Ethnographic Research Articles

​​Labile Bodies​: A Hospital Ethnography of Medical Professionals’ Struggles in Deceased Organ Donation

This article presents an ethnographic study of the donor body in deceased organ donation. Drawing on the science and technology studies’ incitement to study bodies being enacted and acted upon in situated practices, I explore the body being done and becoming undone in the practices of organ procurement at a Catalan hospital. The hospital has uniquely high rates of organ donation and transplantation, and deceased organ donation has become routinised and integrated into everyday hospital activities. I attend ethnographically to the medical professionals’ accounts of and interactions with bodies and organs in their work dealing with both donors after brain death diagnosis and uncontrolled donors after circulatory death diagnosis. During fieldwork, I followed the struggles of the transplant coordination team grappling with unruly bodies under different maintenance technologies. The body being done in these hospital practices is an active and unstable materiality that must be contended with: a labile body, or a fragile assemblage of interdependent functions, requiring multiple interventions provided by a host of dedicated hospital practitioners. The article shows that staying close to the medical professionals’ situated accounts is a valuable route to gaining novel understandings of the donor body.

How relationship shapes the market: an ethnographic study of French tire industry

Based on a two-year autoethnographic research in the car tire trade, this study of market exchanges examines how merchants’ relationships with customers enable and sustain exchange by shaping market arrangements. Referring to these relationships as an attachment process at work in the market, this study demonstrates the relational influence wielded by merchants through the ideational, practical, and emotional ties they cultivated with customers. These framed, patterned, and emotionally meaningful relationships show that market embeddedness is endogenously produced and exerts an impact upon customers, competition, demand, and supply. Complementing the conventional economic transactional view of market, our findings contribute to a relational perspective and understanding of market dynamics.

Developing and using an adapted mosaic approach to explore children's foreign language learning experiences in primary school

This article describes an adapted mosaic approach, developed and used in a longitudinal, ethnographic study that explored children's foreign language learning (FLL) experiences in primary school in England. As a methodological innovation within the field of instructed early foreign language learning, the adapted approach addresses an identified need for a wider range of research methodologies and more inductive approaches. The original mosaic approach was initially considered to help address methodological questions that arose during the ethnography. That approach was subsequently adapted and developed in four main ways: firstly, for use within the longitudinal, ethnographic study; second, for use with its older, primary school-aged children; third, for development and use together with children in school rather than a tool designed for use on children and finally, where the focus was upon the process of completion rather than the end product. The adapted approach met the needs identified within the ethnography by further enhancing children's voices, their agency and perspectives within its data collection and analysis. Recommendations for its use in language learning contexts are made to support further research together with children, to help strengthen what is currently known and understood about children's experiences of instructed foreign language learning. This is based on the premise that knowing and understanding more about these will help inform future practices and initiatives.

The (mis)Information World of Moms for Liberty: A Digital Ethnographic Case Study

Moms for Liberty (M4L) is an American organization that has played an outsized role in the dramatic increase in book bans and challenges in school and public libraries. This group provides an opportunity to study the various ways that information and attention is driven bi-directionally between the public and private spheres. The aim of this digital ethnographic case study was to better understand how the norms and values that underlie the small world of M4L influence the larger lifeworld and social milieus of communities. If public policy is ideologically constructed, what does this mean for information practitioners whose institutions exist in small worlds? Jaeger and Burnett’s theory of information worlds and Engeström’s activity theory model were combined to form the lens of interpretation to analyze the normative behavior and information values of M4L and the impact of its object of motivation for creating information poverty in the lifeworld through censorship efforts via political activism and propaganda. Data sources included public messaging from M4L and affiliated social media pages, primary sources from M4L’s official website, official interview transcripts, news headline data, and relevant public policy data. This poster reports on the early findings and emerging implications of the study, as well as the potential value of the proposed theoretical-methodological framework for ethnographic and case study research within the information disciplines.

Investigating Mobility, Place, and Information Access Through an Ethnographic Study of Vehicle Residents’ Information Practices in the United States

Throughout the United States, an approximated one million people currently inhabit vehicles parked in publicly accessible areas as their primary method of housing. This dissertation explores vehicle residents’ information seeking practices and barriers to information access. Library and Information science (LIS) research has not developed theory related to place, mobility, and information access, despite living in a hyper-mobile world. LIS primarily centers online information behaviors, limiting potential impact on larger populations that face unique barriers to information access. While some studies constructed theory to address the function of place in information behavior, few interrogate how place and mobility impact information access despite geographic mobility serving important functions in various theory constructions. To address the importance of place and mobility in the context of information access, I conducted a multi-method, ethnographic study. Completing two rounds of deeply embedded fieldwork from June-October 2023 in Santa Cruz, California (CA) and from January-February 2024 along the Southern CA and Arizona (AZ) border, I used participant observation, information horizon interviews, and guided tours and photographs of participant’s vehicles to explore vehicle residents’ information practices and information source preferences. I determined my key findings in Spring 2024; they reveal that participants experience micro-fractures in their information landscapes when moving through new information environments. Identifying vehicle residents’ information practices and most used information sources can help public libraries and other information institutions implement improved support services for this growing population as public libraries are well positioned to bolster information access on behalf of its communities.

Meaningful work through craft: how workers in low-skilled roles engage in anomalous craft to gain autonomy and receive recognition

Meaningful work is work that offers a degree of autonomy and the opportunity to receive recognition from others. It is traditionally associated with highly skilled work whereas low-skilled jobs are often equated with meaningless work. Previous research assumes that workers in low-skilled roles have little access to the autonomy or recognition characteristic of highly skilled labour. Rather it suggests that in their efforts to make their working lives more tolerable, such workers are limited to either discursively reframing the significance of their roles or engaging in acts of resistance against the organisation. In this paper, based on an eight-month ethnographic study of a mould-producing company in France, we identify three processes through which workers in low-skilled roles find temporal opportunities to engage in anomalous craft where latent or underused craft skills and attitudes are utilised to enable them to work more autonomously and earn recognition from peers and supervisors rendering their work more meaningful. Our work offers insights into how workers can use craft to activate or re-establish meaning in contexts where work has been stripped of significance.

Building Information Worlds through Community and Experience: Preliminary Findings of an Ethnographic Study of Vehicle Residents’ Information Practices

Across the United States, an estimated one million people inhabit vehicles as their primary method of housing. While vehicles are among the most common shelters aside from brick-and-mortar homes, few studies have explored this populace. This is among the first studies that investigate vehicle residents from an information perspective. Based on six months of ethnographic fieldwork, this study seeks to explore vehicle residents’ information practices and the resources and source preferences used to support their daily lives. The end goal is to understand how information institutions, namely public libraries, can create service provisions to offer support. Through an information worlds lens, coupled with information horizon interviews, this research seeks to examine how trust is built within this community through information seeking via other vehicle residents. Preliminary findings suggest that the trust constructed within this information world directly impacts vehicle residents’ decisions to turn to their community for information.

The travelling and embedding of discourses on quality in early childhood education and care

ABSTRACT The present article is a meta-ethnographic analysis of 15 first-order ethnographic studies with a focus on quality in early childhood education and care (ECEC). The aim of the study is to investigate how neoliberal policy discourses on quality in early childhood education and care travel between global and local contexts and how they become embedded in local preschool practices. Central concepts in the analysis are institutional strategic responses, social reproduction and change in relation to how neoliberal discourses on quality become embedded in local preschool practices. The findings show how neoliberal policy discourses on quality are transformed and embedded in local preschool practices with different results and responses. The analysis uncovers five strategic, institutional responses: Acquiescence, Avoidance, Manipulation, Compromise, and Defiance. Acquiescence and Avoidance show patterns of social reproduction and Manipulation, Compromise, and Defiance reveals a potential opportunity for social change.

Ethical and Methodological Considerations in LGBTQ-focused Online Ethnography: A Proposal of a Systematic Review

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people constitute a vulnerable population that requires research about their needs, representations, and challenges. Among the variant research methods, ethnography is particularly effective in understanding participants and their lived experience. The development of information and communication technologies has transformed traditional ethnography research and contributed to the emergence of online ethnography research that holds potential for studying vulnerable populations (e.g., LGBTQ people) and relevant topics. We propose a systematic review to explore how researchers have considered and addressed ethical and methodological issues in LGBTQ-focused online ethnography research. We used the core collection of the Web of Science to search for relevant literature. We crafted the search query based on studies of LGBTQ populations, online ethnography studies, and other data sources like the Homosaurus vocabulary. Two groups of search terms were compiled and used in combination, including population-related terms (e.g., “queer”, “LGB*”, “GLB*”, and “sexual minorit*”) and method-related terms (e.g., “online ethnograph*”, “netnograph*”, “digital ethnograph*”, and “virtual ethnograph*”). In this review, we focus on empirical journal articles using any type or variant of online ethnography to investigate LGBTQ-focused topics. The eligible articles may include LGBTQ people as participants or stakeholders (e.g., LGBTQ staff), or analyze LGBTQ-related content (e.g., YouTube videos). Most importantly, we will analyze the ethical concerns (e.g., informed consent, power imbalance, cultural sensitivity, and beneficence and justice) and methodological aspects (e.g., research design, sampling, recruitment, data collection, data analysis, and roles of LGBTQ people) of these studies.

Standing Still, Go Along, and Zooming In: Complementary Strategies of Participant-Observations in Urban Ethnography

This paper seeks to complement conventional ethnographic participant observation methods, proposing the integration of three distinct strategies. Motivated by own ethnographic studies, conducted in an urban supermarket and a food festival site, the paper contends that traditional long-term immersion may not always suffice for investigating transient urban phenomena. The paper advocates for the integration of complementary methodological strategies for participant observation adaptable to evolving contexts and research questions. Firstly, the "standing still" approach involves minimal engagement while observing a specific scene or interaction, offering a detached yet insightful perspective on fleeting moments or events. Secondly, the "go along" strategy entails tracking a particular individual, group, or object through movements and networks, providing valuable insights into routines, relationships, and controversies. Lastly, the "zooming in" technique uncovers unexpected details within scenes, interactions, or subject matter, enriching understanding of what might otherwise go unnoticed. While the first two strategies are practices employed by early pioneers in the field, the latter gains relevance in an era where video recordings are increasingly prevalent. The paper argues for the complementarity of the three strategies, fostering a more advanced comprehension of the supermarket and social landscape at large. This study holds significant implications for the practice of participant observation, encouraging researchers to embrace a repertoire of strategies tailored to the unique demands of each research inquiry and situational context. This attentive and context-driven approach allows for a more nuanced and comprehensive grasp of the social world under scrutiny.

Stigmatised as ‘promoting’ with a duty to report: public healthcare workers providing services to criminalised ‘key populations for HIV’ under Uganda’s 2023 Anti-Homosexuality Act

This paper analyses the experiences of public healthcare workers in Uganda under the Anti Homosexuality Act (AHA) 2023, who specialise in the provision of HIV prevention and treatment services to criminalised ‘key populations’ for HIV, including men who have sex with men, transgender women, and female sex workers. Utilising in-depth semi-structured interviews with 17 public healthcare workers and participant observation with LGBTQ+ and HIV activists, public health officials, and development workers, this ethnographic study explored the legal, social and ethical challenges that public healthcare providers faced. Public healthcare workers have experienced various types of stigma from their work, including socio-legal stigma from the criminalisation of ‘promoting homosexuality’, stigma by association with key populations, concealment stigma, and denial. Legal ambiguities stemming from the AHA 2023 have led to security incidents for some public healthcare workers. The study highlights the ethical dilemmas that have arisen from the ‘duty to report’ clause, which conflicts with professional healthcare ethics of confidentiality, and the role the Ministry of Health played in passing the AHA 2023, instilling confusion about its enforcement, and minimising and denying the risks the legislation has had on Uganda’s HIV epidemic.

How “helping” can sustain the stigmatization of homeless people

Summary The article presents findings of an ethnographic study carried out in Poland with homeless people living on the street and in a hostel. Interpretative orientation was used to ensure the opportunity to gain in-depth knowledge about their perspectives. The paper has two aims. First, it reconstructs the limits and risks of “(un)helpful help” and its impact on experiences of stigma. Second, it addresses how good intentions and policy efforts can have negative consequences, drawing on data from two separate research studies. The first research included seven male homeless people living on city streets. The second was carried out with 20 homeless people served by an agency working for homeless people. A qualitative methodology was employed for this critical ethnography, according to which the authors analyzed the data using a constructivist grounded theory approach. Findings The research revealed a number of support measures which, instead of positively changing their situation from the participants’ points of view, can exacerbate it by further stigmatizing homeless people with support based on helpers’ stigmatizing approaches which can compound homeless people's negative experiences of “help.” Applications An understanding of the mechanisms of structural and systemic stigmatization from the participants’ perspectives can help shift responsibility for their situation away from homeless people themselves toward society's responsibility as a whole. It highlights how there needs to be a change of consciousness and approaches within assistance systems, shifting the balance from an asymmetrical to a symmetrical relationship based on partnership and collaboration.

К юбилею профессора Н.И. Воробьева: введение

The article opens a special issue of the Historical Ethnology journal dedicated to the 130th anniversary of the outstanding scholar Nikolay Iosifovich Vorobyev, geographer, historian and Turkologist, Honored Scientist of the Tatar ASSR, Honorary Member of the USSR Geographical Society, founder of ethnographic Tatar studies and one of the leading researchers of the ethno- and cultural genesis of the Chuvash people. Professor Vorobyev is the author and editor of such fundamental works as the Fundamentals of Physical Geography of the Tatar Republic (Kazan, 1936); The Kazan Tatars: Ethnographic Study of the Material Culture of the Pre-October Period (Kazan, 1953); The Chuvashes. Ethnographic Study (Cheboksary, 1956); Tatars of the Middle Volga and Ural Regions (Moscow: Nauka, 1967), as well as other academic publications. The paper outlines important milestones in the biography, the main areas of the scientist’s research activities, starting with his student passion for the ethnic culture of the peoples of Siberia to academic maturity – fundamental research on the ethnography of the Turkic peoples of the Volga and Ural regions. The article presents vectors of his teaching work at Kazan State University, at the Kazan Eastern Pedagogical Institute (KSPI), as well as administrative and expeditionary practice within the walls of the Central Museum of the Tatar ASSR and the Institute of Language, Literature and History of the Kazan branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences.

Promptology: Enhancing Human–AI Interaction in Large Language Models

This study investigates the integration of generative AI in higher education and the development of the SPARRO framework, a structured approach to improving human–AI interaction in academic settings. This ethnographic study explores the integration of generative AI in healthcare and nursing education, detailing the development of the SPARRO framework based on observations of student and faculty interactions with AI tools across five courses. The study identifies key challenges such as AI hallucination, mistrust of AI-generated summaries, and the difficulty in formulating effective prompts. The SPARRO framework addresses these challenges, offering a step-by-step guide for planning, prompt design, reviewing, and refining AI outputs. While the framework shows promise in improving AI integration, future research is needed to validate its applicability across other academic disciplines and assess its long-term impact on critical thinking and academic integrity. This study contributes to the growing body of research on AI in education, offering practical solutions for ethically and effectively integrating AI tools in academic settings.

ETHNOGRAPHISMS IN THE NOVEL “ELEN-ALAN”

In the modern era of developed globalization, the main driving force for the formation of a nation, integration as a people, unification as a country, preservation of national traditions is our ethnic mentality, language, religion and actual thinking. The main idea of the study is to cite ethnographic data from the historical novel “Elen-Alan”, which reflects the history, traditions and thoughts of our nation, using local color phraseology, proverbs and sayings in the language of the writer. The article aims to identify the content of individual phrases and phrases that determine the language skills of the writer by conducting an ethnolinguistic study of Ethnography in the language of A. Kekilbayev. The relevance of the study is manifested in the justification within the framework of linguistic ethnographisms that the ethnocultural unity of the writer's language forms a fund of ethnolexic words. The novelty and value of the topic of the article is emphasized by the fact that the study of phrasal phrases and parables related to domestic customs, traditions and customs that reflect the national character in the language of the writer is taken and evaluated in a holistic context. In the course of the study, methods of systematization and description of language material were used. The need to collect ethnographisms in the writer's language and create a systematic dictionary as future perspectives of the research was determined.

Utilizing intricate care networks: An ethnography of patients and families navigating palliative care in a resource-limited setting.

The increase in non-communicable disease burdens and aging populations has led to a rise in the need for palliative care across settings. In resource-limited settings such as Indonesia, however, notably in rural areas, there is a lack of professional palliative care. Little is known about specific palliative care navigation, as previous studies have mostly focused on cancer care navigation. A locally tailored approach is crucial. To explore how patients and families navigate palliative care and the problems they experience. An ethnographic study using in-depth interviews and observations, analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. Interviews with 49 participants (patients, family caregivers, and health professionals) and 12 patient-family unit observations in Banyumas, Indonesia. Patients and families navigated palliative care through different strategies: (1) helping themselves, (2) utilizing complementary and alternative medicine, (3) avoiding discussing psychological issues, (4) mobilizing a compassionate and advocating community, and (5) seeking spiritual care through religious practices. Our participants used intricate care networks despite limited resources in navigating palliative care. Several problems were rooted in barriers in the healthcare system and a lack of palliative care awareness among the general public. Local primary health centers could be potential palliative care leaders by building upon pre-existing programs and involving community health volunteers. Cultivating a shared philosophy within the community could strengthen care collaboration and support.

Community perspectives of Ebola Viral Disease in high-risk transmission border regions of Tanzania: a qualitative inquiry

BackgroundTanzania faces ever-rising concerns due to the recurrence of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Uganda. This necessitates a better understanding of the community perspectives in high-risk regions for effective risk communication and preparedness.MethodsThis rapid ethnographic assessment study used explorative qualitative methods to collect data. People from diverse backgrounds participated in 59 in-depth interviews, 57 Key Informant interviews, and 35 focus group discussions. Data was analysed using a thematic analysis approach.FindingThe study revealed existence of awareness of EVD and its symptoms, with radio and television being the main sources of information. However, there were varied perceptions of EVD’s cause and transmission, some attributed it to bats, monkeys, and wild animal meat, while others associated it with high fever, a dirty environment, changing dietary patterns, and the COVID-19 virus. Physical contact with an infected person’s body fluids and eating meat from infected animals were perceived as EVD transmission routes. Women, school children, boda-boda (motorcycle) riders, and fishermen were considered the most susceptible to EVD infections due to their daily activities. Preventive measures included avoiding physical contact, touching fluids, and refraining from eating wild animal meat. Prompt reporting of suspected cases to health facilities was deemed crucial for earlier outbreak identification and containment.ConclusionThe high-risk regions of Tanzania had a high level of awareness and perceived susceptibility to EVD, coupled with varying degrees of misperception about the etiology and its transmission. To improve community perspectives and preparedness in the case of an outbreak, there is a need for ongoing risk communication and participation in EVD prevention and responses.

Brine exploitation at Cacica (Romania): An application of radial model of salt supplying

Drawing on ethnoarchaeological field research conducted in Romania's Outer Carpathian region between 2007 and 2015, an ethnographic radial model for the supply of brine, recrystallized salt, and rock salt was developed. This paper aims to apply this model to prehistoric contexts, specifically the Neolithic, Chalcolithic, and Bronze Age periods, in relation to the brine sources at Cacica. The selection of this area is grounded in several factors: the presence of multiple brine sources, the use of the briquetage technique (a method for producing salt cakes in ceramic containers) during a specific phase of the Chalcolithic, extensive documentation from ethnographic and ethnohistorical studies, and a rich database on prehistoric settlement patterns.At Cacica, two distinct methods of brine exploitation were identified: the production of salt cakes and the direct use of brine without human intervention, primarily for human and animal consumption. The authors utilized the Radial Model of Salt Supply to analyse these two methods of exploitation and suggest that this dual model could offer valuable insights into the understanding of inland briquetage sites across worldwide.

Unanticipated outcomes of an occupational rehabilitation group on low-SES ultra-Orthodox women’s self-concept

ABSTRACT This longitudinal ethnographic study examines the development of the occupational self-concept of low socioeconomic status ultra-Orthodox women participating in a government-sponsored program to promote integration into the workforce. We followed participants for 18 months to learn about their experience and its effects, using group observations, in-depth interviews, and document analysis. The findings revealed central elements of the intercultural encounter of ultra-Orthodox women with a neoliberal organization. A year after the program’s conclusion, the participants unexpectedly underwent occupational regression, intensifying their commitment to their roles in the home arena rather than achieving the declared goal of occupational integration. The process led the women to embrace a self-concept resonating with the neoliberal characteristics presented in the program but applying it in the home and not the occupational space. This article suggests that neoliberal discourse, with its Western, secular, and class origins, left participants with a self-concept incompatible with the collective self characterizing their culture. We emphasize the importance of incorporating culturally sensitive practices for occupational rehabilitation which consider the potential conflict between the hegemonic discourse (represented by the organizations) and the program participants (minority groups from diverse cultural backgrounds).

Racial melancholia, ambivalence, and shame: a psycho-social examination of white student resistance to anti-racism in a secondary classroom

ABSTRACT This critical ethnographic study uses the concept of racial melancholia to investigate white student resistance to anti-racism in a secondary classroom. I employ a psycho-social (the interplay between psychoanalytic and social processes) approach to examining racialisation through a theoretical and empirical exploration of racial melancholia’s role in engendering a traumatic conflict between desiring anti-racism and betraying whiteness, a conflict that I argue serves as the core of white subjectivity. I analyse three different ways in which racial melancholia caused white students to vacillate between coveting anti-racism and reproducing racism. These students waged a psycho-social battle with whiteness that was mediated by social forces including family, friends, and classmates intersecting and overlapping with psychical processes related to ambivalence and shame. I conclude with how methods for storytelling can open pathways for working through racial melancholia.