Ethnography Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Ethnography - Essay Example On the other hand, other scholars assert that some cultural studies have theorized about the significance of ethnography to an understanding of media and cultural practices. They continue arguing that they have reached an almost paralyzing position in which the political and epistemological debates concerning the function of the researcher have restricted rather than endorsing the production of ethnographic media studies. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to study the strengths and limits of ethnography as a methodology for the study of media institutions with reference to specific ethnographic studies conducted by other researchers (Coman & Rothenbuhler 2005, p.141). Additionally, the research about audiences in media emphasizes on methodological pluralism through examining a sequence of approaches ranging from media ethnography, research on the reception of media, surveying the audience, and carrying out experiments on audience studies. The cultural understanding of ethnogr aphy Ethnographic studies can twirl predetermined ideas and misapprehension regarding a specific culture into positive conceptions, likewise, they can also lend trustworthiness to other elucidation from studies regarding a specific culture that have been done in the ancient times. Additionally, ethnographies can grant people a better comprehension and approach into their own culture, but the ethnographic study of a culture consumes a lot of time. For instance, before an anthropologist submerges in a culture's natural environment, he has to be familiar with the language along with the respective culture of that community. Culture is important for society and individual since the routine activities are based on the simple unwritten rules of participation in social interactions, therefore, ethnographers require proper investigation and research, and may take a long period making it very dangerous for an anthropologist who does not quickly comprehend a culture's traditions and forbidden practices. In addition to that, an anthropologist has to acquire time and obtain the confidence and respect of a culture's people, as well as seeking an okay to carry out an ethnographic research before proceeding (Coman & Rothenbuhler, 2005, p.141). The strengths of ethnography The benefit to employing ethnography to fit into the audience studies relies on its likelihood to offer both a domestic and a communal environment of television reception among the diverse groups in the society (Murchison 2013, p.204). Ethnography facilitates a comprehension of the manner in which the reception framework can influence the interpretation of the message by viewers, individually and in groups, conversely, it also permit the inspecting of the phenomena not only in its immediate social, political, and economic situation, but also in a bigger chronological structure. Moores argue that the media industries should provide audiences with a stable â€Å"stream† of figurative equipment to help audiences understand and approach their logic of self. These pictures and