Finding a way out of the ethnographic paradigm jungle

Abstract

In this paper, an attempt has been made to develop a hybrid ethnographic paradigm, taking the best points from the different approaches of ethnographic research. The pioneering proponents of ethnography differed in their conceptualization of the method, resulting in the development of three distinct schools of thought-holistic, semiotic and behavioristic. These three ethnographic paradigms have their respective benefits and shortcomings. Following any one of these approaches may lead to only partial comprehension of the phenomenon by the ethnographer. This study wished to address this issue by developing a best practice approach, which will have the virtues of all the three paradigms. It is hoped that this evolved paradigm will help in making the work of the ethnographer a lot more comprehensive and the experience much richer. © 2012: Subhadip Roy, Pratyush Banerjee, and Nova Southeastern University.