Interpretive ethnography: a UK charity shop case study

Ethnographic research is widely used across social research disciplines examining the voluntary sector, yet its value can be often overlooked in the age of big data and impact measurement. This chapter will provide a brief overview of this methodology within voluntary action research, and highlight the key uses of ethnographies as a qualitative research tool. Drawing on an interpretivist approach, it will outline the utility of ethnography in a case study analysis of professionalisation within a charity retail setting. Using participant observation in two charity shops and interviews with shop workers and volunteers, the case study will illustrate the importance of participation and immersion within the research setting in terms of observing, recording and analysing ‘natural’ interactions and behaviours. It also explores the role of researcher reflexivity, and how micro-level “shop floor” examination of voluntary action can serve as a critical measure against data driven assumptions about contemporary charity work.