@article{69d7f2ef57ef41b49bb45e0ec206358e,
title = "The promises of computational ethnography: Improving transparency, replicability, and validity for realist approaches to ethnographic analysis",
abstract = "This article argues the advance of computational methods for analyzing, visualizing and disseminating social scientific data can provide substantial tools for ethnographers operating within the broadly realist {\textquoteleft}normal-scientific tradition{\textquoteright} (NST). While computation does not remove the fundamental challenges of method and measurement that are central to social research, new technologies provide resources for leveraging what NST researchers see as ethnography{\textquoteright}s strengths (e.g. the production of in situ observations of people over time) while addressing what NST researchers see as ethnography{\textquoteright}s weaknesses (e.g. questions of sample size, generalizability and analytical transparency). Specifically, we argue computational tools can help: (1) scale ethnography, (2) improve transparency, (3) allow basic replications, and (4) ultimately address fundamental concerns about internal and external validity. We explore these issues by illustrating the utility of three forms of ethnographic visualization enabled by computational advances – ethnographic heatmaps (ethnoarrays), a combination of participant observation data with techniques from social network analysis (SNA), and text mining. In doing so, we speak to the potential uses and challenges of nascent {\textquoteleft}computational ethnography.{\textquoteright}.",
keywords = "big data, computational ethnography, computational methods, ethnoarrays, ethnography, generalization, heatmaps, replication, social network analysis, transparency, visualization",
author = "Abramson, {Corey M.} and Jacqueline Joslyn and Rendle, {Katharine A.} and Garrett, {Sarah B.} and Daniel Dohan",
note = "Funding Information: The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This project was supported by grant R01 CA152195 (Daniel Dohan, principal investigator) from the National Cancer Institute. The content presented here is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Cancer Institute or the National Institutes of Health. Research reported in this article was partially funded through a Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) Award (ME-1409-22996). The statements presented in this work are solely the responsibility of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), its Board of Governors or Methodology Committee. Funding Information: Daniel Dohan is professor of Health Policy and Social Medicine and Deputy Director at the Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies at the University of California, San Francisco. With broad interests in the culture of medicine, he is especially keen on developing strategies to introduce more sociological imagination into biomedical research, clinical practice, and medical education. His work has been supported by the National Institutes of Health, the American Cancer Society, and the Patient Centered Outcomes Research institute. He co-directs the UCSF/UC Hastings Consortium on Law, Science, and Health Policy and co-leads the online MS in Health Policy and Law. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2017, {\textcopyright} The British Association of Hand Therapists Ltd 2017.",
year = "2018",
month = jun,
day = "1",
doi = "10.1177/1466138117725340",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "19",
pages = "254--284",
journal = "Ethnography",
issn = "1466-1381",
publisher = "SAGE Publications Ltd",
number = "2",
}