There is an intimate relationship between the ethnographer and their subjects. Ethnographers themselves are the research instrument and there is an engagement between the ethnographer and the research participant. This is a fundamental epistemological claim of the ethnographic process; that there are no external positions from which to study the social world. The ethnographer is not removed from their field but rather they are always a part of the social field. They are a participant observer recording the experiences.
​
Ethnography has been described as both an ethics and an epistemology. It is an ethic in that it suggests that we should actually talk to people and not just analyse their products. It is an epistemology in that it highlights the idea of knowledge production that asserts that textual analysis alone cannot sufficiently illuminate social practices and social formations in action (Desmond, 2014).
​
Epistemology/Ontology
Ontological assumptions are concerned with what we believe constitutes social reality. In regards to the ethnographic research process it can be translated to 'what a research thinks can be researched'. Early ontological aspects of ethnography involved the Malinowski process of establishing the laws and regulations of a society. It has been criticised due to the lack of time researchers spend and the sometimes large generalisations of understanding they apply to their observations (Marietto, 2009).
This detachment of the researcher and supposed 'objectivity' has been criticised. This is where the new ontological process of the shared reality of the researcher and researched has been adopted. Reality is a social product that can only be understood from the intersubjective meanings of the social subjects involved in its enactment.
​
Within these realms of Epistemology and Ontology it is important to highlight the place of reflexivity in the research field. Similar to reflection but different in that it demands an 'other' and some self conscious awareness for reflection. Reflexivity is utilised in almost every qualitative research book and article as an accepted method of research and should be used to establish ethnographic authority (Pillow, 2003). Through reflexive practice, researches evaluate their own standpoint in relation to their subject matter and research (Gullion, 2015).
