Some reflections on ethnography and validity1
- 1 July 1992
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Taylor & Francis in International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education
- Vol. 5 (3) , 195-203
- https://doi.org/10.1080/0951839920050301
Abstract
The question of what are appropriate criteria for assessing ethnographic research has become a matter of considerable debate in recent years. This paper identifies four philosophical positions that have influenced ethnographers’ thinking about this issue: realism, positivism#shmethodism, relativism, and instrumentalism. The implications of these ideas for judgements about the validity of ethnographic findings are sketched in the first half of the paper. In the second half, I argue that none of these positions is adequate and outline a more satisfactory view.Keywords
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