CONCERNS IN CONDUCTING ETHNOGRAPHIES How do you negotiate your way into a situation; how to minimize threat. Timing the point of entry. Finding a role for yourself. To be a participant observer or non-participant observer? How to maintain naturalism and to avoid people playing to what they perceive are your expectations of them. How to retain your distance from those involved. How to gain access to certain ‘difficult’ groups. Who to regard as key/important informants. How to record multiple perspectives and multiple realities.

CONCERNS IN CONDUCTING ETHNOGRAPHIES How to address emic and etic approaches. Who owns the data; how much control do respondents/participants have over the data; when does ownership pass from the respondents/participants to the researcher? How to write up the report. What if the researcher sees what the respondents/ participants do not see? Reactivity of participants (Hawthorne effect). Halo effect. Focusing on the known/familiar only. Consider generalizability.