Emic and Etic: Different Lenses for Research in Culture

Abstract

This article is an attempt to provide an integrated discussion of culture through both universal and indigenous approaches: etic and emic. Both universal and indigenous points of views are very important in understanding specific culture and its comparison with other cultures. Methodological concerns of both, however, have resulted in valuable yet incomplete explanation to concept of culture. Intricacies of using both in culture research have been explained in the article. The article uses these two lenses to discuss Indian context vis-à-vis other cultures in order to come up with unique aspects for Indian organizations. This way it offers a comprehensive look at culture as a concept, providing different approaches to capture the unique features of culture in Indian organizational context. It also discusses the challenges of culture research in multi-culture environment of India. Few propositions for future research have been suggested. Also implications for individuals and organizations planning to operate from India have been discussed.

Exploring the concept of “caring cultures”

“…With the potential for values to contradict each other, a deeper level of exploration of culture is required in order to better understand what drives these contradictions (Schein, ). Culture at its deepest level comprises of sometimes unconscious, taken‐for‐granted assumptions (Bala, Chalil, & Gupta, ), examples being assumptions about the nature of the caring role, or how tasks and power are distributed between professional groups (Davies & Mannion, ). These assumptions can consequently influence the behaviour and feelings of an individual enshrined within a culture (Konteh et al., ) often at an unconscious level (Schein, ).…”

Conducting Ethical Field Research on Rape in West African Settings: Case Study of 2018 Liberian Field Survey

“…Previous experience working in a country may increase a foreign researcher's capacity to realize and interpret data collected in the field, make relevant conclusions, and recognize appropriate strategies for conducting ethical research [48,65,69]. The PI had worked previously in Liberia and the region for nearly a decade but considered her positionality.…”

‘Our words are stronger’: Re-enforcing boundaries through ritual work in a terrorist news event

“…Thus, the ritual work is built around the contrasts among three elements in this mode of reporting: the lonely perpetrator, the lorry as a war machine and the peaceful crowd of of tourists and local people enjoying the warm spirit of Christmas. The conflict can be seen as manifesting a profound tension between the mythical threat from the etic outside and the emic social centre, which includes imagined communities established in news media not only around the German news media but also other European, US and non-Western news media, such as Al Jazeera English (see also Bala et al, 2012; Couldry, 2003).…”