Twelve tips for how institutional ethnography (IE) is conducted in health professions education research

Abstract

Institutional ethnography (IE), a term coined by sociologist Dorothy Smith, explores the nuances of institutions and their complex relationships in sociology. IE is an approach to studying and analysing social organization, and it provides a more holistic understanding of ‘invisible’ relationships that govern institutions and how those relationships interact with each other. Health sciences researchers in patient care, patient experience, and allied health professionals have recently become more interested in the use of this methodology and how to incorporate it into their research. However, in health professions education (HPE) there is little use of IE. We hypothesize this may be because of limited practical knowledge of this methodology. This paper serves as an introduction to the use of IE in HPE, describing the differences between IE and traditional ethnographies, recognizing the common pitfalls when utilising IE, and incorporating texts into IE. While ethnographies may be daunting to researchers less familiar with these approaches, the tips in this paper will provide an introduction and help educators and researchers successfully navigate the use of IE in health profession scholarship and education.

Keywords:

• Institutional ethnography
• health profession education
• tips

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The authors have declared that they have no conflicts of interest. The authors hold the sole responsibility for the content and writing within the article.

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

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Notes on contributors

Julie Nguyen

Julie Nguyen, MA, is a medical anthropologist and a research assistant in the Department of Pediatrics, University of Alberta. Her research focuses on innovation in medical education and bioarchaeology.

Marghalara Rashid

Marghalara Rashid, Ph.D., is an assistant professor and Educational Scientist in the Department of Pediatrics, University of Alberta. She has a research background in health professions education and her research focuses on examining biases, barriers, and obstacles that hinder equity in health professions education.

Sarah Forgie

Sarah Forgie, MD, M.Ed., is Professor and Chair of the Department of Pediatrics, Division of Infection Disease, The University of Alberta. Her research focuses on innovations in medical education and infection prevention.