Onderzoeksartikel

Romantiek "van binnen uit": etnografische methoden in het ontvangersonderzoek naar populaire cultuur voor vrouwen

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Abstract

Recently there has been a considerable interest for the ethnographic method in audience studies. Ethnography has been developed in the field of anthropology and it tends to be used in a rather eclecticistic way in communication studies. This article critically analyses three such studies, all of which have to do with female audiences in relation to popular culture, like television soap operas and romantic novels. With the aid of ethnographic concepts used in anthropological research it tries to offer a frame of reference that can help to improve and adapt the ethnographic method to communication studies. These concepts are: the notion of culture as a total way of living of a group of people; the search for a balance between involvement and distance in relation to the technique of participant observation; small scale research as a precondition to reach understanding of every aspect of a culture, by the so-called ’holistic view’; the need for comparison of small scale cultural units; the identification of a cultural focus as a key to interpretate the ethnographic material.

How to Cite:

Braber, T., (1989) “Romantiek "van binnen uit": etnografische methoden in het ontvangersonderzoek naar populaire cultuur voor vrouwen”, Massacommunicatie : Wetenschappelijk Kwartaaltijdschrift voor Communicatie en Informatie 17(3), 253–262.