Navigating between an emic and an etic approach in ethnographic research. Crucial aspects and strategies when communicating critical results to participants

ABSTRACT

There is a fundamental tension in ethnographic research between trying to understand participants from within their own perspective and viewing them with greater distance. With this in mind, the aim of this article is to describe how a reflexive communication model was developed during the study of El Sistema Gothenburg, and to discuss aspects and strategies that are crucial when navigating between an emic and an etic approach. It is argued that by reflexive communication, researchers can make their results useful for participants and that reflecting upon the relationship is even more important when communicating critique. With the help of this model, communication of critical results was facilitated by the establishment of an integrative approach that combined the insiders’ and outsiders’ perspectives and was based on the formation of a strong relationship between the researchers and the participants, as well as by the participants’ own cultivation of theoretical understanding.

KEYWORDS:

• El Sistema
• ethnography
• reflexivity
• critique
• dialogue

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Åsa Bergman http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2839-5062