Ethnographic Research

The first topic in Organizations & Cultures was Ethnography. According to the document proposed to the subject, Ethnography is a social science research method which uses personal experience and possible participation as a study technique. The ethnographic main point could include intensive language and cultural learning, intensive study of a single field or domain, and a blend of historical, observational, and interview methods. The most common kind of data collections are: interview, observation, and documents.

These methods are a means of tapping local points of view, households and community funds of knowledge, a means of identifying significant categories of human experience up-close and personal.

Ethnography requires emic and ethic perspectives. Emic refers to the intrinsic cultural distinctions that are meaningful to the members of a give society. The native members of a culture are the sole judges of the validity of an emic description, just as the native speakers of a language are the sole judges of the accuracy of a phonemic identification. An emic constructs its correctly termed, if it is in accord with the perceptions and understandings considered appropriate by the insider’s culture (consensus). Ethic refers to the extrinsic concepts and categories that have meaning for scientific observers. Scientists are the sole judges of the validity of an ethic account. An ethic constructs its correctly termed, if it is in accord with the epistemological principles deemed appropriate by science.

As a set of methods, ethnography is not far removed from the sort of approach that we use all in everyday life to make sense of our surroundings. It is less specialized and less technically sophisticated that approaches like the experiment or the social survey.

Question: How Ethnographic research can be used for international business?

Ethnographic research can improve the legitimacy and reliability of business communication research by using both quantitative and qualitative methods and studying both real life and simulations. The research themes highly ranked by managers were teamwork, negotiations, and listening. A study made using Delphi panels illustrated that 41 international business people and 22 educators agree that the team communication, the media used and nonverbal patterns, such as silence and translation problems and diversity should be taught. Two of the top matters for a focused intercultural business communication course are attribution and negotiation. (Smeltzer, 1993)

The methodology used to describe the impact of these techniques in international business, is an abstract approach because ethnographic and sociolinguistic studies rarely focus on outcomes, tactics, and effectiveness of negotiations. Ethnographic analysis may use real life situations.
Interviews, observation, and documents can be used for international business in order that these tools could identify the needs of a group. Having enough information will have a positive impact in different situations of business like decide a proper strategy, recognize a possible difficulty and understand diverse cultures.

References

Innovation and International Business Communication: Can European Research Help to increase the Validity and Reliability for Our. The Journal of Business Communication, April 2000
Genzuk Michael. A Synthesis of Ethnographic Research

Photo taken from Jareaux Robin, Examining Hieroglyphics. March 16 ,2010