Analysis and interpretation of ethnographic data : a mixed methods approach

359 Pages·2013·2.68 MB·English

by  Margaret D. LeCompte University of Colorado Boulder

ANALYSIS AND
INTERPRETATION OF
ETHNOGRAPHIC DATA
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ETHNOGRAPHER’S TOOLKIT
Second Edition
Jean J. Schensul, Institute for Community Research, Hartford, Connecticut
Margaret D. LeCompte, University of Colorado, Boulder
PURPOSE OF THE ETHNOGRAPHER’S TOOLKIT
The second edition of the Ethnographer’s Toolkit is designed with the novice fi eld
researcher in mind. In this revised and updated version, the authors of the Toolkit
take the reader through a series of seven books that spell out the steps involved in
doing ethnographic research in community and institutional settings. Using simple,
reader-friendly language, the Toolkit includes case studies, examples, illustrations,
checklists, key points, and additional resources, all designed to help the reader fully
understand each and every step of the ethnographic process. Eschewing a formulaic
approach, the authors explain how to develop research questions, create research
designs and models, decide which data collection methods to use, and how to ana-
lyze and interpret data. Two new books take the reader through ethical decision-
making and protocols specifi c for protection of individual and group participants in
qualitative research, and ways of applying qualitative and ethnographic research to
practical program development, evaluation, and systems change efforts. The Tool-
kit is the perfect starting point for students and faculty in the social sciences, public
health, education, environmental studies, allied health, and nursing, who may be
new to ethnographic research. It also introduces professionals from diverse fi elds
to the use of observation, assessment, and evaluation for practical ways to improve
programs and achieve better service outcomes.
1. Designing and Conducting Ethnographic Research: An Introduction, Second
Edition, by Margaret D. LeCompte and Jean J. Schensul
2. Initiating Ethnographic Research: A Mixed Methods Approach, by Stephen L.
Schensul, Jean J. Schensul, and Margaret D. LeCompte
3. Essential Ethnographic Methods: A Mixed Methods Approach, Second Edition,
by Jean J. Schensul and Margaret D. LeCompte
4. Specialized Ethnographic Methods: A Mixed Methods Approach, edited by
Jean J. Schensul and Margaret D. LeCompte
5. Analysis and Interpretation of Ethnographic Data: A Mixed Methods Approach,
Second Edition, by Margaret D. LeCompte and Jean J. Schensul
6. Ethics in Ethnography: A Mixed Methods Approach, by Margaret D. LeCompte
and Jean J. Schensul
7. Ethnography in Practice: A Mixed Methods Approach by Jean J. Schensul and
Margaret D. LeCompte
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ANALYSIS AND
INTERPRETATION OF
ETHNOGRAPHIC DATA
A Mixed Methods Approach
Second Edition
Margaret D. LeCompte
and Jean J. Schensul
A division of
ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD PUBLISHERS, INC.
Lanham (cid:129) New York (cid:129) Toronto (cid:129) Plymouth, UK
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Published by AltaMira Press
A division of Rowman & Littlefi eld Publishers, Inc.
A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefi eld Publishing Group, Inc.
4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706
www.rowman.com
10 Thornbury Road, Plymouth PL6 7PP, United Kingdom
Copyright © 2013 by AltaMira Press
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic
or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written
permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
LeCompte, Margaret Diane.
Analysis and interpretation of ethnographic data : a mixed methods approach /
Margaret D. LeCompte and Jean J. Schensul. — 2nd ed.
p. cm. — (Ethnographer's toolkit ; Book 5)
Previous title: Analyzing and interpreting ethnographic data
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-7591-2207-9 (pbk. : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-7591-2208-6 (electronic)
1. Ethnology—Methodology. I. Schensul, Jean J. II. Title.
GN345.L42 2013
305.8001—dc23
2012023521
™ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American
National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library
Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.
Printed in the United States of America
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CONTENTS
List of Tables and Figures ix
List of Examples xiii
Introduction xvii
Chapter 1 Why Are Analysis and Interpretation Necessary? 1
Why Are Analysis and Interpretation Necessary? 1
What Are Qualitative Data? 2
What Are Quantitative Data? 10
What Is Analysis? 13
What Is Interpretation? How Research Results Become
Complete Ethnographies 15
Summary 25
Chapter 2 Analysis in the Field 27
Recursivity in Ethnographic Research and Analysis 27
Initial Analysis in the Field 29
Inscription and Head Notes 30
Description, Scratch Notes, and Field Notes 36
Transcription, Recording, “Copying,” and Scripting 38
Summary 48
Chapter 3 Tidying Up, Cataloging, and Creating Data Inventories 51
Steps in Organizing and Cataloging Data 52
Steps in Tidying Up 55
Reasons for Tidying Up 61
Summary 63
Chapter 4 Recursivity, Induction and Deduction:
Moving between Levels of Abstraction 65
Recursivity Reviewed 65
Induction, Deduction, and Levels of Abstraction 69
v
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vi CONTENTS
Moving between Levels of Abstraction: From Concrete
to Abstract and Back 73
Generating Explanations: From Local to Substantive
Theories and Back 74
Summary 78
Chapter 5 Ways to Begin Analysis 79
A Common Stereotype 79
Initiating an Analysis 80
General Coding and Specifi c Coding 81
Beginning with Formative Theories 82
The Recursive Process Again 83
How Results Emerge from Data 90
Emergence and Cognitive Processing: How Does It Begin? 91
Aggregating and Disaggregating Phenomena: Finding the
Pieces and Explaining Why and How They Go Together 92
Defi ning the Item and Variable Level of Analysis 94
Some Analytic Strategies 97
Summary 109
Chapter 6 Specifi c Coding and Initial Quantifi cation 111
Beginning with General Levels and Moving to More
Specifi c Levels of Aggregation and Disaggregation 111
What Is a Code? 121
What Do Qualitative Codes Look Like? 122
Other Characteristics of Codes 125
Where Do Codes Come From? 127
Precoded Data 130
Kinds of Codes or Categories 132
Limitations of Coding 134
Summary 134
Chapter 7 Coding and Creating Qualitative and Quantitative
Codebooks 137
Creating Initial Codes in Ethnographic Research 138
Creating Qualitative Codebooks 145
What Is a Codebook? 147
Creating Quantitative Codebooks 154
Team Ethnography and Coding in Teams: Deductive,
Abductive or Recursive, and Inductive Coding 157
Using a Computer to Code Data 170
Summary 170
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CONTENTS vii
Chapter 8 Managing Qualitative and Quantitative Data
with Computers 173
How Computers Facilitate the Organization and
Storage of Text Data 173
What Computers Cannot Do 177
Using Computers to Code, Manage, and Analyze
Qualitative Text Data 177
Selecting Data Entry and Analysis Hardware and Software 183
Developing a Data Entry System 185
Entering Data 186
Constructing New Variables 187
Developing the Structure for a Quantitative Database 189
Data Management 191
Consolidating Quantitative Data (Data Reduction
or “Crunching”) 193
Summary 203
Chapter 9 Analyzing Ethnographically Based Survey Data 205
Introduction: Why Do Ethnographers Use Surveys? 205
How Ethnographic Surveys Differ from Other Surveys 205
Logical Processes: Returning to the Original Research
Questions and Formative Model 206
What Are Variables? 211
Steps in Describing Ethnographic Survey Data 217
Integrating Qualitative and Quantitative Data 239
Resolving Differences between Quantitative and
Qualitative Results 242
Summary 244
Chapter 10 Creating Preliminary Results: Putting Parts Together 245
Creating More Complex Data Patterns and Explanations 245
The Pattern Level of Analysis: Linking Related Groups
of Items and Units Together and Identifying Related
Explanatory Variables and Factors 247
How Do Patterns Emerge from Data? 248
Grouping Patterns within Domains to Create Structures
and Substantive Theories 255
Summary 264
Chapter 11 Fine-Tuning Results and Beginning the Write-Up 265
Strategies for Getting Started 265
Reexamine the Theoretical Framework 266
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viii CONTENTS
Review the Research Questions 268
Create Some Vignettes 269
Write Some History 275
Describe a Social Process 276
Create Summaries of Interview Data 277
Create Summaries of Test Score or Precoded Survey
or Questionnaire Data 277
Create Collections of Quotations from Documents
or Interviews 278
Create or Refi ne a Conceptual Framework and Draw
a Graphic Picture of It 278
Use Standard Narrative Form 279
Borrow a Narrative Form from the People Being Studied 281
Develop a Metaphor 282
Describe the Functions or Organizational Structure
of a Group 283
Write Up the Critical Events in Chronological Order 284
Make a List of the Most Important Empirical Facts 285
Create a Display, or, When in Doubt, Draw a Picture! 285
Summary 300
Chapter 12 Creating Interpretations 301
Introduction: Strategies for Initiating Interpretation
of Research Results 301
Brainstorm and Speculate with Research Partners 305
Review the Research Questions 306
Review the Formative Ethnographic Theory Used 307
Review the Relevant Theories 307
Repeat the Analytic Strategies That Produced
Research Results 309
Present a Contrasted Insider and Outsider Perspective 310
Look for Program Relevance 310
Look for Policy Relevance 311
Evaluate the Project 312
Consider the Audience 312
Summary 313
References 315
Index 321
About the Authors and Artists 335
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LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES
Table 1.1: Linking Theoretical and Operational Levels in
Ethnographic Research 19
Table 1.2: Empirical/Operational Levels of Research:
“Living a Good Life” 20
Table 1.3: Theoretical/Conceptual and Empirical Levels
of Research: “Living a Good Life” 21
Table 2.1: Field Note Excerpt from Learning to Work Study 47
Table 3.1: Data Inventory Matrix 53
Table 3.2: Instrument Log 59
Table 4.1 Vadeboncoeur Dissertation: The Theoretical/Conceptual
Levels of Research: The Relationship between Freirian Levels of
Consciousness and Students’ Explanations for Student Academic Failure 71
Table 4.2 Vadeboncoeur Dissertation: The Operational/Empirical
Levels of Research: Students’ Conceptions of Classwork and Teaching 72
Table 4.3: Vadeboncoeur Dissertation: What Makes a Good Teacher 74
Table 4.4: Deconstructing Various Structures into Patterns, Units,
and Items or Facts 75
Table 4.5: Miller Dissertation: The Theoretical/Conceptual Levels
of Research: Explaining Student Success in PhD Programs 77
Figure 5.1: Model of Emancipatory Knowledge 85
Figure 5.2: Formative Ethnographic Theory: Young Women, Work,
and AIDS Risk 86
ix
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