BUS87305 WK8 A21 Assignment: Completed Ethnography (Other (Not Listed) Sample)

BUS87305-WK8-A21-Completed Ethnography
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Abstract
The paper gives a summary of an ethnographic study that was conducted in one of the libraries in the city in 2016. During the study, the behaviors of library users in the study area environment were investigated. The study seeks to show how ethnography can be used to investigate and effectively give recommendations on the use of library study space. At the end of this research paper, the library administrators and other stakeholders are given valuable pieces of advice on how to improve the library study spaces. Implementation of such recommendations will ensure that both the library users, investors and the administration will gain maximum benefit. In addition, the author recommends that ethnography is sufficient to investigate and recommend on the ways of utilizing library resources.
Contents TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u Abstract PAGEREF _Toc462309890 \h 2Introduction PAGEREF _Toc462309891 \h 4Methodology PAGEREF _Toc462309892 \h 4Observations and Data Collection PAGEREF _Toc462309893 \h 5Analysis PAGEREF _Toc462309894 \h 6Conclusions and Recommendations PAGEREF _Toc462309895 \h 7References PAGEREF _Toc462309896 \h 9
Introduction
For a long time, library researches have been done but no focused study has been done to give recommendations on how to effectively utilize the study space. Booth (2003) conducted a research arguing that research done by a practitioner lacks rigor while academic research lacks relevance. Effective and focused research can be a good way of demonstrating to the library stakeholders how their funding is being used. In addition, through such a research, library investors will be able to see the importance of continuing to invest in the library. In this study, an argument is made that ethnography has not been used to full capacity although it can be a very effective research method for both academics and practitioners.
The findings of a brief ethnographic study that was done at a library in town are summarized in this paper. The participant observation approach has been used to study how a newly planned study space was used as a learning environment by the students. The conclusions can be used to enlighten the library administrators how investing in the library furnishings and fabrics can be of great impact to library users concerning usage of library space. While this study has been done from the academic point of view, it can be effectively applied by library experts.
Methodology
Quantitative study methods have been widely used by librarians, simply due to the fact that they make good use of data that is readily available within the library. Examples of data that is readily available in the library include the number of books issued, the number of people visiting the library, etc. Usually, a quantitative study has a relatively linear following the progression: research design, collection of data, and data analysis. According to Berg (2007), most research I inclined towards quantitative methods. The main reason for this is that most people believe that science relates to figures and means accuracy. For instance, information from the Library and Information Statistics Unit (LISU), it is evident that visits to the academic libraries in the UK increased by about 15% in the prior one decade (Library and Information Statistics Unit, 2006). However, the same source tells us that the number of full time students decreased by 10% over the last half a decade (Library and Information Statistics Unit, 2006). The data does not give the exact usage of library resources over the stated period. For this reason, it is wise to use qualitative methods alongside quantitative method when analyzing library data. Ethnography or participant observation is one such method.
Observations and Data Collection
The current study explored how users utilized the library space and the study environments that they preferred. One of the recommendations of this research proposes that it would be prudent to accurately identify how the library study areas are being used as well as the kinds of learning that takes place there. An ethnographic study was exclusively and sufficiently used to study the activities of the library. At the beginning of the research, there was a bit of fear that using ethnography to do the study would result in respondents choosing what they felt was most suitable from them. By doing a participant based study, there was concern that the findings and thus recommendations would be biased. The data was collected in stages through a micro ethnography approach. It means that the observations were done at various times of the day for many weeks. A total of 45 hours was spent in field work and observations were recorded in an automatic field diary. Before proceeding to do the research, permission was sought from the ethics committee of the university. A notice was also placed on the library’s eLearning portal to let the users be aware of what was happening. During the entire time of the study, the CILIP code of professional practice (2012) was observed to the letter. Before carrying out the actual field study, a pilot study was conducted and it was realized that using word compiling software was more effective than hand notes.
To give a picture of the activities carried during participant observation, some examples of field notes recorded made are given as follows: … the guys at the group study section of the library are really engaging each other. They are speaking in turns and each speaker has a notebook in front. A speaker looks at his/her notes from time to time as he/she speaks. Clearly, they are working together as a group. The library computers are occupied most of the time. Most users use them and leave without logging out. However, some log out and leaves the computer in sleeping mode. A library staff or security guard occasionally, walks across the study space in the library, probably to see if the users are utilizing the spaces properly. Students and other library users leave books on the study tables after using them. Library staff comes to collect the books and arranges them back on the book shelves.
Analysis
Much of the data collection exercise took place over a period of time when the library operated on a 24 hour basis for seven days a week. The choice was made to utilize this period which is among the busiest seasons of the library activities since the undergraduate students were studying for their end of semester exams. Some observations were done over the period of vacation when data was reached a bit faster since the library was not so busy. There was some postponement of the observations when the study area was being renovated. The revamp affected the library usage since users were redirected to other floors of the library. Thus, it is not easy to determine the extent of development of study habits over this period when there was no much contact with them. Factors such as this one are important to consider since they highly impact the activities of library users. If the research had been carried out over a different period d...