There are several organizational steps which should be considered before starting the process such as: preparation for field work; field work and ethical issues which represent data collection; data analysis and write up.
Preparation for field work
Firstly, the researcher must perform an archival research in order to get an historical background of applied qualitative methods to the chosen subject. Secondly, the researcher sets the procedure and choose the qualitative techniques appropriate to the subject. As Gray’s research methodology presented, an important tool would be interviewing. On the above mentioned subject I believe that it would be worthwhile to apply the elite interview beside ethnographic interviews and life history, assuming that the new Romanian elites are drivers towards consumption. In-depth interviews with both individual and groups are recommended.
During the preparation stage questions related to how to conduct the kinds of interviews (telephone, personal, computer-based interviews), how to find interviewees in the field, how to use video, tape recorders to collect data, how to organize collected data should be answered. By answering these questions researcher can get an idea on time period required to be spent in field and also on budget allocations.
Field work / Data collection
It is a common research practice to distinguish between primary data (never published, usually gathered by researcher) and secondary data (books, articles). The scope of this example will be the former, mostly because in Romania’s case secondary data could be outdated due to its rapid evolution of market and identities.
Once the qualitative techniques are chosen, one of the most important benefits of the ethnography is the depth of observations. Frustrations, opinions, beliefs and behaviors of everyday life are brought to light to determine the characteristics of actual Romanian society of consumption in parallel with the change of identity.
In-depth interviews include both individual interviews as well as group interviews (most recommended would be focus groups due to its applicability to market research). Individual interviews will be applied as ethnographic, elites interviews and life history. In Romania’s case study individual interviews are going to reflect possibly the differentiation of new social categories. Focus group interviews gives the opportunity to combine qualitative and quantitative methods, an additional benefit to reflect the transformation of Romanian society towards consumption. The data can be recorded in a wide variety of ways including stenography, audio recording, video recording or written notes. The purpose of the interviews is to probe the ideas of the interviewees about the phenomenon of interest. An ethical question regarding the anonymity will determine the acceptance of recording (audio and/or video) by interviewees and I would strongly suggest to be established during the preparation phase. In order to avoid introducing an unnecessary variable into research, one single method (recording or non-recording) has to be applied to all respondents.
Autobiographical questions. As mentioned by Gray (2003), researcher must ask him/herself questions to locate own cultural position within the research. These questions and answers will cover the ethical aspect of reflexivity. As cited by the author (ibid), Valerie Walkerdine suggests the applicability of psychoanalytic framework to the researcher’s encounters. The result will be as mentioned by Gray “writing about our subjectivity”.
As mentioned in Gray’s research methodology, the transcripts must be organized as the researcher goes along, assuring that a good filing and retrieval system is in place. The method of filing and retrieval must be set at preparation stage.
Data analysis
The aim of this ethnographic research chapter is to interpret the collected data by responding to questions related to how to analyze all kinds of texts, including methods for understanding meaning, how to look for pattern and meaning in text data (words, images, sounds, artifacts). The target is interpretation. Interpretive research does not predefine dependent and independent variables, but focuses on the full complexity of human sense making as the situation emerges (Kaplan and Maxwell, 1994).
As suggested by Gray it is important to be experimental with your data and use sociological imagination. A team work would be desirable for multiple (re)viewing of tapes, records, transcripts. Researcher may use different tools of interpretation such elements of hermeneutics and semiotics. Taylor (1976) noted: "Interpretation, in the sense relevant to hermeneutics, is an attempt to make clear, to make sense of an object of study. This object must, therefore, be a text, or a text-analogue, which in some way is confused, incomplete, cloudy, seemingly contradictory - in one way or another, unclear. The interpretation aims to bring to light an underlying coherence or sense". The researcher may use forms of semiotics as content analysis, conversation analysis and discourse analysis. Additional benefits would result from using few hermeneutics and semiotics forms instead of only discourse analysis as suggested by Gray. The result would be assignation of codes, determination of categories and of applicability within collected organized data, creation of diagrams in order to generate theories. Team work where members of research team would share ideas to increase insight would be a benefit. Computer software like The Ethnograph, Atlas, Qualrus, WordStat, TextAnalyst, Annotape could be used but I would suggest limitation to an established level at preparation stage in order to avoid loss of sociological sense which would require a more “human type manipulation of data”.
Writing up data
As mentioned in Gray’s research methodology there are several researchers such Wendy Hollway who prefers transcripts not to be “chopped up” and the writing up to contain as much field raw information as possible. I would challenge this technique and apply a better balanced “generated theories- organized collected data” writing up, avoiding the descriptive style. This manner of writing up data would possibly interest the market research companies as well as the research community.
One objective of Ann Gray’s book, according to the editor is “to offer practical guidance on the craft of research from formulating a topic to presenting it in written form”. This goal has been achieved and the two chapters studied not only bring the “taste and flavor” of ethnographic research but presented methodology adapted to specific cases may represent a constructivist powerful tool for the cultural area studies research. As Ernst Von Glasersfeld (1996) quoted: “the human activity of knowing cannot lead to certain and true picture…[but] creating the keys with whose help man unlock paths toward the goals he chooses”.
Bibliography:
Gray A., 2003. Research Practice for Cultural Studies : Ethnographic Methods and Lived Cultures. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications.
Hofstede G., 1997. Cultures and Organizations. Software of the mind. 2nd edition. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Kaplan, B. and Maxwell, J.A., 1994. Qualitative Research Methods for Evaluating Computer Information Systems. In: Anderson, J.G., Aydin C.E. and Jay S.J. Evaluating Health Care Information Systems: Methods and Applications. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications, pp. 45-68.
Lewis, I.M., 1985. Social Anthropology in Perspective. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Taylor, C., 1976. Hermeneutics and Politics. In: Connerton P., Critical Sociology: Selected Readings, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books Ltd, pp. 153-193.
Von Glasersfeld E., 1996. Radical Constructivism: A Way of Knowing and Learning. New York: RoutledgeFalmer.
Maria-Cristina Marin, Montréal, 21st of December 2003
