Preface vii
The Author xiii
Part 1 The Why and What of Ethnography 1
1 What is Ethnography? 3
Ethnography: The Engaged, Firsthand Study of Society and Culture in Action 4
A Brief History 4
How Ethnography Has Changed: Doing Contemporary Ethnography 8
Ethnography as Firsthand Research 12
Ethnographer as Research Instrument 13
Collaboration as Research Model: Ethnographer as Student 15
2 Choosing an Ethnographic Topic 19
Where to Look for Possible Topics 22
Ethnographic Topics: Studying Places, People, or Events 23
The Benefits of a Relatively Specific Focus 23
Thinking About the Nonobvious as Discoverable 26
Cultural Knowledge and Behavior in Action as Research Objects 28
Practical Concerns 29
Considering Ethics from the Start: Your Obligations to Potential Informants 32
Topics You Might Want to Avoid 33
3 Research Design 37
Turning an Idea or Topic into a Research Question 38
Linking Questions to Methods 40
Key Methods to Consider for the Ethnographic Project 41
What is Practical or Feasible? Time, Availability, and Ethics 47
4 Writing a Proposal 51
Identifying and Reviewing Appropriate Literature 52
Statement of the Problem 55
A Clear Research Plan 56
Identifying Your Project’s Larger Relevance 58
Human Subjects Review and Approval 59
Part 2 Ethnography in the Field: Collecting Data 65
5 A Guide to Collecting Data and Taking Notes 67
The Fleeting Nature of Ethnographic Data 69
“Should I Write it Down Immediately?” 69
The Importance of Detail in the Ethnographic Record 71
Writing Notes Versus Using Recorders 72
The Prospects of Transcription 74
What is Important and What is Superfluous: “What Do I Need to Write Down?” 76
The Ethics of Collecting Information 78
6 Participant-Observation 83
The Apparent Paradox: Participation and Observation 84
Balancing Participation and Observation 87
The Importance of Time 88
Depending on Informants as Teachers and Guides 89
Getting Started 92
Regular Versus Extraordinary Behavior and Conversations 94
7 Interviews 99
Starting with Informal Interviews and Conversations 101
Informal Conversation as an Avenue to “Real” Culture 104
A Good Interviewer is a Good Listener 105
How to Record Interview Data 105
Using an Interview Schedule 107
How to Start an Interview 108
Good Versus Bad Interview Questions 109
When to Conduct Formal Interviews 113
8 Analyzing Along the Way 115
Identifying Key Themes and Questions: Paying Attention to Your Data 116
How to Organize Your Notes 117
What Have You Learned? 118
What Do You Still Need to Do? 119
Has the Research Question Changed? 120
Tweaking the Research Design 121
Getting Feedback from Your Informants 122
Writing at the Midway Point 123
9 Ethnographic Maps 127
Space and Movement as Key Components of Culture 131
The Importance of Space, Shape, and Distance 131
Large- and Small-Scale Geographic Maps 132
Mapping Interior Spaces 135
Cognitive or Conceptual Maps 138
Representing Movement and Behavior on a Map 141
10 Tables and Charts 143
Ethnographic Tables 144
Interpersonal Relationships as a Manifestation of Culture 144
Kinship as an Organizing Principle 146
Other Organizational Charts 149
11 Archives and Secondary Data 157
Cultural Artifacts as Sources of Information 158
Making Ethnographic Use of Archives 161
Contemporary Cultural Artifacts 164
Evaluating and Analyzing Cultural Artifacts 166
Analytical Sources Versus Popular or Primary Sources 167
Part 3 Analyzing and Writing 171
12 Sorting and Coding Data 173
Writing from Your Research Data 174
Identifying Key Themes and Questions 175
Identifying Important Research Moments and Experiences 176
Coding and Sorting the Ethnographic Record 178
Dealing with Apparent Contradictions: The Messiness of Ethnographic Data 181
13 Answering Questions and Building Models 183
Fitting the Pieces Together 184
Moving from Data to Theory: The Inductive Process 190
Remembering the Big Picture and the Big Questions 190
Infusing Theory in Ethnography 192
14 Choosing the Appropriate Presentation Style 195
Common Ethnographic Conventions 196
The Importance of Ethnographic Detail 202
Matching Style to Audience, Subject, and Analysis 204
A Formal to Informal Continuum of Style 206
15 Putting the Whole Ethnography Together 211
The Hourglass Shape as a Model 212
Alternative Models for Organizing an Ethnography 213
Incorporating Relevant Literature 214
Incorporating Maps, Charts, and Photographs 215
Demonstrating the Project’s Relevance 216
Evaluating and Revising Ethnography 217
Sharing the Ethnography 218
Incorporating Responses and Critiques 220
Glossary 223
References 231
Index 235
