Ethnographic Research

This is Book 1 of 7 in the Ethnographer's Toolkit, Second Edition. The Ethnographer's Toolkit series begins with this primer, which introduces novice and expert practitioners alike to the process of ethnographic research, including answers to questions such as who should and can do ethnography, when it is used most fruitfully, and how research projects are carried out from conceptualization to the uses of research results. Written in practical, straightforward language, this new edition defines the qualitative research enterprise, links research strategies to theoretical paradigms, and outlines the ways in which an ethnographic study can be designed. Use Designing and Conducting Ethnographic Research as a guide to the entire Toolkit or as a stand-alone introduction to ethnographic research. Other books in the set: Book 2: Initiating Ethnographic Research: A Mixed Methods Approach by Stephen L. Schensul, Jean J. Schensul, and Margaret D. LeCompte 9780759122017 Book 3: Essential Ethnographic Methods: A Mixed Methods Approach, Second Edition by Jean J. Schensul and Margaret D. LeCompte 9780759122031 Book 4: Specialized Ethnographic Methods: A Mixed Methods Approach edited by Jean J. Schensul and Margaret D. LeCompte 9780759122055 Book 5: Analysis and Interpretation of Ethnographic Data: A Mixed Methods Approach, Second Edition by Margaret D. LeCompte and Jean J. Schensul 9780759122079 Book 6: Ethics in Ethnography: A Mixed Methods Approach by Margaret D. LeCompte and Jean J. Schensul 9780759122093 Book 7: Ethnography in Action: A Mixed Methods Approach by Jean J. Schensul and Margaret D. LeCompte 9780759122116

Ethnographic Research: A Guide to General Conduct is the first in the ASA Research Methods series. This volume is about ethnographic research, the production of data, and the practical aspects of research practice. It is general and introductory in scope. Designed as a handbook, it is suitable for rapid reference. It provides basic outlines on general practical matters of concern to all those engaged in ethnographic research, introduces the series as a whole, and serves as a guide to existing literature on issues not specifically covered by the more specialized volumes which follow.

Focusing specifically on Interactional Ethnography (IE) as a distinct, discourse-based form of ethnography, this book introduces readers to the logic and practice behind IE and exemplifies the logic of ethnographic inquiry through a range of example-based chapters. Edited by two of the foremost scholars in the field of IE, this book brings together a body of work that has until now been largely dispersed. Illustrating how IE intersects with ethnographic methods – including observation, interviews, and fieldwork – the book highlights considerations relating to data analysis, researcher positionality, and the ethics of engaging participants in research. Offering examples of IE in international contexts and across a range of social science and educational settings, the book provides foundational principles and key examples of IE to guide readers’ work. This book offers researchers, scholars, and teacher educators a definitive, novel contribution to current methodological literature on IE broadly, and will be of particular use to ethnographers starting out in their career. Due to the interdisciplinary nature of the volume in illustrating the use of IE in a range of educational sub-disciplines, the book’s relevance extends to the fields of medical education, teacher education, arts and literacy research, as well as providing situated examples of IE in settings with relevance to the social sciences, anthropology, and cultural studies.

Challenges and Solutions in Ethnographic Research: Ethnography with a Twist seeks to rethink ethnography ‘outside the box’ of its previous tradition and to develop ethnographic methods by critically discussing the process, ethics, impact and knowledge production in ethnographic research. This interdisciplinary edited volume argues for a ‘twist’ that supports openness, courage, and creativity to develop and test innovative and unconventional ways of thinking and doing ethnography. ‘Ethnography with a twist’ means both an intentional aim to conduct ethnographic research with novel approaches and methods but also sensitivity to recognize and creativity to utilize different kinds of ‘twist moments’ that ethnographic research may create for the researcher. This edited volume critically evaluates new and old methodological tools and their ability to engage with questions of power difference. It proposes new collaborative methods that allow for co-production and co-creation of research material as well as shared conceptual work and wider distribution of knowledge. The book will be of use to ethnographers in humanities and social science disciplines including sociology, anthropology and communication studies.

Examines a series of theoretical and methodological issues faced by social scientists in interpretive and ethnographic studies of human group life.

This book reflects on the contemporary use of ethnography across both social and natural sciences, focusing in particular on organizational ethnography, autoethnography, and the role of storytelling. The chapters interrogate and reframe longstanding ethnographic discussions, including those concerning reflexivity and positionality, while exploring evolving themes such as the experiential use of technologies. The open and honest accounts presented in the volume explore the perennial anxieties, doubts and uncertainties of ethnography. Rather than seek ways to mitigate these ‘inconvenient’ but inevitable aspects of academic research, the book instead finds significant value to these experiences. Taking the position that collections of ethnographic work are better presented as transdisciplinary bricolage rather than as discipline-specific series, each chapter in the collection begins with a reflection on the existing impact and character of ethnographic research within the author’s native discipline. The book will appeal to all academic researchers with an interest in qualitative methods, as well as to advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students.

With as many as 1 billion people now using online communities such as newsgroups, blogs, forums, social networking sites, podcasting, videocasting, photosharing communities, and virtual worlds, the internet is now an important site for research. This exciting new text is the first to explore the discipline of 'Netnography' - the conduct of ethnography over the internet - a method specifically designed to study cultures and communities online. For the first time, full procedural guidelines for the accurate and ethical conduct of ethnographic research online are set out, with detailed, step-by-step guidance to thoroughly introduce, explain, and illustrate the method to students and researchers. The author also surveys the latest research on online cultures and communities, focusing on the methods used to study them, with examples focusing on the new elements and contingencies of the blogosphere (blogging), microblogging, videocasting, podcasting, social networking sites, virtual worlds and more. This book will be essential reading for researchers and students in social sciences such as anthropology, sociology, marketing and consumer research, organization and management studies and cultural and media studies.

This is Book 2 of 7 in the Ethnographer's Toolkit, Second Edition. Initiating Ethnographic Research:A Mixed Methods Approach, is the first book of its kind. Unlike texts that describe and detail methods for doing ethnographic and qualitative research once in the field, Book 2 explores in depth the many critical issues that ethnographic researchers need to consider before going to the field and in the earliest stages of the field experience. These include preparation of self, establishing relationships that ensure access to the field, and steps in the construction of a formative theoretical model that will inform the entire research process from start to finish. Following guidelines established in Book 1, the first three chapters describe the reasons why ethnography should be considered a mixed methods approach to social science research. They discuss why theory is important in guiding a study, and the important institutional and personal preparations required to enter a field setting and begin work. Additional chapters debunk the idea that ethnographers always enter the field with their minds a “clean slate” in terms of what they will find during their investigation. They show why and how researchers can develop initial theoretical models based on local knowledge and literature reviews. Ethnography uses a holistic approach, so such models take into consideration both individual/population and systemic or structural considerations. They lead the way to integrating ecological, empirical, critical, and interpretivist approaches into a comprehensive analysis of a dynamic system. Two chapters also provide detailed examples to illustrate the connection between steps in the modeling process, creation of observational measures, and steps in data collection--from most open-ended kinds of interviewing and observation to the kind of highly structured ethnographic surveying described in Book 3. Extensive illustrative case examples are included. The final chapter shows how the modeling process can be extended to guide the development of interventions and change strategies at multiple levels—a process that should be part of any research program.