Ethnography

On November Seventh, 2012 at 1:39 PM I went to Naan Stop to continue my observations from before. I went in and it was the same employee who has been working there all eight times I’ve gone in. As usual I was the only person there, the radio was playing a popular pop song by the band One Direction. The owner of the store was in the back and popped out to say hello to me and ask how I was doing. I got my usual, a small mocha Boba and I waited as the employee, a young Mexican probably in his 20’s made the Boba with the same frown he has on every time I come in.

I stayed in Naan stop for twenty minutes and no one came in. On November Sixth 4:50 PM I went to Naan stop with my friend and we got Boba. We were the only ones in there at first but then two Indian men in their late twenties came in and greeted the owner. They spoke in what I assumed was hindi and then switched to english and then back to hindi. I gathered that both the Indian men were graduate students at UCSB at some point and had returned for the weekend to say hello to old friends. I found it odd that they didn’t order anything from Naan Stop, they chatted with the owner and took a picture with him and then left.

The music playing during their encounter was again pop culture. If there wasn’t Indian food and a couple of small cultural Indian statues one would never know it was an Indian Restaurant. My friend waited ten minutes after the Indian men left for new people to come in but got frustrated and left. I stayed for 40 minutes and within my 40 minutes two undergrad students came in and got pick up Indian and left, four girls all wearing their Alpha Phi letters came in ordered Boba and left. A middle aged man and his wife came in, I recognized them from two weeks ago when I was doing observations.

The wife, similar to last time, was wearing an extremely low cut shirt and her breasts were actually spilling out. The man was in a wife beater, they ordered Indian food and were the first customers I’d seen in the last two days to actually eat the food at the restaurant. They were very loud and I’d assume that they were lower class or lower middle class. The woman went on and on about her “fancy” sister going to Mexico. She kept saying fancy with such disdain, the one Mexican employee perked up at the name of Mexico but then got uninterested and went back to staring at his phone as the lady went on and on how her sister had a better life.

The man kept staring at me and I felt pretty uncomfortable, I believe he was aware that I was observing them. He whispered something to his wife and they both turned around and stared at me as I was pretending to text someone. They finished their dinner shortly after and as they threw out their trash the woman rolled her eyes at me. They resented being the objects of my observation and I’m pretty sure their anger stemmed from embarrassment. As soon as they left and were out of eye sight I packed up my things and left.

In the field of marketing, qualitative methods had to strive to gain a foothold against quantitative methods. Qualitative methods have had the disadvantage of being considered less objective and non-systematic. Such views urged researchers to establish methodologies apt to reflect the integrity of qualitative methods.

This paper will discuss three methodologies utilized in the field of marketing: phenomenology, ethnography, and grounded theory. Each of these will be identified and later compared with each of the others. In doing so, a better understanding of the scope and application of these methodologies is hoped to be attained.

Key Characteristics of the Three Methods

Phenomenology

Phenomenology is a critical reflection on immediate experience and attempts to uncover the features of such (Goulding 2005). It therefore discounts subconscious underpinnings of conscious experiences and attempts to deconstruct the meaning of such experiences at face value.

The view is that what we take as latent meanings are actually reflected in manifest experiences as our realities are in actuality constructed (Schipper 1999). What phenomenology attempts to grasp in its study is the deeper meaning of the lived experience in terms of the individual’s relationship with time, space, and personal history (Goulding 2005).

Phenomenology gains basis on several assumptions. First, is assumed that persons approach life with stored knowledge which engenders familiarity with given situations (Goulding 2005). However, this knowledge is always incomplete and thus constantly open-ended. Individuals have the capacity however to communicate their experiences with others.

Here we come to the second assumption, that language, being the medium of communicating meaning, already establishes a relationship between the individual experience and the object of experience (Goulding 2005).

As a result, the common meanings of words are taken as regards what are actually pertained to. Considering that experiences are always open-ended there is an infinite stream of words and concepts that may be used to define particular situations.

This allows for the putting aside of the subconscious analysis of text. In the analysis of such data on face value another premise emerges as support, that of a level of commonality among persons thereby affirming the stability of language constructs as communicated to others (Goulding 2005).

Should it be the case that present language no longer serves to reflect the lived out experience, individuals may always draw on novel words or metaphors (Schipper 1999).

The process of sampling in phenomenology is purposive as data is deemed to be collected from only one source, individuals who have actually gone through the subject experience in the study. Upon collection of the data gathered, texts are read through as a whole or in full (Goulding 2005).

After gaining a sense of the holistic portrayal of the text, patterns and differences are sought in the different accounts, a process called intertextuality.

The strategy is utilized in order to broaden the analysis to include a wider range of considerations that aid the researcher to form a comprehensive interpretation.

Generalizations at a theoretical level are not attempted by phenomenologists as they do not consider themselves theorists. However, recontextualisation is practiced through the sensitisation of previous works as a result of writing and rewriting thus providing the researcher with more universal insights as to established theories.

Ethnography

Ethnography has its roots in cultural anthropology. It is the full or partial description of a group as a means of identifying commonalities (Goulding 2005). The driving philosophy behind ethnography is a concern for the nature, construction and maintenance of culture (Goulding 2005).

The detached researcher is thus dispelled by such methodology as the researcher is forced to immerse himself in the field and is required to accommodate the native understanding with his own scientific background (Stanton 2005).

The aim of ethnographers is to surpass what people say and to look at the culture itself. The application necessarily entails prolonged interaction with member of the particular group being studied in order to find holistic explanations.

The process of ethnography focuses on field work as it is necessary that group members be observed in their natural setting. Of importance is the attainment of the genuine narrative of natives to a particular culture. Such data is the ultimate objective of ethnography in a given locality.

The reflexive nature of ethnography, while constraining it to adapt to the changes undergone in cultural settings, enables it to utilize different media of recording data. Yet ethnography holds no presumptions regarding the face value of data collected. All data need to be verified and tested for validity as they are taken as mere inferences from which patterns of hypotheses may be identified (Goulding 2005).

The process is delineated from the starting point of content analysis. Content analysis is the process of scrutinizing a text and labeling parts of the same based on established concepts (Goulding 2005).

There are two perspectives which may be applied in the analysis of data. The emic perspective is from the insider viewpoint and is considered the very heart of the culture while the etic perspective is the outsider view drawing from scientific perspectives (Goulding 2005).

An ethnographer may be said to have comprehended the subject of the study when he is able to provide the emic perspective from the data gathered. It is assumed that the language of scientific researcher is not sufficient to communicate the experience of the subjects of study (Stanton 2005).

After analysis, synthesis is then made through the pooling of the data and the integration of the constructed categories. Given that the established concepts thus far are largely context relative, recontextualisation is needed and is the last step of the process.

This final step provides for the abstraction of conclusions to such a level that they are externally valid and generalizable thus producing new or expanded theories (Stanton 2005).

Heather Dooley 10 Pound Balls We tend to think that bowling is a very simple and boring sport played by only older men. I did my fieldwork at a bowling alley during two different leagues to explore the different social interactions among bowlers. I learned that bowling is not limited to one specific age group or gender. I also discovered there is a unique hierarchy among the bowlers that is not determined by their age or gender. This social status is dependent upon their bowling average, type of ball used, and the weight of their balls.

I found there were many other social interactions that occurred between smaller groups of bowlers such as teammates. I first entered the field during a Wednesday night bowling league. The bowling alley was filled with mostly men. I walked the length of the building and couldn’t find any women bowling. I soon found out this was a men only bowling league. I was told there was also a women only bowling league that occurred on Tuesday’s. The majority of the men bowling were middle-aged or older. However, there were a lot of men in their twenties bowling as well. On my second entry into the field it was during a Friday night bowling league.

On this night the bowlers were all different ages but with a majority of younger men and women in their twenties. When I walked the length of the bowling alley that night I counted almost an equal amount of women as I did men. In this league it was required to have at least two or three women on each team. This is called a mixed league. On the third night of observations, my second Wednesday night, I sat down at a table with a team of bowlers. Three were in their twenties and two were in their late forties. While I was talking to one of the younger men I told him how I noticed a lot less women in this league then the Friday night league.

I asked what the requirements were, if any, to join either league. He said “In order to join this league you had to have a 180 average. ” He also told me this league was more competitive because it was only men and because they had the average requirement. This league has a larger amount of money to be won at the end of the season because of the competitiveness. When the bowler referred to average he meant the average amount of pins he will usually knock down during three games. Every game you have the opportunity to knock down 120 pins. Each game played has ten frames. The term frames means each turn all the bowlers take.

Every frame the bowler has the chance to knock down ten pins. If you knock down all ten pins at once this is called a strike. When you bowl a strike it earns you more then ten points. If you bowl a strike for every frame you can receive a 300 game. This is the highest score you can reach and it is very difficult to achieve. Strike Terminology: 1 – Strike 2 – Double 3 – Turkey 4 – Four Bagger 5 – Five Bagger 6 – Six Bagger 7 – Seven Bagger 8 – Eight Bagger 9 – Nine Bagger 10 – Ten Bagger 11 – Eleven Bagger 12 – Twelve Bagger I discovered the main way bowlers judge each other’s skills is through the average they hold.

Someone with a 250 average considers himself a better bowler then someone with a 185 average, even if the lower average bowler beats him in a game. Another form of bowling hierarchy is determined by the type of ball you use. Some bowlers will pay anywhere between $250 to more than $300 for just one ball! I learned that there are different types of bowling balls made to help you throw the ball a certain way. Some people may buy a ball they can throw straight better and others buy balls they can throw with a curve better. While I was sitting at the table with the bowlers I overheard a couple of them talking about their balls.

Some men used them as a way to brag to the other men. They would say the reason another man is bowling so bad is because he has a bad, cheap ball. I also noticed the men bowlers would use the weight of their balls to poke fun at the other bowlers. They will compare their ball’s weight to their manhood or manliness. For instance, “Wow, you’re only using that little ten pound ball. Did you borrow that from your girlfriend? ” “Careful carrying that big sixteen pound ball you might not be big enough for that yet. ” [pic] There are many different kinds of socialization among the bowlers.

They joke and tease each other, give tips on how to bowl better and they also play card games with their teammates. There are two different types of games played among the different leagues. On Wednesday night they play a game called Kiddy Pot. This is a money game played by the men bowlers only that corresponds to how well you are playing. If you miss the five pin, throw a gutter ball, or miss the head pin twice you lose a dollar. If you are hung, which in bowling terms means four members of your team strike or split during the same frame but one does not, then the person who misses the strike loses two dollars.

If all five members of the team strike during the frame, the next frame whoever misses the strike loses a dollar. At the end of the season all of the money lost playing this game is split among the players of the team evenly. [pic] [pic] The Friday night bowling league plays a different game. This game is set up like poker. Every member of the team who throws a strike or a split will get a card from the deck. If you miss a spare or have an open frame then a card is taken away from your pile.

At the end of each game the person with the best poker hand wins. Usually any women who play this game don’t lose a card if they miss a spare or have an open frame. I learned that bowling is a very complex social structure with its own set of socialization rules and terms. It is not gender or age specific. Bowlers have their own private language they use to communicate towards one another. They are generally accepting of outsiders joining in on their conversations and own private jokes. Is there more I could learn my entering the field and joining a league myself?