Describes methods for transforming fieldnotes, observations, audio and video tapes, surveys, and other kinds of data into research results that facilitate problem solving. Addresses both narrative (qualitative) and enumerated (quantitative) data, with discussion of methods for organizing, retrieving, and interpreting materials collected in an ethnographic project. Includes chapter summaries, margin definitions, and cross references to material in other books in the series. LeCompte is a professor of education and sociology in the School of Education at the University of Colorado-Boulder. Schensul is a medical/educational anthropologist, an adjunct professor of anthropology at the University of Connecticut, and a senior fellow in the department of psychology at Yale University. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
Communication research is evolving and changing in a world of online journals, open-access, and new ways of obtaining data and conducting experiments via the Internet. Although there are generic encyclopedias describing basic social science research methodologies in general, until now there has been no comprehensive A-to-Z reference work exploring methods specific to communication and media studies. Our entries, authored by key figures in the field, focus on special considerations when applied specifically to communication research, accompanied by engaging examples from the literature of communication, journalism, and media studies. Entries cover every step of the research process, from the creative development of research topics and questions to literature reviews, selection of best methods (whether quantitative, qualitative, or mixed) for analyzing research results and publishing research findings, whether in traditional media or via new media outlets. In addition to expected entries covering the basics of theories and methods traditionally used in communication research, other entries discuss important trends influencing the future of that research, including contemporary practical issues students will face in communication professions, the influences of globalization on research, use of new recording technologies in fieldwork, and the challenges and opportunities related to studying online multi-media environments. Email, texting, cellphone video, and blogging are shown not only as topics of research but also as means of collecting and analyzing data. Still other entries delve into considerations of accountability, copyright, confidentiality, data ownership and security, privacy, and other aspects of conducting an ethical research program. Features: 652 signed entries are contained in an authoritative work spanning four volumes available in choice of electronic or print formats. Although organized A-to-Z, front matter includes a Reader’s Guide grouping entries thematically to help students interested in a specific aspect of communication research to more easily locate directly related entries. Back matter includes a Chronology of the development of the field of communication research; a Resource Guide to classic books, journals, and associations; a Glossary introducing the terminology of the field; and a detailed Index. Entries conclude with References/Further Readings and Cross-References to related entries to guide students further in their research journeys. The Index, Reader’s Guide themes, and Cross-References combine to provide robust search-and-browse in the e-version.
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.
This best-selling book, designed for researchers embarking on their first ethnographic project, has been substantially revised and updated, with lots of exercises and advice to guide the embodied and creative ‘practice’ of ethnography. New additions include cyber-ethnography, sensual, visual and mobile ethnographies, and ‘field walking’.
Designed to give students a hands-on taste of what it is like to do ethnographic research, this concise manual offers a related set of three enriching yet manageable research projects with clear, workable instructions and guidelines. Through them, Professor Angrosino demonstrates for students at all levels that ethnography is an exciting and challenging form of social research. Solid, encouraging, and readable, the guide provides a basic format so that students can learn the fundamental ethnographic data collection techniques of observation, interviewing, and analyzing archives while conducting their own mini-projects in local settings. Projects in Ethnographic Research also includes many well-chosen, concrete, and illuminating examples drawn from the research of the authors own students and from the published works of other ethnographers. Projects in Ethnographic Research is most useful to those who teach introductory cultural anthropology and who want to introduce their students to some important field techniques but cannot justify assigning a longer, more comprehensive methods book. Brief and reasonably priced, the Angrosino text is sure to become an important component in introductory classrooms because it enhances some of the key concepts in cultural anthropology. It will also ignite the interest of future ethnographers.
This is Book 4 of 7 in the Ethnographer's Toolkit, Second Edition. This collection of individually authored chapters provides cutting-edge approaches to ethnography. Specialized Ethnographic Methods: A Mixed Methods Approach complements the basic inventory of ethnographic data collection tools presented in Book 3 with a number of important additional approaches to conducting ethnography. These include defining and collecting cultural artifacts, collecting secondary and archival data, cultural sorting and comparing methods, spatial research and analysis, network research and analysis, use of multimedia strategies for the collection of ethnographic data, ways to recruit and study "hidden populations," and participatory ethnographic video production. These data collection strategies are called "enhanced ethnographic methods" because each of them parallels and enhances a strategy first presented in Book 3. Most ethnographers will want to use at least one or two of these enhanced ethnographic methods in their work. Each classic chapter is comprehensive, offering an introduction, description, examples of how to use the method or approach, and discussion of how to conduct effective analyses. Using Book 3 and Book 4 together adds depth and accuracy to cultural portraits and explications. Other books in the set: Book 1: Designing and Conducting Ethnographic Research: An Introduction, Second Edition by Margaret D. LeCompte and Jean J. Schensul 9780759118690 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 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
Volume 7 of the series The Ethnographer's Toolkit, which takes researchers and fieldworkers through the multiple, complex steps of doing ethnographic research. Case studies, checklists, key points to remember and references are all included.
Ethnography as Risky Business: Field Research in Violent and Sensitive Contexts offers a hands-on, critical appraisal of how to approach ethnographic fieldwork on socio-political conflict and collective violence, focusing on the global south. The volume’s contributions are all based on extensive firsthand qualitative social science research conducted in sensitive--and often hazardous--field settings. The contributors reflect on real-life methodological problems as well as the ethical and personal challenges such as the protection of participants, research data and the ‘ethnographic self’. In particular, the authors highlight how ‘risky ethnography’ requires careful maneuvering before, during, and after fieldwork on the basis of a ‘situated’ ethics, yet also point to the rewards of such an endeavor. If these methodological, ethical and personal risks are managed adequately, the yields in terms of generating a deep understanding of, and critical engagement with, conflict and violence may be substantial.
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.
Describing the principles and methods of ethnography used by nurse researchers, the authors demonstrate how to: conduct ethnographic research in health settings; analyze and interpret data collected from field work; make ethical decisions related to the role of being an ethnographer; and how to put ideas in writing.
