The ethnographic approach in social science

If qualitative research is important, it must be conducted with rigour. The ethno- graphic approach that resides at the heart of qualitative research today consists of a set of methods that have undergone development since modern anthropologists first studied traditional societies and cultures in the mid-nineteenth century. Sociology borrowed this approach and modified its methods for application in the study of urban industrial societies. From the 1920s, the Chicago School of Sociology applied the approach systematically to its research into the social worlds of cities. Accounts of the famous studies conducted by this group of sociologists, whose successors still carry on the tradition today, can be found in most general criminology textbooks. Notable examples include Park et al. (1925), Thrasher (1927), Wirth (1928), Reckless (1933), Whyte (1943) and Becker (1973). However, this book is about doing criminological research, so the main focus will be on the methods that

constitute the ethnographic approach itself. The principal aim of ethnographic research is to gain insights into the everyday meanings and practices that allow indi- viduals to live together in specific local contexts. This requires the researcher to have sustained contact with humans in their everyday locales. Sustained contact can often produce data so rich, detailed and nuanced that the ethnographic approach has become crucial to qualitative research.

Ethnography’s principal method is participant observation. The time-limited method of data collection is usually called fieldwork. Participant observation involves sustained immersion in the research setting to allow the researcher to experience and observe first hand the interactions, behaviours, events and practices that occur in it. To do this effectively, the researcher must develop skills in observ- ing, participating, interviewing, listening, forging relationships, communicating and adopting a role and identity within the research setting. Each one of these craft skills carries with it a host of problems and finely tuned requirements that are beyond the scope of this single chapter. Suffice it to say that participant observa- tion is a complex craft in itself that must first be studied in detail with reference to relevant texts (see Atkinson et al., 2001; Mason, 2002; O’Reilly, 2009) and then honed by the researcher in the field. Participant observation was of course initially developed for small groups. Observation of larger groups, such as the inhabitants of a housing estate or the workers in a large hospital, which comprise different sub-groups, is significantly more difficult. Solutions to this problem include employing multiple research associates, setting up a multi-site project and spending longer in the field. However, these solutions can be expensive. More cost-effective solutions include the use of communal gathering spaces, such as canteens, pubs, clubs, community centres and schools, and the selection of representatives from different sub-groups as key informants and participants in follow-up interviews or focus groups.