The Challenges of Participant Observations of Cultural Encounters within an Ethnographic Study

Abstract

To present the methodological challenges of an ethnographic study designed to gain better understanding of the cultural encounters (CE). Participant observations of the CE in between families with children and nurses will be carried out, in the context of an ethnographic design. The challenges to be faced include: accessing to participants and obtaining the informed consents, the role to be adopted during data collection by the researcher, establishing a trusting relationship with the participants, the effect that feeling observed may have on participants’ behaviors, and identifying the researcher's influence during the research process. The observations of the CE present methodological challenges that need to be dealt with during the whole research process to ensure validity and relevance.