Mixed Methods in Ethnographic Research

<p><em>Mixed Methods in Ethnographic Research: Historical Perspectives </em>captures the dynamic history and development of mixed methods research in a narrative of personal discovery, growth, and experience. Distinguished ethnographer and methodologist Pertti Pelto, who first called for the integration of qualitative and quantitative research methods nearly half a century ago, establishes a direct line between the earliest examples of ethnographic research and the ongoing mixed method discussions in academic institutions throughout the world. By bringing together such distinct historical perspectives with his own reflections on mixed methods research, Pelto offers a rare and endlessly enriching account that will satisfy the ever-growing need for a better quality of practical data gathering and give researchers a foundation for promoting mixed methods in the future. </p> <p>CONTENTS</p><p>Preface</p><p>Chapter 1. Mixed Methods Research in Ethnography, Qualitative and Quantitative</p><p>Ethnography in Earlier Times</p><p>Al Biruni</p><p>Bernadino de Sahagun (1499-1590)</p><p>Applied Ethnographic Field Work, Cultural Patterns, and Research Methods</p><p>Applied Field Research: Many Disciplines, Many Players</p><p>The Different Histories of Quantitative and Qualitative Research in Applied Field Research and Academic Research </p><p>Disillusionment with Quantitative Surveys</p><p>The New Interest in "Mixed Methods" in the Social Sciences</p><p>Chapter 2. Mixed Methods in 19th Century Ethnography</p><p>J. Sjogren, Finnish Linguist-Ethnographer</p><p>Mathias A. Castren </p><p>Other 19th Century Finnish Ethnographer-Linguists</p><p>Vladimir Bogoraz, Russian Ethnographer/Linguist/Revolutionary</p><p>Franz Boas: Promoter of Mixed Methods in North America</p><p>Chapter 3. The Developing Discourse of Mixed Method Research</p><p>The QUAL versus QUAN Paradigm Debates</p><p>Many Problems in the Current Mixed Methods "Paradigm Concepts"</p><p>How Did Qualitative Data-Gathering Gain Acceptance in Quantitative-Dominated Research Areas?</p><p>A New Wave of Mixed Methods</p><p>QUAN+<i>qual</i>, QUAL à <i>quan; </i>Let’s Get on with the Fun</p><p>More Complex, Multiple Methods Mixtures (MMM)</p><p>QUAL+<i>quan</i> and QUAL à <i>quan </i>designs are very common </p><p>The Traditions of Publishing Make a Big Difference for Mixing of Methods</p><p>Summary and Conclusions</p><p>Chapter 4. Culture and Personality Studies: Plenty of Mixed Methods</p><p>Life in a Mexican Village; A Study by Oscar Lewis and Associates</p><p>Personality Formation among the Navaho People</p><p>Acculturation and Culture/Personality Studies</p><p>The "Newer" Culture and Personality Studies</p><p>Acculturation, Self-Identification and Personality Adjustment in an Inuit Village</p><p>Analysis of the Data</p><p>Farmers and Herdsmen in East Africa: Effects of Ecological Factors on Values, Attitudes, and Psychological Characteristics </p><p>Quantitative Scale from "Full-Scale Farming to Full-Scale Herding"</p><p>Discussion and Conclusions</p><p>Chapter 5. Large Multi-Year, Multi-Site, Multi-Disciplinary Research Projects</p><p>The Hawthorne Study: Mixed Methods in an Early Applied Project</p><p>Yankee City Series: Volume IV. "The Strike: A Social Analysis"</p><p>The Big Strike</p><p>The Great Mix of Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative</p><p>The Ethnic Groups in Yankee City </p><p>"Yankee City" in Historical Perspective: Criticisms and Credits</p><p>"Public Health as a Career in Medicine:" Another Large-Scale Study</p><p>Phase Two</p><p>Summary and Conclusions</p><p>Chapter 6. Ecosystems Theory, Adaptation, and New Directions in Research</p><p>An Early Applied Study of Up-grading Navaho Economy and Health</p><p>Massive Environmental Change: Ecosystem Effects of a Dam Project</p><p>Commentary</p><p><i>Pigs for the Ancestors: </i>A Focus on Ritual as Ecological Regulator</p><p>Quantitative Data</p><p>Qualitative Data: Ethnography of Ritual </p><p>Discussion and Criticism Sparked by <i>Pigs for the Ancestors</i></p><p>Structural Change in Northern Thai Rice Villages</p><p>Sarmela’s English Language Summary</p><p>Focus on Agricultural Adaptations in Rural Mexico</p><p>Discussion and Conclusions</p><p>Chapter 7. Medical Anthropology and Mixed Methods Research</p><p>Another Epidemic: Diphtheria Immunization in Thailand</p><p>Sorcery and Medicine in the Philippines</p><p>The Sociology of an Indian Hospital Ward</p><p>The Complex Varieties of Academic and Applied Medical Anthropology</p><p>Biological and Cultural Adaptations: The Ecological Framework</p><p>Anthropology and Mental Health: Psychosis in East Africa</p><p>Long-Term Multidisciplinary Research in Selected Study Populations</p><p>Multiple Research Methods in Complex Ethnography: West Africa</p><p>An Unusual Category: Combining Ethnography and Quantitative Experiment</p><p>Intervention: Development and Testing of a Model MCE Program</p><p>Conclusion</p><p>Chapter 8. QUAL+<i>qual</i> and QUAL à <i>qual </i>Studies: Common Practices in Ethnography</p><p>Coming of Age in Samoa 1928: Margaret Mead’s Seminal Study</p><p>A Famous QUAL+QUALà <i>qual</i> Study: <i>Street Corner Society</i></p><p>Getting Started, Learning Field Research</p><p>Components of the Research Methods</p><p>"Doc," the Most Famous "Key Informant" in Field Research Literature</p><p>Sub-Project: Mapping the Social Interactions at the Club</p><p>Other Examples of Mixed Methods in QUAL Research. Mixed Methods in Linguistic Research</p><p>QUALà <i>qual </i>Triangulation</p><p>James P. Spradley: "Grand Tour Interviews" and Other Special Methods</p><p>Extensive Participation: Sometimes It Is A "Supplemental Method" </p><p>Concluding Comments</p><p>Chapter 9. The Development of Quantitative Methods in Ethnographic Research</p><p>British Ethnographers Started Doing Surveys Early in the 20th Century</p><p>An "Experiment" with Survey Research Methods in Africa</p><p>More Specialized Survey Research "Experiments"</p><p>Small-Scale Surveys: Other Variations on the Survey Model(s)</p><p>A Different Kind of Mixed Method Research: Cultural Analysis of P-3 Pilot Error</p><p>The Study of High Concordance Domains</p><p>High versus Low Concordance Domains, and Sampling</p><p>"Tight" and "Loose" Societies</p><p>Cultural Consensus and Sample Sizes</p><p>Cultural Data, Key Informants, and Concordance</p><p>Summary and Conclusions</p><p>Chapter 10. Food, Diet and Nutrition Studies</p><p>Studies of Food Distribution and Dietary Behaviors</p><p>Diet and Hunger in Northern Rhodesia</p><p>Hunger Months</p><p>The Monograph as a Classic Mixed Methods Study of Food and Nutrition</p><p>Diet in the Mexican Town of Tepoztlan</p><p>A Diet and Nutrition Intervention in South Africa</p><p>Nutritional Anthropology: Interdisciplinary Mixed Methods Research</p><p>New Achievements in Mixed Methods Diet and Nutrition Studies</p><p>The Role of Fruits and Wild Greens in the Shambaa Diet in Tanzania</p><p>A Study of Malnutrition in Mali </p><p>Research on Vitamin A Deficiency: A Multi-Site, Interdisciplinary Study</p><p>Hypothetical Scenarios for Getting Data on Night-Blindness and Other Symptoms</p><p>Multi-Year, Multi-Disciplinary Mixed-Methods Study in Central Mexico</p><p>Major Finding: "Small is Not Healthy and Happy"</p><p>Summary and Conclusions</p><p>Chapter 11. The Rise of Community Studies and Ecological Theory: Paradigm Transitions in Finland</p><p>Hilma N. Granqvist: Ethnographic Study of a Palestinian Village, 1925-1931</p><p>Research in Lapland: Kalle Nickul’s "Discover" of the Skolt Saami Community</p><p>Mapping and Other Mixed Methods Research in Suenjel (Kola Peninsula)</p><p>Kai Donner: Another "Early Modern" Contributor to Paradigm Change</p><p>Community Studies and Ecological Frameworks: Later Trends in the 20th Century</p><p>Adaptive Strategies in the Aland Islands</p><p>Community Studies and Ecological Theory in More Recent Finnish Ethnographic Research</p><p>Concluding Discussion</p><p>Chapter 12. My Explorations in QUAL+<i>quan</i> Research Methodology</p><p>Doctoral Dissertation Research in Finnish Lapland</p><p>The Upper Mississippi Research Project</p><p>Thinking about Research Methods </p><p>Thinking about Different Kinds of Societies</p><p>The Snowmobile Revolution: Technology and Social Change</p><p>Technology and De-localization</p><p>Notes on Methodology</p><p>Varieties of Delocalization: Food and Diet</p><p>Conclusions: More Recent Developments</p><p>Chapter 13. Triangulation and Descriptive Expansion: The Uses of Mixed Methods in Ethnographic Research</p><p>Exploring "Descriptive Expansion" and Related Purposes of Mixed Methods Designs</p><p>Understanding the Concept of Triangulation in Mixed-Methods Research</p><p>Broader Definitions of "Triangulation"</p><p>Triangulation Studies for Assessing Informant Accuracy </p><p>Key Informant Reliability: Another Look at Interview Data</p><p>Triangulation and Informant Precision</p><p>Comparing Individual In-Depth Interviews and Group Discussion Methods</p><p>Triangulation and Mixed-Methods Research in Action</p><p>Triangulation with Multiple Quantified Data Gathering Methods: Alaska</p><p>Triangulation at the Level of Theory and Data Analysis</p><p>Informal Triangulation in Ethnographic Field Research</p><p>A Loose Use of the Triangulation Concept in Ethnographic Research</p><p>Triangulation in Qualitative Ethnographic Research: A Case of "Investigator Triangulation"</p><p>Triangulation is Only One of Several Mixed-Methods Research Categories</p><p>Criticisms and Critiques of Triangulation in the Social Sciences</p><p>Summary and Conclusions</p><p>The Basic Lesson </p><p>Chapter 14. Two Decades of Mixed-Methods in South Asia</p><p>The Technical Assistance Program: "Building Social Science Capacity for Research on Women’s Health in India"</p><p>QUAL-QUAN Mixed-Method Research Tools</p><p>Mixing Qualitative and Quantitative Data Was Already Common in South Asia</p><p>Developing a Manual for Field Training and Guidelines for Data-Gathering and Analysis</p><p>Other Developments in the Mid-1990s</p><p>Implementing a Reproductive Health Agenda in India: The Beginning</p><p>Reproductive Health in India: New Evidence</p><p>Ethnographic Field Research in South Asia</p><p>Women’s Perceptions of White Vaginal Discharge: Ethnographic Data from Rural Maharashtra</p><p>Evaluation of a Rural Community Health Program</p><p>Women’s Work and Child Health</p><p>Ethnographic Study of Sex Workers in a Red Light District in Kolkata</p><p>Examples of Mixed Methods Research in Bangladesh</p><p>The HIV/AIDs Pandemic and Mixed Methods Research</p><p>HIV/AIDs and the 21st Century in South Asia: Our Book of Research Results</p><p>Examples of Research on Sexual Behavior during the Technical Assistance Program</p><p>Other Noteworthy Studies in this Collection</p><p>Men’s Sexual Health Concerns in Mumbai</p><p>Women’s Reproductive Health in the Time of AIDs</p><p>Continued Research in Issues around Pregnancy, Childbirth, Abortion, and other Reproductive Health Matters</p><p>Summary: Mixed Methods Research in South Asia</p><p>Chapter 15. Two "Histories" of Mixed Methods Research</p><p>Mixed Methods in Ethnographic Research: Early Times</p><p>New Pathways to Mixed Methods in the 20th Century</p><p>Multi-Disciplinary and Large-Scale Projects Often Led to Mixed Methods</p><p>Inter-Disciplinary Research Teams: A Different Pathway to MM</p><p>Mixed Methods in Health Research</p><p>Ethnographic Publications are often in Books or Large Printed Reports</p><p>Quantitative Research Approaches Have Often Been Inductive</p><p>The "Other History" of Mixed Methods and the Recent Spread of Interest in Qualitative Ethnographic Research</p><p>New Explorations in Qualitative Research Methods, Especially in Developing Country Programs</p><p>Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) and Rapid Rural Appraisal (RR)</p><p>Focused Ethnographic Studies (FES)</p><p>Other Influences Favoring Qualitative Data Approaches and Mixed Methods</p><p>Influences from the Computer Revolution</p><p>The Big Picture: Mixed Methods Approaches Are Essential Because Each Individual Method Has Weaknesses. But There Is More: There Are Multiple Sectors of Data in the Real World</p>