Ethnographic Study: How to Conduct an Ethnographic Study

Group Observation 

For this task, I joined a group of individuals that regularly volunteers to serve food at a homeless shelter. I selected this group because I was sure it would have a mix of characters from all walks of life, which would provide a greater understanding of how groups work. 

Demographics 

  The volunteers included a wide variety of characters. It consisted of about twenty people, with most of them being women. There were less than five men in the entire group. Averagely, everyone in the group was between the ages of 25 and 35. The group consisted of whites and African Americans.  

Conversations 

  The conversations of the volunteer group mainly revolved around two topics. One was in relation to their volunteering activities. It was evident that the group has been engaged in the activity for a while, and at the start, there were only a few volunteers. Later, more people joined the group, through the number varied as some volunteers would miss out some days. The number of volunteers grew and there were suggestions that the group should identify another shelter, and half of the group would volunteer at the new facility. It is important to note that this conversation was not formal, but was done informally among the oldest members of the group who seemed to have an influence over the others.  

  The second topic that I heard severally was in their work environment. Based on the closeness and interpersonal relationship between the members, it was easy to establish that they promoted teamwork. The members would discuss other possible places they would volunteer such as hospitals. However, the younger members of the group were more informal in their conversations, and on various occasions, they were talking about music and the latest gadgets.  

Gestures and Body Language 

Gestures and other forms of body language were widely used by the participants. When younger members of the group were conversing, they were relaxed and constantly high-fived each other. The oldest members of the group were more reserved and would only occasionally pat each other’s backs. When a group meeting would be held, all members we still and the leaders effectively used body language and facial expression to motivate the young volunteers. 

Patterns of Interaction 

  There was a clear distinction in the patterns of interaction among members of the group. Since there were various activities to be handled, the group was divided into sets of five individuals. An interesting observation is that while people in each set talked with a sense of familiarity, this quickly changed in sessions whereby everyone was together. These observations were regardless of the gender and racial background of the participants. These sub-groups seemed to formed based on the ages of the participants, with older individuals being together and younger individuals working together.  

  The older individuals also had an influence over younger participants since they would respond to any commands that were made without any complaints. While I was not able to hear any particular command, I observed how the older individuals called their younger counterparts and then pointed out something, and the younger individual would immediately start working on it.  

After the feeding session, the group was required to sit together for a meal before they departed the shelter. I noticed that younger participants and their older counterparts sat separately, which can indicate that some of the oldest members of the group were in senior positions than their counterparts. As such, the interaction between these two groups was difficult, based on previous formal encounters.   

Sociological Concepts 

Various sociological concepts were evident from the interaction of the individuals who were volunteering at the shelter.  

Social Action 

  According to this concept, people behave in a particular manner because they have an understanding of their activities and how the actions of those around them influence it. As such, social action results in doing certain things unconsciously. The primary influence is their immediate environment, whereby one does not need to be pushed by an external party, but it comes naturally ( McGranahan, 2018) . Social action, therefore, highlights the importance of relationships and how this affects one’s actions. 

During my study, I noted that all the participants behaved in a particular manner, although there were no visible guidelines relating to their code of conduct. Everyone seemed to know what they were expected to do, and when one completes their assigned tasks, they would not sit around but would turn to their colleagues and start helping out. In this case, the objective of this activity was to assist the people in the homeless, and this could be achieved in many ways. Since all the participants were aware of this, their actions were not limited to their assigned roles. An example is one individual who was serving meals, and when this was done, he had joined others to wash and dry utensils in the kitchen. 

  Social Structure 

Based on this concept, society consists of various groupings, and everyone is a part of such settings. What is considered normal by an individual mainly depends on what is acceptable within their particular social structure. A vital attribute relating to the social structure is routine behaviors and conduct among the members ( Angrosino, 2007) . Examples of social structures include marriage setups and organizations. As I watched the volunteers, I was keen on establishing the social structure that exists within the volunteers. It was evident that there was segmentation based on age, whereby the older individuals were openly grouped, and the same applied to the younger members. 

Based on the conversations that I heard during the session, my assumption is that the volunteers were carrying forward their conduct while at work at the shelter. In this case, people who had authority while at work were also shown respect even though they were expected to be equal while engaging in various volunteering activities. On several occasions, I witnessed a younger individual being tasked to supervise several older volunteers, but it was clear that he was uncomfortable with the whole setup. His social structure had preconditioned him to understand that he was below the hierarchy of the people he was meant to supervise, which made him feel awkward.    

Culture 

These are the beliefs, values, symbols, knowledge, and norms that are acceptable within a particular social setting. It is these factors that determine how people will act within these social settings. Each person is assigned a role, and this influences their actions and conduct. However, culture is not fixed to one group, but it can be applied to multiple social settings ( McGranahan, 2018) . A perfect example is concerning the interactions between the volunteers and people at the homeless shelter, indicating values and knowledge about the volunteering activity. The volunteers learned about the homeless people and their vocabulary, such as special unit, instead of disabled. Such language made everyone feel appreciated and respected in the shelter. Another visible aspect of culture was the respect that juniors have for the seniors. While there was no bureaucracy while undertaking the various tasks, it was evident that the younger members of the group respected the elders and readily took instructions from them.  

Power 

  Power refers to the influence that an individual has over others within the same social setting. Based on this influence, the social actor benefits from the tasks that are carried out by others. There are various ways that the social actor can have power over others. One is by use of force or indirectly by the use of cultures that are beneficial to them. However, power might not often be open, and it can be impossible to establish the power structure within the group. 

An example is the group, while I could not find out their exact duties, it was clear that some people had authority over the rest. The body language and interaction between the volunteers made it possible for me to identify the social actors who had authority. In this case, the power was not derived from their duties at the shelter but based on their positions at work in the volunteering group, for example, older people who joined the group earlier had more power than the new volunteers. 

  Code of Ethics 

The volunteers were guided by certain values and beliefs. These individuals were religious and shared common beliefs of doing good since they would be rewarded by a higher being. I observed that the grouped made a prayer before and after the volunteering activity. The volunteers treated people at the homeless with love, care, respect and were willing to assist without any complaints.   

An important aspect of sociology is the code of ethics that relate to the conduct of researchers while undertaking studies on different groups. These guidelines help to safeguard the confidentiality of the group that is being observed, and data is required from them. According to research guidelines, all biographical details relating to respondents should be held confidentially. The goal of undertaking research should be to obtain information about a group of people and not an individual. It is, therefore, critical that a researcher should observe professional standards and avoid any form of bias ( Pardo & Prato, 2018) . While undertaking my observation, I made sure that I followed all these guidelines relating to the required code of ethics to protect my respondents. One of these was to give them privacy and make my observations discretely, which helped in ensuring that they carried out their activities and sessions without any interference. The benefit of this was that I was able to obtain information relating to their natural interactions. 

References 

Angrosino, M. (2007).  Doing ethnographic and observational research . Sage. 

McGranahan, C. (2018). Ethnography.  The International Encyclopedia of Anthropology , 1-5. 

Pardo, I., & Prato, G. B. (Eds.). (2018).  Legitimacy: Ethnographic and Theoretical Insights . Springer.