Ethnography Essentials: Designing, Conducting, and Presenting Your Research(25 Research Methods for the Social Sciences)

A comprehensive and practical guide to ethnographic research, this book guides you through the process, starting with the fundamentals of choosing and proposing a topic and selecting a research design. It describes methods of data collection (taking notes, participant observation, interviewing, identifying themes and issues, creating ethnographic maps and tables and charts, and referring to secondary sources) and analyzing and writing ethnography (sorting and coding data, answering questions, choosing a presentation style, and assembling the ethnography). Although content is focused on producing written ethnography, many of the principles and methods discussed here also apply to other forms of ethnographic presentation, including ethnographic film. Designed to give basic hands-on experience in the overall ethnography research process, Ethnography Essentials covers a wealth of topics, enabling anyone new to ethnography research to successfully explore the excitement and challenges of field research.

Table of Contents:
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

About the Author :
The Author Julian M. Murchison is associate professor of anthropology and sociology at Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi. He conducted ethnographic research in southern Tanzania for nearly two years. He regularly travels to Tanzania with students and supervises their independent research projects and ethnographic writing.