Anthropology, Ethnography, and Cultural Research

The Emic & Etic Perspectives

7 min readSep 7, 2022

What is culture?

According to T. Edward (1871):

“Culture is an umbrella term. which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.”

A more contemporary explanation of the word “culture” may be found in the writings of G. Hofstede (1991), where he explains that:

“Culture is the collective programming of the human mind that distinguishes the members of one human group from those of another. Culture in this sense is a system of collectively held values.”

What is a culture shock?

Some cultures may be quite similar, while others are very different. Having to live inside an unknown cultural background for some might result in a state called “culture shock”. In T. Segal’s terms, a culture shock is:

“A feeling of uncertainty, confusion, or anxiety that people may experience when moving to a new country or experiencing a new culture or surroundings.”

People have been experiencing culture shocks ever since the first recordings of written histories. Over the span of time, people saw others as ghosts, devils, aliens, or some type of mythical creatures depending on the group’s particular folklore. Human beings were often not even seen as humans, which resulted in various forms of demonization and dehumanization. This, of course, resulted in various mistreatments, some way beyond our common imagination.

The birth of Anthropology

During the late colonial period, western societies came to a conclusion that they have to find a way how to better understand the people inhabiting their newly found colonies. This marked the preliminary stages for the birth of the scientific field that we now know as Anthropology. Nowadays, Anthropology deals with issues that are fairly different from those with which its founding fathers were concerned. According to American Anthropological Association (AAA):

“Today’s anthropologists do not just work in exotic locations. They can be found in corporations, all levels of government, educational institutions, and non-profit associations. Anthropologists even work in disaster areas, such as Ground Zero in New York and the Gulf Coast in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina.”

So what do anthropologists do, really?

“Anthropologists research, evaluate, and establish public policy concerning the origins of humans; their physical, social, linguistic, and cultural development; and their behavior, as well as the cultures, organizations, and institutions they have created. They also collect information and make judgments through observation, interviews, and review of documents.”

Anthropologists often use ethnographic methods to facilitate their competencies in other cultures. In other words, anthropologists try to understand what people do, think, feel, and say that might seem strange to an outsider but are completely familiar to a person seeing the life from the inside. Most often researchers do this through a specific qualitative method called ethnography (sometimes referred to as “field research”.)

What is ethnography?

Simply put, ethnography is a systematic study and recording of humans and their cultures. Most often it is done by interviewing, observing, and recording people’s lives and activities in their natural setting. An ethnographer is expected to give a descriptive narrative of a selected group’s culture, beliefs, background, and activities, This is often done through the means of a research method called “participant observation”. Participant observation is a long-term, personal, longitudinal study, where the researcher lives, speaks and participates in the daily lives of the people that he is interested in. Summarized by Francine Barone, participant observation is:

“…the process of immersing oneself in as many aspects of the daily cultural lives of people as possible in order to study their behaviors and interactions.

What is the purpose of ethnography?

Ethnography helps the researchers to gain an understanding of people that lead very different lives from theirs. The studied group most of the time inhabits a unique socio-cultural world, which is often a mystery to others. It is the job of an ethnographer to breach the gap and to understand them from their own point of view. This requires a perception of both an outsider and an insider. In anthropology, this type of perceiving is called the “emic & etic perspective”.

The emic & etic perspective:

According to the American University of Washington D.C.:

The “etic perspective” is the outsider’s (researchers) view, — for example, an outsider’s perception of gender in Afghanistan.
The “emic perspective” is the insider’s perspective, the perspective that comes from within the culture where the project is situated — for example, the gender perspectives of Afghan women.

After his study, an ethnographer is expected to give a descriptive narrative of the studied group’s way of living, values, and perspectives. This type of description might break ungrounded stereotypes and facilitate mutual understanding between various groups, especially those living in prolonged conflict.

4 roles of participation in ethnographic research

Complete observer — the researcher remains hidden in order not to interrupt the natural flow of things.
Participant as an observer — the researcher’s identity and role are known. Because the identity of the researcher is revealed, his role as an observer is limited. His forthcoming may make the other participants open to unnatural changes in behavior.
Observer as a participant — the researcher’s identity is known and he is a part of the group’s activities. Some distance is created in an attempt to minimize the researcher’s impact on the setting, people, or situations being studied.
Complete participant — the researcher actively engages in the setting. Subjective preferences have to be taken into consideration in order not to cloud the researcher’s perception of the activities.

How is ethnographic research done?

Every great research begins with a question, so an ethnographer should start by figuring out what he wants to research. Second, he should select an accessible location, secure funds, and try to contact a few individuals that will act as his key informants on the field. By now, the researcher should have formulated his study questions and decided on the role in which he’s going to participate in the study. The next step is reaching the desired destination and the beginning of data collection.

Every great ethnographer should always carry a notepad. Sometimes he’ll have to wait and record observations after leaving the setting. In such a case, the researcher should record the observations as soon as he can to minimize recall problems. He may also rely on other equipment such as audio recorders, video cameras, etc. These gadgets will prove valuable when conducting interviews and collecting important footage.

Although it is expected that the researcher will remain as objective as possible, he should also be wary of his own preconceptions, beliefs and limitations. Putting them all aside might not be possible, for that reason it is a good idea to write down one’s own personal impressions and feelings in a separate journal. This journal will prove valuable when conducting the final analysis.

Once enough material has been gathered, it’s time to analyze it. In this stage, the researcher has to look through all of his field notes and recordings. If the recordings are in an audio format, it is a good idea to describe and code them. Coding (labeling) the information is an important part of the data analysis process, as it helps to find various patterns and filter the gathered material into categories. Most of the time categories act as a narrative’s backbone, while the interviews and other stories are the flesh.

Once the themes and categories are in their right place, it’s time to present the research and its key findings. While creating the narrative you should keep in mind that the research participants will likely want to read your work, thus you should be honest, polite, and professional.

An ethnographer is a human being just like any other. Sometimes his views might be clouded by his own cultural background, his skill limited, and his self-consciousness distorted. Thus the researcher should try to remain wary of his limitations at all stages of the ethnographic process, knowing that the work he is doing will reveal only a part of the whole picture.

3 main biases to avoid during ethnographic research

Sample bias — the research population might be skewed or not representative. What is happening in one place may not be happening everywhere.
Theoretical bias — the researcher might have preconceived notions about his study on a theoretical level. The participants may be selected because they are consistent with the already supposed outcome.
Personal bias — the researcher’s cultural background, political ideologies, and religious affiliations can color how he perceives his subject of study and its participants.

In summary…

Ethnography is a great way to study various cultures and people. Being one of the main qualitative research methods used by social scientists, it can also be applied to study one’s own culture or communities on the outside. Its main purpose is to get to know the group from many angles while figuring out how the people’s lived reality makes sense to them, what meaning it has. To do that, the researcher merges the emic (inside) and etic (outside) perspectives by participating in a (most of the time longitudinal) field study. After the study has been conducted and enough material has been gathered, the ethnographer usually analyses his data and writes a descriptive narrative of his methods, lived experiences, and key findings.

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