Video ethnography
Encyclopedia
Video
ethnography
is the video recording of the stream of activity of subjects in their natural setting, in order to experience, interpret, and represent culture and society.Schaeffer, Joseph H. "Videotape: New Techniques of Observation and Analysis in Anthropology." In Principles of Visual Anthropology, ed. Paul Hockings. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 1995, 255. Ethnographic video, in contrast to ethnographic film
, cannot be used independently of other ethnographic methods, but rather as part of the process of creation and representation of societal, cultural, and individual knowledge. It is commonly used in the fields of visual anthropology
, visual sociology
, and cultural studies
. Uses of video in ethnography include the recording of certain processes and activities, visual note-taking, and ethnographic diary-keeping.
Video ethnography involves:
• Observation, including extensive filming of practitioners,
• Allowing practitioners to view the video recorded material and reflexively discuss their practice,
• Transforming practice through practitioner led change, and
• Building the capacity for the ongoing and critical appraisal of practice.
Video-ethnographic methods seek to foreground practitioner knowledge, expertise, and insight into the dynamics of their own work processes. This is achieved by first talking with practitioners about their work and organizational processes, and by seeking an articulation of the social, professional, environmental, and organizational contingencies that both enable and constrain their
practice. By allowing practitioners to discuss their practices in response to video footage clinicians and researchers gain insight into areas of practice that may be benefit from redesign. Video ethnography is contingent on the researcher gaining the trust of practitioners, on becoming familiar with the site and on being trusted to be present at time and in places where critical conducts are undertaken.
since soon after they were invented. The first ethnographic film
occurred in 1895 by Felix-Louis Regnault who filmed a Senegalese woman making pots. Film was used among many researchers however it was Margaret Mead
and Gregory Bateson
who first used methods of visual ethnography such as photos and film as scientific instruments. They opened up the potential of photography
and film
as analytical tools and data repositories. Visual anthropologists
became very interested in the use of video on the 1980's for its convenience, durability, economy and utility. Since the 1990's researchers from different disciplines began to engage with videos as distinct from ethnographic films. This involved the reflexive use of the video as a medium to create knowledge and not just to store data. Technological developments, such as the use of digital video, continue to offer new possibilities for the use of videos in ethnography.
Joseph Schaeffer names four primary ways in which the use of video can be advantageous to ethnographic research:
Antonius Robbens proposes that various forms of media, such as the video, are useful because of the difficulty in portraying different senses in writing, that the literary bias in ethnographic research results in a neglect of the senses. As a result, videos can help reveal previously elusive and intangible aspects of social and cultural behaviour and interaction. Videos provide an accurate recording of events while still leaving open a large scope for analytical interpretation. They provide opportunities for collaboration between researchers and participants and can serve as a valuable adjunctive tool in many types of ethnographic studies.
Schaeffer provides three requirements to prevent the misuse of ethnographic videos:
Other issues can relate to the practical appropriateness of videos in specific projects. This takes into consideration both the project design and the field situation (i.e. the physical environment). Schaeffer concludes that videos can be useful and reliable in a variety of settings when they are properly maintained and handled..
In addition to issues relating to the creation and preservation of the video recording, its contents should be considered. To evaluate the objectivity of the research, questions of bias must be addressed. In theory, the ethnographer acts as a passive participant and captures data relating to the participants. For the format of video ethnography, it should be determined whether it is the ethnographer's perspective expressed in the video or that of the participant(s). By determining perspective, questions of why the particular event was recorded, how the participants were shown, and how this medium relates to the ethnographer's research can be answered.
These issues relating to perspective have been prevalent in anthropology, and, as a result, theories of addressing bias are embedded in ethnographic discourse. Kenneth Pike considered bias of perspective and formulated the theory of Etic and emic. This concept has been further discussed and operationalized in the works of anthropologists, Marvin Harris
, and Ward Goodenough
.
Example: http://www.seymourpowell.com/foresight/needs.html
Example: http://www.communicationsafety.org
Examples of video ethnography in research:
1) http://qhr.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/18/3/380
2) http://www.atypon-link.com/EMP/doi/abs/10.5555/hesr.2006.15.2.156
Video
Video is the technology of electronically capturing, recording, processing, storing, transmitting, and reconstructing a sequence of still images representing scenes in motion.- History :...
ethnography
Ethnography
Ethnography is a qualitative method aimed to learn and understand cultural phenomena which reflect the knowledge and system of meanings guiding the life of a cultural group...
is the video recording of the stream of activity of subjects in their natural setting, in order to experience, interpret, and represent culture and society.Schaeffer, Joseph H. "Videotape: New Techniques of Observation and Analysis in Anthropology." In Principles of Visual Anthropology, ed. Paul Hockings. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 1995, 255. Ethnographic video, in contrast to ethnographic film
Ethnographic film
An ethnographic film is a documentary film related to the methods of ethnology. It emerged in the 1960s as an important tool for research in the domain of visual anthropology, when filming human groups in society...
, cannot be used independently of other ethnographic methods, but rather as part of the process of creation and representation of societal, cultural, and individual knowledge. It is commonly used in the fields of visual anthropology
Visual anthropology
Visual anthropology is a subfield of cultural anthropology that is concerned, in part, with the study and production of ethnographic photography, film and, since the mid-1990s, new media...
, visual sociology
Visual sociology
Visual sociology is an area of sociology concerned with the visual dimensions of social life. This subdiscipline is nurtured by the , which holds annual conferences and publishes the journal, ....
, and cultural studies
Cultural studies
Cultural studies is an academic field grounded in critical theory and literary criticism. It generally concerns the political nature of contemporary culture, as well as its historical foundations, conflicts, and defining traits. It is, to this extent, largely distinguished from cultural...
. Uses of video in ethnography include the recording of certain processes and activities, visual note-taking, and ethnographic diary-keeping.
Video ethnography involves:
• Observation, including extensive filming of practitioners,
• Allowing practitioners to view the video recorded material and reflexively discuss their practice,
• Transforming practice through practitioner led change, and
• Building the capacity for the ongoing and critical appraisal of practice.
Video-ethnographic methods seek to foreground practitioner knowledge, expertise, and insight into the dynamics of their own work processes. This is achieved by first talking with practitioners about their work and organizational processes, and by seeking an articulation of the social, professional, environmental, and organizational contingencies that both enable and constrain their
practice. By allowing practitioners to discuss their practices in response to video footage clinicians and researchers gain insight into areas of practice that may be benefit from redesign. Video ethnography is contingent on the researcher gaining the trust of practitioners, on becoming familiar with the site and on being trusted to be present at time and in places where critical conducts are undertaken.
History
Photos and moving pictures have been used by ethnographersEthnography
Ethnography is a qualitative method aimed to learn and understand cultural phenomena which reflect the knowledge and system of meanings guiding the life of a cultural group...
since soon after they were invented. The first ethnographic film
Ethnographic film
An ethnographic film is a documentary film related to the methods of ethnology. It emerged in the 1960s as an important tool for research in the domain of visual anthropology, when filming human groups in society...
occurred in 1895 by Felix-Louis Regnault who filmed a Senegalese woman making pots. Film was used among many researchers however it was Margaret Mead
Margaret Mead
Margaret Mead was an American cultural anthropologist, who was frequently a featured writer and speaker in the mass media throughout the 1960s and 1970s....
and Gregory Bateson
Gregory Bateson
Gregory Bateson was an English anthropologist, social scientist, linguist, visual anthropologist, semiotician and cyberneticist whose work intersected that of many other fields. He had a natural ability to recognize order and pattern in the universe...
who first used methods of visual ethnography such as photos and film as scientific instruments. They opened up the potential of photography
Photography
Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
and film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
as analytical tools and data repositories. Visual anthropologists
Anthropology
Anthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...
became very interested in the use of video on the 1980's for its convenience, durability, economy and utility. Since the 1990's researchers from different disciplines began to engage with videos as distinct from ethnographic films. This involved the reflexive use of the video as a medium to create knowledge and not just to store data. Technological developments, such as the use of digital video, continue to offer new possibilities for the use of videos in ethnography.
Advantages of Video Ethnography
According to Wayne Fife, the goal of ethnographic research is to formulate a pattern of analysis that makes reasonable sense out of human actions within a context of a specific place and time. The use of videos can help ethnographers achieve this goal.Joseph Schaeffer names four primary ways in which the use of video can be advantageous to ethnographic research:
- Videos allow for coverage of activities in much of their complexity in their natural settings over an extended period of time. This coverage can be used to supplement written accounts and provides a context for the limited coverage by other methods.
- Videos allow for scientific rigour when conducted by trained researchers. Videos retain sequences of observed behaviour for later scrutiny and can as a result increase quality and reliability of statements made regarding the activity.
- Videos allow for review by both researchers and participants which can help increase the scope of interpretation.
- Videos can be used to establish connections between abstractions and inferences and the observed activities on which they are based.
Antonius Robbens proposes that various forms of media, such as the video, are useful because of the difficulty in portraying different senses in writing, that the literary bias in ethnographic research results in a neglect of the senses. As a result, videos can help reveal previously elusive and intangible aspects of social and cultural behaviour and interaction. Videos provide an accurate recording of events while still leaving open a large scope for analytical interpretation. They provide opportunities for collaboration between researchers and participants and can serve as a valuable adjunctive tool in many types of ethnographic studies.
Important Issues
Although there are many benefits to video ethnography, there are also important issues that arise from the use of videos. For instance, there are numerous ethical issues regarding the privacy of research participants or subjects. Schaeffer addresses the issues of voluntary consent and confidentiality of data. Voluntary consent is the control of involvement in the research lying firmly with the participant who needs complete knowledge of the research and its goals to exercise this control properly. There must also be mutual trust and respect between the researchers and the participants. Confidentiality implies the proper use of the gathered data as to maintain the highest degree of confidentiality possible while also maintaining the integrity of the research.Schaeffer provides three requirements to prevent the misuse of ethnographic videos:
- Having only trained professionals handle the videos during the research.
- To be aware of the needs of the participants, the social, political and economic relevance of the data.
- The willingness to sacrifice the use of videos unless indispensable for the collection of information.
Other issues can relate to the practical appropriateness of videos in specific projects. This takes into consideration both the project design and the field situation (i.e. the physical environment). Schaeffer concludes that videos can be useful and reliable in a variety of settings when they are properly maintained and handled..
In addition to issues relating to the creation and preservation of the video recording, its contents should be considered. To evaluate the objectivity of the research, questions of bias must be addressed. In theory, the ethnographer acts as a passive participant and captures data relating to the participants. For the format of video ethnography, it should be determined whether it is the ethnographer's perspective expressed in the video or that of the participant(s). By determining perspective, questions of why the particular event was recorded, how the participants were shown, and how this medium relates to the ethnographer's research can be answered.
These issues relating to perspective have been prevalent in anthropology, and, as a result, theories of addressing bias are embedded in ethnographic discourse. Kenneth Pike considered bias of perspective and formulated the theory of Etic and emic. This concept has been further discussed and operationalized in the works of anthropologists, Marvin Harris
Marvin Harris
Marvin Harris was an American anthropologist. He was born in Brooklyn, New York. A prolific writer, he was highly influential in the development of cultural materialism...
, and Ward Goodenough
Ward Goodenough
Ward H. Goodenough is a U.S. Anthropologist, who has made contributions to kinship studies, linguistic anthropology, cross-cultural studies, and cognitive anthropology. Born May 30, 1919, in Cambridge Massachusetts, he attended Groton School in Groton Massachusetts. He then earned a B.A. in 1940...
.
External Links
Example: http://www.manchesresearch.co.ukExample: http://www.seymourpowell.com/foresight/needs.html
Example: http://www.communicationsafety.org
Examples of video ethnography in research:
1) http://qhr.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/18/3/380
2) http://www.atypon-link.com/EMP/doi/abs/10.5555/hesr.2006.15.2.156