Testing Cognitive Ethnography: Mixed-Methods in Developing Indicators of Well-Being in Fishing Communities

Research was initiated in 2008 with the objective of developing social indicators for well-being of fishing communities. Initial steps included development and testing indicators for the concepts of dependence, gentrification, vulnerability, and resiliency in relation to nine fishing communities on the Texas Gulf Coast. Procedurally, a mixed methods design was employed, using quantitative analyses of large secondary data sets to rank coastal communities based on socioeconomic measures, and independently employing qualitative approaches to provide rankings of the nine communities. The two qualitative approaches, an informed expert description of the communities, and cognitive-based interviews in the same communities each produced rankings almost identical with each other and with the quantitative rankings. Three types of analyses yielded similar results, indicating that cognitive ethnography can be a valuable tool in the description of community resilience, vulnerability, and well-being.