Page 194 - Encyclopedia of Nursing Research

ETHNOGRAPHY n 161

and phenomenology (the study of individu- is typified by long-term field studies of an
als’ lived experience). entire culture. The researcher seeks to dis-
Anthropologists developed ethnography tinguish a single group of people from other E
to understand people who lived in other cul- cultural groups by describing the people’s
tures and practiced traditions different from lifeways, language, religion, kinship pat-
their own. Although ethnography remains terns, economic system, geographic habitat,
the primary research method in anthropol- health systems, and technologies. in con-
ogy, it is also used by researchers in many trast, focused ethnography takes a micro-
other disciplines, most notably sociology, level approach to understanding cultural
psychology, education, management science, processes, often from within the researcher’s
and nursing. As the method was adopted own society and for the purpose of applying
outside anthropology, the focus of study cultural knowledge to solving practical prob-
shifted from small-scale or tribal societies to lems. Through short-term, immersive field
topical subjects more closely linked with the visits and key informant interviews, focused
interests and scientific foci of the adopting ethnographers gather background informa-
discipline. For example, the study of small tion about people within a particular cultural
urban social communities was undertaken context and on a narrowed subject matter.
by sociologists from the Chicago School, Although more than a dozen distinct
investigations of schools as microcosms of research traditions are subsumed under the
society were addressed by educators, and term ethnography, each method emerged
ethnic health beliefs and lay systems of care within a particular historical context to
were targeted by nurse anthropologists. address somewhat different elements of cul-
in the discipline of nursing, ethnography ture. Nurse researchers may use any of these
was introduced into the literature primar- approaches given the appropriate research
ily by nurse anthropologists beginning in question. Five examples are presented to
the late 1960s. Seminal articles by Elizabeth demonstrate the utility and flexibility of
Byerly (1990) and Antoinette Ragucci (1990) diverse ethnographic approaches to nursing
were published in Nursing Research and research.
laid the foundation for future nurse eth- An early ethnographic approach devel-
nographers. As the federally funded Nurse oped by Boas around the turn of the twenti-
Scientist Program sponsored doctoral edu- eth century is termed Historical Particularism.
cation for registered nurses, many recipients The central tenet of this approach is that each
chose anthropology as their focus of study. culture has its own long and unique history
This first generation of nurse ethnogra- and that all elements of a culture are wor-
phers included pioneers such as Madeleine thy of documentation. Typical products of
Leininger, Agnes Aamodt, Pamela Brink, ethnographies conducted within this frame-
Margarita Kay, and Oliver Osborne. A sec- work are descriptive narratives and cultural
ond generation of nurse anthropologists inventories. Nurse researchers have used
included Juliene Lipson, Evelyn Barbee, this approach to identify specific folk heal-
JoAnn Glittenberg, Marjorie Muecke, Janice ing treatments used within ethnic groups
Morse, and Toni Tripp-Reimer. Later, as doc- and to generate items for the construction of
toral programs in nursing developed, some questionnaires.
nurses were trained in ethnography within Functionalism, which is associated
schools of nursing. with the anthropologists Malinowski and
Researchers using ethnographic frame- Radcliffe-Brown, is a second ethnographic
works may assume either a whole culture per- tradition and, historically, the approach used
spective in their investigations or take a more most often in nursing research. Here, the task
focused approach. Macro-level ethnography of ethnography is to describe the structural