Ethnographic Research Articles

Scarecrows: Supernatural Sentinels Against COVID-19 in Cambodia

ABSTRACT Responses to the threat of COVID-19 have unveiled the underlying cultural theories of contagion across various countries. In Cambodia, erecting scarecrows has emerged as a popular response. This ethnographic study on contagious diseases and cultural deathscapes, which included participant observation with 185 informants, revealed that the human perception of scarecrows was less significant than the perception of ghosts that these scarecrows were intended to repel. To serve as effective sentinels, these scarecrows must appear menacing and be well armed. These observations offer insights into the cultural construction of contagion, threat, and defense in the context of an epidemic or a pandemic.

"No peace in my heart": Exploring psychosocial problems experienced by women in relation to water insecurity and inadequate sanitation in an informal settlement, Kenya.

"No peace in my heart": Exploring psychosocial problems experienced by women in relation to water insecurity and inadequate sanitation in an informal settlement, Kenya.

Heritage language recognition: The multimodal construction of language in a Tibetan-Canadian family’s literacy activities

Abstract This ethnographic study examines literacy activities in a Tibetan-Canadian family, members of a heritage language community facing intergenerational language loss. Drawing from twelve months of video ethnography, as well as ethnographic interviews and participant observation, I show how children use sound, gesture, and objects to mediate a shared understanding of the Tibetan heritage language, despite the dominance of English in their spoken repertoires. Informed by anthropological methods of language socialization, I examine children’s multimodal articulations of metalinguistic knowledge to argue that literacy activities provide material anchors for Tibetan children to identify as heritage language speakers through a process that I term heritage language recognition—an interactive objectification of language as culture that does not rely on metapragmatic discourse. Analyses discuss heritage language recognition in conversational patterns of entextualization, demonstrating that metalinguistic knowledge can be located in young children’s multimodal repertoires. (Heritage languages, language socialization, literacy, metalinguistic knowledge, multimodality)

Social Impact of State Charity on Vulnerable Populations: An Ethnographic Study of the low income Families in Baltistan

Social Impact of State Charity on Vulnerable Populations: An Ethnographic Study of the low income Families in Baltistan

An Exploration into Education of Pastoral Nomads in Swat, Pakistan

Providing equal quality inclusive education for all groups is challenging, especially among pastoral Nomads and other vulnerable populations in today’s world. The ethnographic study explores the educational problems that pastoral nomadic children faced in Swat, Pakistan. People depend on child labor, are influenced by customs, often move around, and economically face being isolated due to the remoteness of access to formal schooling. The study aims to understand the difficulties faced by nomadic families, explore their influence on children's learning, and research teaching strategies used around the world that work for these families. Nomadic parents, children, community heads, and representatives from the NGOs were interviewed and discussions were held using focus group interviews. Thematic Analysis found that problems related to gender inequality, using children for work, lack of infrastructure and seasonal migrants were all preventing students from getting an education. Yet, the survey found that most community members are interested in education that can be transported, adjusted for the seasons, and fits their culture. Results suggest that having traditional lessons, leaders from local communities, and flexible education methods are critical parts of educational policy. According to the study, if cycles of poverty and being marginalized are to end in nomadic groups, they need access to education designed for them. Recommendations are provided to policymakers, non-governmental groups, and teachers who create school curricula about giving opportunities to disadvantaged students and joining community-led movements.

Exploring Young Autistic Children's Family and Independent Digital Experiences at Home

ABSTRACTThis study investigated how young autistic children engaged with digital technologies within the home context. Studying the everyday lives of three families in Queensland, Australia provided opportunities to identify the digital technologies they used and the purpose and potential of the children's digital interactions. Autistic children actively participated in this digital ethnographic study as they navigated their digital worlds. Children's experiences with digital activities were undertaken independently and with family members and informed how digital technologies support their socialisation, communication, and education. Furthermore, findings highlight the importance of parents and researchers adapting the ways that they engage with children to support children's success.

Neo‐Rurals and Tourism in the Context of Rural Crisis in Southern Europe. Case Study in the Sierra de Aracena (Andalusia, Spain)

ABSTRACTThe role of newcomers in the contemporary rural world has been widely studied, but the variability of profiles they present (amenity migrants, classic economic immigrants, neo‐rurals…) suggests that not all these actors have the same effects on the rural world and its crises. This article examines specifically how neo‐rurals—a population that is politically committed to sustainable rural development—influence the socio‐environmental, socio‐economic and socio‐identity issues surrounding the rural crisis through their engagement with tourism, a key activity in shaping the rural world in southern Europe. To do this, we present an ethnographic case study conducted in Fuenteheridos, a village in the Sierra de Aracena (Andalusia, Spain) that has a significant neo‐rural population and a developed tourism sector. This case study allows us to reflect on the differential effects of neo‐rurals on the rural crisis.

Implementation of Deep Learning based on Local Wisdom 'Bhineka Tunggal Ika, Tan Hana Dharma Mangrwa' in MI Central Java: An Ethnographic Study of Education

This research aims to explore the implementation of deep learning based on the local wisdom of Bhineka Tunggal Ika and Tan Hana Dharma Mangrwa in the context of learning at Madrasah Ibtidaiyah (MI) Elementary Islamic School Central Java. This study aims to analyze how the multicultural values and diversity contained in the Javanese philosophy are integrated into deep learning approaches to strengthen students’ character education. The research uses an ethnographic approach to schooling with data collection methods through participatory observation, in-depth interviews with teachers and students, and analysis of curriculum documents. The research location was chosen in three MIs in Central Java that implement learning based on local wisdom. The study results show that deep learning has become an effective medium for transforming the values of Bhineka Tunggal Ika into learning activities, primarily through collaborative projects, interactive discussions, and digital content developed by teachers. However, the main challenge lies in the limitations of technological infrastructure and the need for teacher training in designing AI-based materials. This study provides recommendations in the form of a deep learning-local wisdom integration model that is adaptive to the socio-cultural context of MI while emphasizing the importance of strengthening teacher capacity in 21st-century learning.

Integrating Qur’anic Values against Radicalism: An Ethnographic Study at a Boarding School

This research examines the integration of Qur'anic values in the curriculum of Darul Amin Salafi islamic boarding school as an effort to build contextual and inclusive anti-radicalism education. The background of the research is based on the increasing challenges of radicalism due to textual and literal religious understanding. The purpose of the research is to understand how Qur'anic values are integrated in the curriculum, the role of exemplary teachers as Living Qur'an, critical dialog space, and the relationship between pesantren and local wisdom in shaping the tolerant and anti-radicalism character of santri. This research uses a qualitative approach with ethnographic methods, through participatory observation, in-depth interviews, and documentation studies conducted over a three-month period. The results showed that Darul Amin developed a thematic tafsir-based curriculum with the value of rahmatan lil 'alamin as the main framework, as well as providing historical and social contexts for sensitive verses such as jihad. Teachers as Living Qur'an figures encourage dialogic and tolerant character learning, while open discussion spaces strengthen student's critical and inclusive attitudes. The integration of Islamic values with Dayak local wisdom has proven effective in creating social harmony and facilitating multicultural education. The implication of this research confirms the importance of pesantren as strategic institutions for deradicalization through contextual curriculum, character building, and inclusive social dialogue.

Legitimizing and Transforming Gender Relations Within the Contemporary Equestrian Sport of Charrería in Mexico

The equestrian sport of Charrería is the national sport of Mexico. This ethnographic study illustrates ways in which Charrería helps legitimize unequal gender relations, and in some circumstances, provides opportunity to challenge and rework the wider gender order. Hegemonic masculinities are performed and reified through the gendered performances of male charros and the complementary, opposite, yet unequal, gendered performances of female escaramuzas. Yet hegemony requires constant renewal and consent, and Charrería illustrates the potential for equestrian sports events to also contribute to challenging and reworking the wider gender order and reconfiguring relations between men and women, masculinities and femininities, to be less hierarchical and oppressive.

Empowering older adults through yoga: Strategies for effective instruction☆.

Empowering older adults through yoga: Strategies for effective instruction☆.

The Effect of Cultural Orientation on Bargaining Behaviour

Abstract This study investigates the impact of cultural orientation on bargaining behaviour, focusing on how dimensions such as individualism-collectivism, power distance, communication styles, and uncertainty avoidance shape negotiation strategies and outcomes. Drawing on a mixed-methods approach—including meta-analyses of ultimatum games, ethnographic studies, and cross-cultural case analyses—the research reveals that collectivist cultures prioritize relationship-building and indirect communication, while individualist cultures adopt competitive tactics and explicit demands. Key findings highlight the role of cultural norms in concession patterns, trust dynamics, and conflict resolution. The study underscores the necessity of culturally adaptive frameworks for effective international negotiations, offering practical insights for multinational enterprises and policymakers.

A co-created self-care and informal support intervention targeting women with gestational diabetes mellitus in northern Vietnam (VALID-II): a protocol for a two-arm non-randomised feasibility study

BackgroundGestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is a transitory form of diabetes that presents during pregnancy with frequent adverse maternal and neonatal health consequences if left untreated. The prevalence of GDM is rapidly increasing in low- and middle-income countries such as Vietnam, and early sustainable interventions are important. The overall aim of this study—henceforth referred to as VALID-II—is to assess the feasibility of a co-created self-care and informal support intervention targeted at pregnant women with GDM. Further, the aim is to assess the potential efficacy of the intervention in reducing maternal and neonatal health complications compared with standard care.MethodsVALID-II is a two-site, two-arm, non-randomised feasibility intervention study in Thai Binh Province in northern Vietnam with a delayed start for the intervention group. The intervention study is nested in a larger cohort. In total, 2000 pregnant women will be screened for GDM, with an estimated 400 women screening positive according to the World Health Organisation—International Association of Diabetes and Pregnancy Study Group diagnostic criteria. First, 200 women who screen positive for GDM will be assigned to a control group that will receive standard care. Among the 200 women, 20 will take part in an in-depth ethnographic study along with their family members, and the intervention will be co-created with them. Second, once the intervention has been created, 200 women will be assigned to the intervention group, which will receive the intervention plus standard care. Twenty women and their families from the intervention group will also take part in an ethnographic study. The primary outcome is to evaluate how feasible the self-care intervention is (composite outcome: recruitment, retention, and acceptability). Other secondary outcomes include the number of new-borns born large for gestational age, prevalence and risk factors for GDM, self-care agency, self-care, and breastfeeding practices.DiscussionThis study provides knowledge of the feasibility of informal/self-care and social support interventions and their preliminary impact on maternal and child health outcomes among women with GDM in northern Vietnam. Furthermore, it will inform parameters such as effect size and variance, which are essential for calculating the sample size needed to achieve the desired power in a future full-scale trial. This may guide decision makers in how to optimise the management of GDM in low- and middle-income contexts.Trial registrationNCT05744856. Trial status: Recruiting.

Belonging involves mutuality, agency, and acceptance: An ethnographic exploration of belonging with adults labelled with intellectual disability.

An experience of belonging is commonly absent in the lives of adults labelled with intellectual disability, negatively impacting health, well-being, and quality of life. This ethnographic study, informed by critical disability and feminist relational theory, explored the belonging experiences of five adults labelled with intellectual disability in a Canadian city. Using participatory methods, the research identified mutuality, agency, and acceptance as key factors shaping their experiences. Findings emphasize the role of genuine relationships, the connection between agency and belonging, and the need to continue to build community capacity to embrace diversity. Findings call for further research exploring the relationship between belonging, mutuality, agency, and acceptance as one step towards collectively supporting the social inclusion of people labelled with intellectual disability. This work demonstrates how spaces, places, and relationships of belonging identified by people labelled with intellectual disability have generative potential - acting as promising examples of the conditions that enable belonging to flourish.

Adapt-Ed: co-designing adaptations to a whole school intervention to improve the uptake and impact of food provision in special schools – scoping research for a future trial

Background Children and young people (CYP) with Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND) are more likely to grow up in poverty and be entitled to free school meals than other children. However, they might not eat well at school because their needs aren’t always accommodated. There is a need to understand school food provision for children with SEND and how the whole school food environment (WSFE) can be improved to address health inequalities. Methods We conducted scoping research and involved public and professional stakeholders in co-producing adaptations to a whole school food approach called Healthy Zones (HZ). The aim was to inform a future proposal to implement and evaluate the Adapt-ed HZ intervention in special schools. The four work packages (WP) (June to November 2024) were: WP1: establish stakeholder groups to co-produce a logic model and HZ adaptations; WP2: scoping reviews of food interventions for CYP with SEND; WP3: analysis of publicly available administrative data and online survey; WP4: ethnographic case studies of three special schools. Results Working with CYP with SEND, parents, carers and professionals in schools and policy roles, Adapt-Ed has provided a wealth of information to tailor and refine the HZ approach for special schools. It has included extensive public involvement and scoping research to inform future research. The work has led to a draft logic model and outline research plan which have been co-produced with public and professional stakeholders throughout. Conclusion Through this project we have co-produced HZ adaptations and a draft logic model and learned there is a need and demand for Adapt-Ed HZ to enhance WSFEs in special schools and promote children’s health and wellbeing. Subject to a feasibility study to refine the research protocol and test data collection methods, a trial is recommended to implement and evaluate the effect of Adapt-Ed HZ on the health and wellbeing of children with SEND.

Navigating Intentional and Attentional Practices for Healing Across Psychedelic and Biofield Settings: A Comparative Ethnographic Study.

Objectives: This study was conducted to bring psychedelic and biofield science into interdisciplinary dialogue and encourage scientific investigations of psychedelic therapy as a form of energy medicine. In thinking these two sites together, important resonances between both forms of therapy were highlighted which can help elucidate clearer therapeutic mechanisms across both therapies. Methods/Design: Comparative ethnographic methods and a repeated measures design were used to conduct this research over a period of 2 years. A total of 150 qualitative interviews with 135 participants present at psychedelic-assisted therapy retreats and 15 at biofield settings were conducted. All the participants belonged to different ethnic, racial, and religious backgrounds; age groups; and reported differing levels of illness and health. The data (ethnographer's field notes, audio and video archives, as well as background research conducted on each of the field sites) was then transcribed and collated, and resonant themes were highlighted. Interventions: The research was conducted at wellness retreat spaces in the Netherlands and in Mexico; across entheogenic substances such as ayahuasca/yage, psilocybin-containing mushrooms, as well as psilocybin-containing truffles; and in biofield settings in the United States and Europe that included practices such as Reiki. Results/Findings: Based on 2 years of ethnographic research at psychedelic-assisted therapy retreats and in biofield settings, this article proffers that interdisciplinary dialogue between both forms of therapy is vital in understanding intention and attention as temporally and conceptually distinct categories with divergent healing effects. The research also demonstrates intention and attention as embodied phenomenon as opposed to mental acts. Conclusions: Intention and attention are conceptually and temporally distinct embodied phenomenon, and these differences can be best understood through an interdisciplinary study across psychedelic and biofield therapies. Scientists studying these topics should take these distinctions into account to be able to more accurately understand healing mechanisms across both forms of therapy.

Two Steps Toward a Creative School: School Organisation and the Teachers' Role at Eskola Txikiak

ABSTRACTAn educational system should be a true reflection of the changing society in which we live. However, looking at current educational practices, this premise is unfortunately called into question, and an educational metamorphosis toward active, democratic, inclusive and creative pedagogical practices for children is clearly needed. Faced with this challenge, it is essential to reconsider and redesign school organisation and the work of educators. This research is an ethnographic study focused on four schools in the Eskola Txikiak educational network in the Basque Country of Spain, which are organised around pedagogical workshops. Thus, the objectives of this research are as follows: (1) To gain a deeper understanding and delve into the pedagogical keys that underlie this school arrangement based on workshops. (2) To contemplate the role of teachers and their challenges within a system of globalised didactics. Information was collected through 420 h of participant observation sessions, eight focus groups and documentary analysis. After categorising, coding and analysing the information, the results obtained indicate that reshaping the teacher's functions, giving pupils a leading role, as well as structuring and organising spaces and schedules according to their needs, encourages this type of educational change aimed at teaching practices that promote the overall development of the child.

“Basic human things”: Investigating vehicle residents' continually fractured (information) landscapes

AbstractThis ethnographic study explores vehicle residents' information practices in the United States (US). Vehicle residents are people whose primary means of housing is a vehicle. This work builds on previous research encompassing transitions and fractured (information) landscapes. Using fractured information landscapes as the theoretical framework, this study investigates how vehicle residents' experience continually fractured (information) landscapes through mobility and transition. This study is based on two rounds of ethnographic research including participant observation, semi‐structured, information horizon interviews, and guided tours and photographs of participants' vehicles. Results revealed three major themes emerged from the data: (1) Mobility impacts vehicle residents' information access. (2) Access and environments shape vehicle residents' information horizons. (3) Vehicle residents have layered information horizons: a foundational layer and a dynamic layer. Together, the foundational and dynamic layers comprise vehicle residents' broader information landscapes. Information landscapes fracture through mobility and transition. Constant transition limits the time required to resettle and rebuild an information landscape in a new environment, before mobility is inevitable, yet again. Mobility reinitiates the cycle. Overall, understanding how mobile populations' information landscapes micro‐fracture in the face of constant transition offers the opportunity to understand information practices more generally within the context of a hyper‐mobile world.

Making visible epistemic authority: a microethnographic examination of children's authority relationships in early elementary mathematics

ABSTRACT This Interactional Ethnographic study investigates how two first-grade children made visible a novel co-constructed kind of authority – epistemic authority – during partner work time in an early elementary mathematics classroom. Using microethnographic discourse analysis, we trace the word “help” across a ten-week data set to explore how authority was signalled, negotiated, and refused. Our findings reveal that children's mathematical voices reflect heteroglossic dynamics, as they engage with multiple, often competing, voices, including institutional expectations and their own peer-based negotiations, to define what counts as valid mathematical knowledge and practices. This relational, dialogic process of epistemic authority construction contributes to mathematics education research by demonstrating how authority relationships are made visible from, and within, children's interactions and not solely from teacher-directed discourse. We conclude that examining children's language practices through an ethnographic lens offers valuable insights into the role of epistemic authority and heteroglossia in shaping early elementary mathematics learning environments.

Discours des religieux sur la pandémie au Pérou (2020–2021) : se conformer aux directives de l’État ou les rejeter ? Faire confiance à Dieu et/ou à la science ?

This article analyzes the official position of Peruvian religious institutions, particularly Pentecostal ones, in response to the health emergency of COVID-19 (2020–2021), in the context characterized by precarity and multiple deficiencies. Using netnography and an ethnographic case study method, we examine the reactions of various churches. While a significant sector of the religious field, generally the most institutionalized, remained officially confident in the scientific approach assumed by the government to confront the pandemic, others, inspired by transnational connections related to North American conservative currents and promoting conspiracy theories and eschatological views, have introduced more ambiguous, even dissenting, discourses. Our analysis shows that diversity exists in the most structured institutions such as the Catholic Church and some dogmatic independent churches. Many members maintain their independence and do not follow the leaders’ instructions.