Discourse Patterns in First Language Use at Hcme and Second Language Learning at School: an Ethnographic Approach

I 190

Annex 1.1

Contrasting Ethnographic and Quantitative Approaches

(from Jacob, 1982:125)

Methodological Characteristics of Ethnographic
and Quantitative Approaches

	________Approaches	to Research______________
Dimensions of Contrast	Ethnographic________	Quantitative______________
Hypothesis Formulation	Formulated through- out study	Formulated at beginning of study
Hypothesis Reformulation	Open to reformu- lation	Not open to reformu- lation
Questions Asked	Descriptive, process	Descriptive, causal
Data Used	Qualitative	Quantitative
Methods of Data Collection	Naturalistic partici- pant observation, open-ended inter- views	Nonparticipant observa- tion, questionnaires, experiments
Concern for Context	Central concern ( ethnohistorical and immediate)	Minor concern
Approach to Generalization	Nonstatistical	Statistical
Concern for Validity	Central concern	Not of central concern
Concern for Reliability	Not of central concern	Central concern
Approach to Meaning	Emic^a and locally relevant	Etic^b
Tjrpes of Categories Used	Emic^a and locally relevant	Etic^b

^aEmic refers to meanings and categories that are recognized by mem-
bers of the culture being studied, i.e., the native’s viewpoint.

^Etic refers to meanings and categories that are imposed on the data
from outside, usually from a theory or model, t.e., the researcher’s view-
point.

CorPapers

Discourse Patterns in First Language Use at Hcme and Second Language Learning at School: an Ethnographic Approach

More intriguing information