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An ideographic approach focuses on producing a valuable description, which would be rich in depth and detail and could effectively deal with the intricate realities within the student culture. Particular importance is placed on the accuracy of the portrayal and how it would provide interesting insights into the lives of students at QMUC for readers. .
However there are researchers who criticise this approach. Some question the value of producing stand-alone descriptions that cannot be linked to broader issues and be used to develop existing theories about human culture. As Denscombe, (1998,p72) explains:.
"If each ethnographic study produces a one-off, isolated piece of information, these pieces cannot contribute to the building up of any generalized knowledge about human societies.".
However a researcher could take the middle ground and hold on to the importance of providing a detailed description from first hand experience spent with the students whilst still giving the ethnography a theoretical background on which to develop. .
To ensure this, they would need to look into how the findings about student life compare with existing theories about human society. For example whether the ethnography ties in with ideas about youth culture and teen rebellion. Consideration must be given to why the students at QMUC were selected for study. Was it for example, because they reflect social concerns about the shocking behaviour or lack of discipline of young people in British society today? Comparisons must also be made to other similar ethnographies, perhaps those based at other educational institutions or research carried out on students, say thirty years ago. .
An advantage of ethnography to study the students is that it has an open awareness of the role of the researchers "self" in the study. This is somewhat of a contradiction because ethnography would involve direct observation with the students so the resulting description is presumed to be as detailed and realistic as possible.