Advantages & Disadvantages of Ethnography

Ethnography, as if evident from the name itself, is the study of a group of people and their cultures. Ethnography involves following a set of processes to gather information and learn about the group of people being studied and arriving at inferences basis the study. 

There are also different approaches to study when it comes to ethnography. While some ethnographers might choose to study groups of people using written information and asking questions to informants, many of those chose to immerse themselves in the study completely by living with the people they are studying and learning their language to develop a better understanding of the subjects being studied. 

Now that we have gone through the definition of ethnography and the different approaches of ethnography, let’s understand the advantages and disadvantages of ethnography.

Advantages of Ethnography

A window into a different World

The study of groups of people other than your own and understanding their culture opens a window into a different world. By learning about traditions and customs other than yours, you become more open-minded and overcome biases that you might have about other people. Studying other people also makes one more accepting of a diverse set of worldviews and beliefs. 

Beneficial for Travellers & Businesses

If one is traveling from the west to the east or from the east to the west, knowing about the culture of the country they are visiting can help them better get along with locals and avoid unintentionally offending them. 

Similarly, if a company wants to launch into a market other than its own, ethnographic knowledge helps them launch relevant products & communicate in a relatable manner.

Discover New Information

Since Ethnography uses qualitative research instead of quantitative research, ethnographers are able to discover new information that would otherwise get lost in a purely qualitative research exercise.

Disadvantages of Ethnography

Time-Consuming

One of the biggest disadvantages of ethnography is that it is a very time-consuming process. Before the researcher can even begin his study, he has to spend months and years with the people he plans to study to develop even a basic understanding of their culture and customs.  On top of that, the researcher also has to invest time in building relationships with his subjects and making them comfortable. Add to these steps the effort involved in collecting and organizing findings, and it becomes obvious how time-consuming the whole process is. 

Unrepresentative Sample Set 

Being a qualitative approach rather than a quantitative one, the choice of sample impacts the study in more ways than one can imagine with there being a possibility of the researchers choosing a sample set that is not representative of the whole population. For example, in a country like India, someone residing in a village might have a totally different outlook and experience of life than someone residing in a city like Mumbai. 

Observer Bias 

While researchers might try to be objective, one cannot completely eliminate observer bias completely. For example, someone might think that their race is superior to the race they are studying and this belief might color their views. If this happens to be the case, researchers could come to incorrect conclusions, making their research unreliable.