A Practitioner’s Guide to Localized Research: Community-Based Ethnography for Resilience Outcomes

This guidebook introduces an innovative tool for development practice called Community-Based Ethnography (CBE). It is intended to (a) describe a robust, innovative qualitative option for assessing the process of change at multiple points in a project cycle (from the design phase of a project, through implementation of project interventions, and as evidentiary documentation of change), and (b) provide an approach that generates localized community ownership of the development process. It is a learning tool for NGO staff and other practitioners who could adopt the CBE approach. It lays out a sequence of “learning moments” that begins with a set of propositions about the nature of a community and the role of the researcher, then describes the major moments of the CBE implementation, and finally proposes how CBE contributes to development programming.

This guide was made possible by a grant from the Implementer-Led Design, Evidence, Analysis and Learning (IDEAL) Activity. The IDEAL Small Grants Program is made possible by the generous support and contribution of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).