTs as tools for poverty alleviation especially targeting the agricultural sector. To provide an in-depth analysis of the impact of the CKC on the Nguruman community, the participatory ethnographic research methodology, combining participatory techniques and ethnographic approaches, was used. The use of this approach with the potential to feed into action research. I selected certain elements of the Ethnographic Action Research (EAR) developed by Tacchi and others. This research was undertaken in Nguruman, a rural Sub-location situated in arid and semi-arid land within the Olkiramatian Group ranch about 40 kilometers from Magadi town at the foot of the Nguruman escarpment in Kenya. The findings show a general view of Nguruman as being relatively developed. Participants originally from Nguruman compared its current state of development to earlier years and said it is developed. However, participants who are not originally from Nguruman say the area has considerable development when they compare it with other communities in Kenya. Like the participants from the focus groups, those from the interviews described development in terms of infrastructure such as roads, communication services, community institutions, and socio-economic conditions such as an increase in population, cultural issues, and education. Most of the participants, especially those originally from Nguruman, mentioned that the infrastructure of Nguruman has improved when compared to its former state some years back. For all the participants, the perceiving influencers of the development of Nguruman were commonalities in the emerging issues such as gender and cultural issues, illiteracy, and the value of education. A comparison of the participants’ communicative ecologies reveals different communication and information patterns and activities unique to each individual. Each individual uses different ICTs and links these ICTs to his/her social network to enhance communication and information patterns. Based on the findings, it is recommended that development communication that emerges from successful rural development calls for the conscious and active participation of the intended recipients at each phase of the development process. Rural development cannot occur without changes in the attitudes and behaviors of the people concerned. Emphasis should be on the planning of communication initiatives, focusing on dialogue rather than one-way communication as support to development initiatives.

Cycling in Lagos: The challenges, opportunities, and prospects

Cycling has been credited with environmental, economic and health benefits, yet it remains marginalised in developing countries. This study focused on exploring the uptake of cycling in Lagos, Nigeria, one of the most densely populated cities in the world. It is anticipated that insights about Lagos can be applicable in other cities around the world that needs to address their sustainable transportation initiatives. This study adopts an ethnographic qualitative research methodology and triangulates data from the fieldwork, interviews with cyclists and non-cyclists. The study explores how Cycling is handled in urban and transport planning and treated within the broader context of urban mobility. The current study's findings have several implications for cycling promotion interventions, and they are grouped under three themes – awareness, availability, and activation. The study also makes theoretical contributions to studies on Cycling, sustainable and non-motorised transportation in urban cities and especially in developing countries.

Race, Parenting and Identity in the Iranian Diaspora Tracing Intergenerational Dialogues

This paper traces intergenerational learning through a series of dialogues on race, parenting, and identity held with Iranian parents, grandparents and youth at a Persian language school located in the US. Drawing on ethnographic, interactional, and participatory design research methodologies, the analysis focuses on the forms of intergenerational sensemaking and social analysis that emerged over time and what they can teach us about (a) the intersections of parenting and racial identity within Iranian diasporic communities in the United States and (b) the complex forms of personhood (Gordon, 1997; Tuck, 2009), learning and becoming among Iranians raising children and grandchildren outside Iran. Bringing close attention to specific instances of talk as embedded in broader relational temporalities and dialogic arcs, findings illustrate the shifting ways participants articulated the educational needs of Iranian children living outside Iran, the emergence of complex and sometimes contradictory discourses on race and identity, and the ways participants worked together to disentangle self-defense and self-determination from the politics of respectability. The discussion considers the implications of complex personhood for the design, mediation, and interpretation of intergenerational sensemaking regarding race and identity within the Iranian diaspora, with attention to broader processes of community codesign.

I’m Interested in Autoethnography, but How Do I Do It?

Autoethnography is one of the qualitative research methodologies that remains somewhat mysterious to many scholars. While the use of autoethnography has expanded across numerous fields, it can be difficult to find much guidance about the procedures involved in conducting an autoethnography. Recognizing both the flexibility and creativity inherent in autoethnography, as well as the need for rigor in achieving meaningful research results, we offer in this article some suggestions and reflections regarding the process of conducting an autoethnography – from developing the research question to reporting the findings. These recommendations draw from both narrative and ethnographic research methodologies, as well as descriptive and arts-based approaches. This discussion may serve as a resource for those interested in teaching and conducting autoethnography.

Thinking in Stories: Narrative Reasoning of an Occupational Therapist Supporting People with Profound Intellectual Disabilities’ Engagement in Occupation

This article illustrates narrative reasoning using the findings from research into an occupational therapy intervention promoting changes in the ways a staff team facilitated meaningful engagement in occupation. Qualitative critical ethnographic case study research explored a single case over one year of an occupational therapist working with five people with profound intellectual disabilities and their support network. Data were collected using participant observation, interviews and document analysis. Illustrated by an ethnodramatic vignette, the findings demonstrate how the occupational therapist reasoned narratively by eliciting, telling and creating stories and how this supported individualization of her intervention to the specific context. Creation of a prospective story that the support network were invited to share, guided and propelled the intervention toward its hoped-for ending. Narrative reasoning was particularly apparent in opportunities to reflect aloud, supporting occupational therapists’ need of opportunities for reflection through story-sharing and story-making. Case study and ethnographic research methodologies may be useful in further clinical reasoning research to better understand narrative reasoning.

Building a culture of engagement at a research centre for childhood disability

BackgroundEngaging patients and family members as partners in research studies has become a widespread practice in healthcare. However, relatively little has been documented about what happens after the research study ends. For example, is patient and family engagement embedded in the wider infrastructure of organizations, and if so how? What are the long-term effects of engaging parents on research teams on the culture of how research is conducted? This study seeks to address these two gaps by examining how a culture of family engagement has been built over time at CanChild Centre for Childhood Disability Research at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada.MethodsThis study is based on ethnographic research methodology and combines elements of organizational ethnography, interviews, and collaborative auto-ethnography with parent partners, researchers, staff, and trainees.ResultsSince the inception of CanChild Centre for Childhood Disability Research at McMaster University in 1989, parents have been involved in research studies. Over time, this involvement evolved from being consulted on research studies to undertaking decision-making roles as partners and most recently as co-principal investigators. A growing infrastructure fosters a community of engagement that goes beyond the individual research study, and often beyond CanChild. This infrastructure consists of training, knowledge mobilization and social networking. In addition, the “softer” building blocks of CanChild’s culture of engagement are an openness to learning from others, a commitment to relationship building, and a drive to grow and improve. These values are espoused by the leadership and are instilled in the next generation of researchers to inform both research and clinical work. While some challenges should be acknowledged when researchers and family partners work together on research studies, we identify a number of strategies that we have used in our studies to foster authentic and meaningful family–researcher partnerships.ConclusionEngaging patients and families as partners in research constitutes a culture shift in health research, whereby studies about patients and families are carried out with them. Developing a community of engagement that transcends an individual research study is a step towards creating a culture of research that is truly shaped by the people about whom the research is being done.

RESIDENT SENTIMENTS AND LIVED EXPERIENCES IN RELATION TO PLACE ATTACHMENT WITH BATTEL SECTOR

Kashmir conflict between India and Pakistan has plagued people for decades. The two regions controlled by India and Pakistan were split into a contested line, the Line of Control (LOC). The Kashmiri people face various threats on both sides, and their lives are threatened. However, residents are attached to their place and are reluctant to settle in other peaceful areas. The current study aimed to explore the perceptions regarding the place attachment of the residents living near LoC by asking the following question: what are Sentiments of individuals and their lived experiences with reference to their affinity to the Battel sector? The ethnographic research methodology was used to carry out the current research which includes participant observation and in-depth interviews. The sample of the study was selected from diverse socio-economic and educational backgrounds. A purposive sampling technique was employed and a total of fifteen participants were selected. The findings of the research suggest that there are multiple factors involved which binds residents with their place involving, place identity, social connections, the economic dimension, love for the place, and ancestral affiliations. Keywords: Azad Kashmir, conflict, hostile terrain, place attachment, sentiments

Integrating road information modeling (RIM) and geographic information system (GIS) for effective utility relocations in infrastructure projects

PurposeTransportation infrastructure projects are inevitably delayed due to delays in the completion of underground utility relocation. Unfamiliar location, difficulty in utility identification and use of ineffective coordination practices hamper timely completion of utility relocation works. This paper aims to develop integrated road information modeling (RIM) and geographic information system (GIS) models to assist early identification of utilities and effective coordination during utility relocation in infrastructure projects.Design/methodology/approachAn ethnographic action-based case study research methodology was adopted in this paper. Two ongoing infrastructure projects with significant utility relocation delays are chosen as case studies and integrated RIM-GIS models are developed to assist utility relocation. To verify the applications of developed RIM-GIS models, a focus group discussion was conducted with 10 field experts from the considered case studies.FindingsThe application of the developed RIM-GIS models enabled 3D visualization of existing underground utilities and enabled identification of utility conflicts before the start of the construction. They also enabled facilitating coordination and reduce utility relocation delays. The evaluation of the developed models shows that the RIM-GIS model approach enabled early planning and coordination and facilitates effective management of utility relocations.Practical implicationsThe current practices of using CAD and GIS for utility relocations are inadequate due to the difficulties in characterizing utilities and ineffective coordination practices. The proposed RIM-GIS approach can be adopted as a suitable alternative for effective management of utility relocations.Originality/valueSeveral studies have contributed toward integrating BIM and GIS for the analysis of highway and utility infrastructure projects. Efforts on integrating RIM and GIS for the support and management of utility relocations in highway and utility infrastructure projects remain unexplored.

Dilemma Motives in Contemporary Ghanaian Hilife Songs: Paapa Yankson’s ‘Woyer Anaa WoMaame’in Perspective

In Ghana and Africa, dilemma motives and concepts constitute a large number of the folklore. Ideas related to dilemma motives and concepts like the dilemma tales leave listeners and audiences analyzing whilst making informed and critical choices presented among dicey alternatives. Given that these choices are quite difficult and may question the ethical, moral and legal thoughts of the individual; dilemma motives leave the audiences to judge the comparative skills and abilities of characters presented in the dilemma situation. The richness of dilemma concepts cannot be ignored when blended in the lyrics of African beats. An idea of African Rhetoric is indicating the critical thinking skills of the forbearers before the inception of written literature. Oral Ghanaian literature made use of dilemma motives to develop individual analytical skills and in effect arrive at the resolution of conflicting ideas embedded in woven choices.For instance, Ghanaian oral literature use dilemma motives to develop individual analytical skills, and in effect arrive at the resolution of conflicting ideas embedded in dicey choices. These choices are difficult such that it tends to question the ethical, moral and legal thoughts of the individual. Thus, leaving the audience to judge uses comparative skills and abilities of characters presented in the situation. In PaapaYankson’s song, the audience is presented with a dilemma, a husband is given a choice to save either the wife or mother who are both drowning. Using a qualitative approach, ethnographic research methodologies and elements of rhetoric, I thematically analyse the lyrics of the title and uncover how individuals familiar with the song solve this dilemma.