Ending with a Bang!

I really enjoyed the last four articles of Ethnography class. Each had such poignant points and not only answered some of my questions, but left me, as I’ve learned all good ethnographic research should, with some more!

Zubair’s research in Pakistan, Literacies, Gender and Power in Rural Pakistan, was fascinating. The examination of gender and power within literacy practices was really enlightening. At first I questioned her theoretical framework, using Street’s literacy as social practices and resources rather than a set of rules (Street, 1984). I thought with such a traditional society, her framework was off target but as I read through the data, I realized just the opposite. Examining literacy through a broader lens, exposes the pitfalls and inequities. I wonder what came first: data collection or theoretical framework? Her conclusion was so frank, brave and powerful: Regarding literacy “younger women act as agents of change whereas men being content with existing roles fear change. Hence they fear the consequence of secular literacy and control women’s access to wider education” (P.200). Wow! I hope I have the courage to sum up my data so succinctly and honestly!

Ethnography: Problems and Prospects, Hammersley (2006), lacked the “wow” factor but nevertheless, was honestly enlightening about challenges of ethnographic research: the issues of interviews verses participant observations was a key point. Clearly, the concern of an interviewer making “questionable inferences about what is said by the interviewee” (p.9) is a legitimate one. Doesn’t ethnography carry much inference by the researcher? Isn’t that one of the aspects that separates it from quantitative research- though we don’t intend to be subjective, can we really remove our “selves” from the observation? Another challenge discussed in the article is the political nature of ethnography cannot be overlooked. Through our readings and class discussions, we’ve all seen the ramifications of this in our miniscule context of our IUP classroom…..grin…. I can only imagine the much larger framework that these types of studies must impact!

I’m sorry Ethnography class is ending so soon! I’ll miss you all!