Ethnography in Qualitative Research: A Critical Review of Methods and Applications

Abstract

This article provides a critical review of ethnography, as a qualitative research method, with a focus on its utility, flexibility, and methodological challenges. Ethnography allows one to study people and cultures within their natural contexts, documenting the meanings, behaviors, and social discussions that make up human experience. Using insights from fifteen key pieces of research, this article points to the power of ethnography in providing rich, contextualized, and holistic views of social life. The article also mentions reliability and validity as issues deriving from its naturalistic and interpretive quality. Despite reliability and validity issues that may arise, ethnography persists as an important and under-utilized method of studying complex social phenomena and demonstrates a capacity to provide richer insight into culture, identity, and lived experience with observation, participation, and interpretation of social actors.