"Unmasking" a web of meanings: the value of critical ethnography in nursing research
Stelios Parissopoulos
This paper draws attention to the political urgency of identifying a critical approach in nursing research. Through the inductive logic of ethnography in uncovering meaning or a web of meanings, it is hoped to illustrate the value of examining the micro-levels of interaction among individuals, as it is a critical approach that gives body and presence to silent or less vocal representations of human behavior and social life. Critical ethnography is defined both as a process and as a product. It is a social act and a systematic process that involves intensive and long-term participant observation, journaling (field-notes), study of any documentation (i.e. nursing reports, observation charts) and interviewing (ad-hoc or scheduled)
