What is ethnographic information? __ Ethnographic information is information about a particular culture or group gathered specifically from members of that culture or group, defining and using their own perspective and world view. __ Elements of ethnographic information include: Community norms Health conditions and knowledge Power and political realities Religion Economics World view __ Ethnographic information is obtained directly from those who live it. __ The gathering of ethnographic information takes place in the environment where members of the culture normally spend their time (natural setting). __ Ethnographic information is meant to help you understand a culture from the point of view of its members. __ Ethnographic information is simply descriptive, not judgmental. Why might ethnographic information be important to evaluation? __ In many circumstances, ethnographic information explains why approaches work or don’t work in ways that quantitative information can’t. __ Ethnographic information gives real insight into the ways participants or beneficiaries of programs and initiatives experience them. __ Ethnographic information helps to clarify what needs to be addressed in order for participants to respond to your approach. __ Ethnographic information can clarify the issue and its effect on and importance to the population of interest. __ Ethnographic information can help you gain a clearer and more complex understanding of the culture you’re working with, so you can make better plans and adjustments in the future. When might you want to collect ethnographic information? __ When you’re engaged with a population or cultural group that you’re not familiar with or part of. __ When you’re working with a clearly-defined group that has had a chance to develop its own culture. __ When an understanding of the context and culture of the community is fundamental to what you’re doing. __ When you’re addressing, as is often the case in an evaluation, a focused, clearly-defined situation that involves a specific population group. Who should collect and interpret ethnographic information? __ That depends on such factors as how much time you have, whether you already have a foothold in the community (or are part of it), the size of the group you’re concerned with, your financial resources, etc. How do you gather ethnographic information? __ Decide what kinds of information you need. __ Determine what you have the resources to do. __ Gain the trust of the group you’re concerned with __ Plan your field study Decide on your questions. Decide on your methods of data collection. Decide whom you’ll need to contact and how. Work out ethical issues. __ Carry out your field study, taking careful field notes, including jottings, descriptions, analyses, and personal reflections on what you learned. How do you interpret ethnographic information? __ Organize your data. __ Write as complete a description as possible of the culture or the element(s) of the culture you’re concerned with from the perspective of its members. __ Reexamine the analyses from your field notes. __ Try to understand the answer to your original question from the point of view of those you’re concerned with. __ Translate what you’ve learned about participants into answers to, or supporting information for answers to, your evaluation questions. __ Continue to gather ethnographic information to guide your work.
