Ethnography

Ethnography is a qualitative research method through which we tend to understand different kinds of groups (ethnic, geographic, religious, etc.), cultural institutions, social relationships, and other key aspects about human society. It contains a detailed account of a community a researcher is studying. Ethnographic accounts are a hallmark of social sciences, and is derived from the discipline of anthropology, where ethnographic accounts were first used in studying different cultures around the world, starting from around early 20th century.

Even as the etymology of the word "ethnography" suggests: from Classical Greek "ethnos" = People/Group(s) of people and "logos" = Writing/Written account. So, basically it stands to mean "a written description of a group of people".

It can be said that the trend of using ethnography and writing ethnographic accounts began with Bronislaw Malinowski's pioneering work "Argonauts of the Western Pacific", for which he had lived in the Trobriand Islands for four years, from 1914 to 1918. One of the research methods which he used, as most people know, was "participant observation" i.e., living with the people, participating in their daily lives, activities, and affairs, and observing them. This creates a greatly detailed description of the people. Thus, ethnography is categorized as a "qualitative research method", and is heavily reliant on participant observation.

Ethnographic research has contributed heavily towards anthropology, and other disciplines in social sciences. As time has gone on, so have evolved the different nuances and dynamics of it. For example, people used to think that ethnographic research is only possible at a site of fieldwork, making notes using pen and paper, taking photographs, recording audios and videos, and so on. However, in modern times, ethnographic research is also conducted by the means of the internet and associated devices. This is termed as "digital ethnography" or "virtual ethnography". The researcher goes through different social media forums, publicized information, popular media, etc., which can contribute towards their research by sitting at one place, even their home.