Doing Fieldwork: Hands On Workshop on Using Visual Tools, Mixed Methods in Ethnographic Practice

₹499

₹999

Instructor: Prof. Deepanshu Mohan and Najam Us SaqibLanguage: English

About the course

This workshop introduces participants to the foundational concepts of informality and explores how ethnographic tools can be used to study, document, and analyze informal social, economic, and spatial practices. Participants will learn how ethnographic methods allow researchers to engage with informal worlds, whether informal labour, settlements, markets, or governance systems, and gather nuanced, contextualized data that goes beyond statistical aggregates.

Syllabus

Session 1: Conceptualising Informality
Session Time: 10:00 a.m.- 11:30 a.m.

Session Focus

  • Introduction to informality as a lived social process
  • Key conceptual frameworks for understanding informality
  • Why ethnography is crucial for studying informal systems
What You Will Learn Participants will:
  • Understand multiple definitions and debates around informality
  • Explore informality in everyday socio-economic life
  • Discuss limits of conventional research methods for capturing informal practices
Session 2: Ethnographic Tools & Field Strategies
Session Time: 12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.

Session Focus
  • Practical ethnographic tools and techniques
  • Ethical challenges and reflexivity in the field
  • Field readiness: preparing questions, consent, and observation protocols
What You Will Learn  Participants will:
  • Gain hands-on exposure to ethnographic tools like participant observation, semi-structured interviewing, and fieldnotes
  • Understand how to approach research in informal settings sensitively and responsibly
  • Learn strategies to manage positionality, power dynamics, and ethical dilemmas

Session 3: Participant Presentations & Peer Discussion, Session Time: 2:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Session Focus

  • Presentation of participant research ideas, field experiences, or planned ethnographic approaches
  • Peer feedback, facilitator review, and constructive discussion
What You Will Do Each participant will:
  • Present a 5–7 minute outline of their research idea or field experience
  • Share how they plan to study informality using ethnographic tools
  • Engage in structured feedback with peers and facilitator


Who Can Benefit

Students, early-career researchers, practitioners, and social scientists who:

· Are working on topics involving informal economies, labour, housing, or governance

· Seek qualitative tools to complement mixed methods research

Prerequisites

Basic familiarity with social research concepts

No prior training in ethnography is necessary

Certificate

Participants will receive an e-certificate upon attending at least 70% of the workshop and presenting in the final session.

MEET OUR INSTRUCTORs

     
Prof. Deepanshu Mohan

Dean, IDEAS Office of Interdisciplinary Studies Professor of Economics,
Jindal School of Liberal Arts & Humanities, O. P. Jindal Global University


Deepanshu Mohan is Professor of Economics and Dean, IDEAS, Office of InterDiscplinary Studies, O.P. Jindal Global University (JGU), India. His teaching affiliation for taught courses in areas of comparative political economy, development studies, research methods, is with the Jindal School of Liberal Arts and Humanities at the University (JGU), where he is also Director, Centre for New Economics Studies (CNES), and Senior Research Fellow, International Institute of Higher Education (IIHED). Prior to visiting Oxford University this Fall as a Visiting Fellow at the Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (AMES), Prof. Mohan has been a Visiting Professor to the South East Asia Centre (SEAC) at the London School of Economics and Political Science, and at Birkbeck College’s Faculty of Social Sciences where he is also been affiliated as an Honorary Research Fellow since 2022. He is also a Visiting Fellow to the Department of Economic History, London School of Economics (LSE) for 2025-26. He has previously held visiting assignments, professorships and positions with: University of Ottawa (School of International Development, Canada); FGV (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil); Carleton University (Department of Economics, Canada); Stellenbosch University (School of Public Leadership, South Africa); CamEd Business School (Cambodia), to name a few. His research work and published research broadly intersects areas of development studies, urban studies, comparative political economy, economic anthropology, public law, comparative economic thought. He is published with: Routledge, Taylor and Francis (London and New York); Elsevier; Oxford University Press (OUP) London; Cambridge University Press; NUS Singapore; Brill; Palgrave MacMillan, Springer Nature, to name a few.

     
Mr. Najam Us Saqib

Senior Research Specialist CNES, Program Manager at IDEAS, O P Jindal Global University


Najam Us Saqib is a researcher and academic specializing in political science, international relations, and the study of marginalized communities. He holds a Master’s degree in Political Science and about to complete his Ph.D. at the Central University of Kashmir. Saqib has gained significant professional experience, having served as a senior research analyst and Assistant director at CNES at OP Jindal University. Additionally, he has contributed to various projects, including those sponsored by the National Commission for Women. His academic work includes articles published in Journals like Contemporary Voice of Dalit, EPW. He is also co author of "Identity, Dispossession and Resilience of the Subaltern".
His upcoming book methods of Visual ethnography is releasing in spring 2026.
He has presented papers at both national and international conferences, and contributions to leading news platforms. His research primarily explores themes of caste, marginalization, and decolonial studies.

Venue

Online,
IDEASx Platform

Dates & Time 

Saturday - 7 March. 2026:
Session 1: 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM
Session 2: 12:00 PM to 1:30 PM
Session 3: 2:00 PM to 3:30 PM

STAY UPDATED

Follow us on:
Instagram: @jgu_ideas
Twitter: @jguideas
Linkedin: @I.D.E.A.S. Office of Interdisciplinary Studies