Qualitative Research In Ethnography-based Studies

The Power of Ethnography-based Research

History is all about facts, it tells us some stories and the emphasis of this storytelling remains more on the facts and the events that turned the course of destiny for many people. Sometimes it omits less significant years. It won’t be far-fetched when we will say that history presents a skeleton of the events. Ethnography based researches, on the other hand, allow us to see the things in flash and blood (Stephen L. Schensul, 2013).

Most of the secondary sources of the history and representations of historical events in popular culture literature borrow an important piece of information from the works of ethnography based researches (Pelto, 2017). Ethnography based researches are qualitative researches. In the current paper, we will understand a few things about the exact stance and viewpoint of an ethnography base researchers with an intention to examine the truth of the hypothesis which says,

 “Ethnographic research is a qualitative research tool that has the power to bring out the social contexts and cultural flavors of any society that history loses under the burden of the accuracy of the facts”.  

In the case of a qualitative research, a researcher has three options; he can become a participant or an observer. He can interview the subjects and finally, he can choose for a focus group. This we can understand with the example of the researcher and author Loïc Wacquant’s. He used boxing ring as a metaphor and exposed “Carnal Sociology” associated with it he denounced the concept of the underclass (Boxer, 2006). In order to substantiate his stance, he took resort in all the three manners of the qualitative research. He observed many behavior patterns inside the boxing gyms (Eakin, 2003).

The ethnographic approach in a qualitative research gives us some singular accounts where we can go for an in-depth study from the worldview of the interviewee. Black men are equal, the racial slurs have no place in US society, and however, an ethnographic account can always introduce us to undertones of the hatred. History is dependent on the big events and facts (Brennen, 2017). Whereas an individual can talk about certain incidences that might have not been that serious, still carrying the undertones to prove history partially wrong.

Ethnographic accounts and observations can sometimes become a bit confusing or misleading. Relying on the worldview of certain individuals can sometimes rob the bigger picture from us. It is the role of a researcher to keep the sky clear to achieve a nearness with the exact facts. Ethnographic observations can sometimes bring in some overboard results in the form of conclusion. In the terminology, we can also say that they refer to an imbalance of the variables. Quantitative research gives us a balanced picture whereas the qualitative research can restrict the view of a researcher. It is true that qualitative research may add some detailing into the findings however, it can deprive a researcher of the bigger picture (Clair, 2012).

Qualitative Research Methods – Participant Observation, Interviews, and Focus Groups

Author Loïc Wacquant presented an interesting example of qualitative research and its documentation in the form of a book or literature. We cannot consider it as research unless the reader has an in-depth knowledge of the background of the events. Here the perception and information of the reader completes the picture and make it a research.  

As a researcher relying on the qualitative methods he fulfilled all the conditions of a qualitative research program.  He actively participated in the process of research and presented some interesting slice of the life accounts in his book Body and Soul: Notebooks of an Apprentice Boxer. This book presents an account of certain facts that were a part of the life of common people but we cannot find them in the books of the history (Wacquant, 1998).

The story of a professor fidgeting between boxing and academics tells us about two interesting facts. The books of civil rights say that black people in the USA and many other places of the world enjoy an equal status and opportunity in the society. The account of the professor in this particular story gives us an idea that professor indeed was equal among the peers, the university called him up for lectures; in the similar fashion, he got equal opportunity in the ring as well. However, he received a preferential treatment when it came to the allotment of a residential facility to him. The culmination of the story when the protagonist says that he received more punches outside the ring, says a lot of things about certain facts that are missing from the mainframe of the history (Wacquant L., 2001).

As a writer, Loïc Wacquant wrote many papers that can be categorized as non-pulp fiction most of his accounts are great in term of qualitative research. Sometimes his writing style overpowered the facts, however, in bits and pieces, he did create an account of the society which is not visible to anyone else or which will not appear in the history books because it is insignificant for many (Abraham, 2011).

We can consider him a success story because he presented some facts woven in a story and they come across nicely.  However, the qualitative research has no meaning unless it is supporting or denouncing certain other facts established from some other means. It has no meaning if we are doing it in isolation (Burress, 2003).  Although the results are entertaining even then the selection of qualitative research singularly is a bad choice in this case because the research never challenges or confirms any facts. Instead of a qualitative research, a mixed research is always a better option in cases like this. For instance, we can challenge or support the validity of a hypothetical statement that says “during the decade of 90’s the police stations of Chicago didn’t receive a single complaint of a racial slur.” The findings of Loïc Wacquant make sense after this statement. When we have a look at them in isolation, they are only an interesting piece of writing for the purpose of entertainment.

Singular Accounts vs. the Bigger Picture

Let’s check it with the help of the account given by Loïc Wacquant, though we can say that it is a piece of literature, however, it presents a right from the horse’s mouth account of the events. However, it cannot be considered as a piece of research unless we are not aware of the point A of the journey. A research by its primary definition is a journey from the known to the unknown (Pelto, 2017). We should not confuse research with exploration. Exploration is something else where we try to explore with an intention to discover or invent. Research, on the other hand, is a journey with some set boundaries (Brennen, 2017).

Any qualitative research program can be compared with an action research program as well. In an action research-based program we can recheck the procedures and return back from the path of the research, however, we can only do it in a loop and without losing the objectivity for the final findings of the research. In general, if we are going out with a deductive pattern of the research then quantitative methods are the best methods (Clair, 2012). In the case of qualitative research, we can adopt an inductive approach and head towards an unknown territory sometimes. The fact may be new but it should have some connection with the thread of the questions that we raised in the beginning.

Conclusion 

Qualitative research can be an answer to most of the questions that ethnography based researcher’s feels. It allows a certain degree of freedom to look at the things. The study of the literature produced by Loïc Wacquant gives us an idea that they are only a piece of pulp nonfiction unless the reader connects the thread of certain facts related to the status of the black people in US society. This way we can always say that ethnography based research is a tool that has the power to partially fill the gaps that history book leaves behind. However, we cannot conduct a research without the point A which is missing in the works of Loïc Wacquant. If we can use his works as a secondary source then they automatically become a contributing factor in another qualitative research plan.

References

Abraham, M. (2011). Boxing proves a hit for French sociologist . The Guardian , https://www.theguardian.com/education/2011/jan/10/improbable-research-boxing-sociologist.

Boxer, B. &. (2006). Body & Soul: Notebooks of an Apprentice Boxer. Oxford : Oxford Univerisity Press .

Brennen, B. S. (2017). Qualitative Research Methods for Media Studies. Abingdon : Routledge .

Burress, C. (2003). UC’s ‘boxing sociologist’ / Combative French professor spent 3 years in ring. SF gate , https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/UC-s-boxing-sociologist-Combative-French-2509824.php#photo-2684464.

Clair, R. P. (2012). Expressions of Ethnography: Novel Approaches to Qualitative Methods. Albany, NY: Suny Press .

Eakin, E. (2003). A Professor Who Refuses To Pull His Punches. The New York Times , https://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/08/books/a-professor-who-refuses-to-pull-his-punches.html.

Pelto, P. J. (2017). Mixed Methods in Ethnographic Research: Historical Perspectives. Abingdon : Routledge .

Stephen L. Schensul, J. J. (2013). Initiating Ethnographic Research: A Mixed Methods Approach. Lanham : Rowman and Littlefield.

Wacquant, L. (1998). A fleshpeddler at work: Power, pain, and profit in the prizefighting economy. Kluwer academic Publishers , https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023%2FA%3A1006817716428.

Wacquant, L. (2001). Whores, Slaves and Stallions: Languages of Exploitation and Accommodation among Boxers. Body & Soiety , https://journals.sagepub.com/toc/boda/7/2-3