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Ethnography: Tales of the Nonprofit Field

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Abstract

Ethnography is a rich research tradition originating from sociocultural anthropology that aims to vividly represent cultural meaning through fieldwork and thick description. Ethnographic fieldwork is known for unearthing surprises, and ethnographers are often convinced that, had they used another approach, they would have been unable to explain fully what was going on in the research setting. Ethnography in nonprofit studies is increasing, but sparse. This article argues that introducing more tales of the nonprofit field could deepen the analysis of how nonprofit organizing works, bridge the nonprofit research–practice divide, challenge the Western ethnocentricity of nonprofit studies, bring the sector’s periphery to the forefront and enhance nonprofit management education. However, to benefit from ethnographic work, the nonprofit field must embrace alternative norms of composition and rigor. The starting point is conversation and community among nonprofit ethnographers to foster such work.

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Notes

  1. Multiple searches were conducted in Web of Science for English articles focused on the topics of ethnog* or autoethnog*. A search combining these topics with nonprofit topics (e.g., “nonprofit,” “nongovernmental,” “voluntary,” see Maier et al., 2016 for the full list) revealed 1,264 articles, which amounts to 1.0% of all articles written on nonprofit topics and 2.2% of all articles focusing on (auto)ethnography. For comparison, 2.8% of sociology articles, 6.6% of anthropology and 0.4% of management articles draw on ethnography. Similar calls have been made to increase the use of ethnography in management (Watson, 2011).

  2. Because the objective of this article is to establish a conversation among (potential) ethnographers that identify as nonprofit scholars, not to offer a systematic literature review, this article focuses on research published in the top three nonprofit studies journals – VOLUNTAS, Nonprofit & Voluntary Sector Quarterly and Nonprofit Management and Leadership – instead of focusing on nonprofit ethnographies published in other disciplines or in books.

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  1. John Glenn College of Public Affairs, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA

    Erynn E. Beaton

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E. Beaton, E. Ethnography: Tales of the Nonprofit Field. Voluntas 33, 1196–1203 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-021-00394-y

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