Thick description

Qualitative research method that seeks to provides a detailed account of a researchers’ field experiences, stressing the context and meanings of human actions, to make them meaningful to an outsider.

After Clifford Geertz, in The Interpretation of Cultures (1973). It refers to the detailed, in-depth description and interpretation of human behavior within its specific cultural context.

Goes beyond surface appearances.

Geertz saw cultures as “webs of significance” that can’t be fully understood from the outside. Thick description is an attempt to unpick these intricate webs of meaning.

• [⎈] Explore strategies for ensuring rigour and reliability in thick descriptions.
• [⎈] Examine the role of thick description in studying technological practices within different cultural contexts. How can researchers effectively document and interpret the social implications of technology use?
• [?] How much contextual detail is sufficient to make a description “thick”? Is there a clear line between thick and thin, or is it more of a continuum?
• [?] What challenges do digital environments pose for thick description, and how can researchers overcome these?
• [?] How might thick description be adapted to better incorporate change over time, internal diversity, and power dynamics?

Backlinks

: Ethnography : Microhistory