In this concise book, Johnson demonstrates that ethnographic informants can be selected in a systematic fashion, maximizing the amount of accurate information given to the ethnographer and the variety of viewpoints the researcher has access to. Using recent work on cultural consensus and network analysis, Johnson offers simple techniques for determining the number and categories of informants needed in a given setting and how to pinpoint key people to approach for information. Replete with examples from a variety of settings, this volume is a valuable methodological aid to all engaged in fieldwork.
This is the first English translation of a pre-Freudian psychological novel. The narrator victimizes women while feeling victimized by his own sensuality.
Bernard does an excellent job of not only showing how to practice research, but also provides a detailed discussion of broader historical and philosophical contexts that are important for understanding research.
Research Methods in Anthropology is the standard textbook for methods classes in anthropology. Written in Russ BernardOs unmistakable conversational style, his guide has launched tens of thousands of students into the fieldwork enterprise with a combination of rigorous methodology, wry humor, and commonsense advice. The author has thoroughly updated this new fourth edition. Whether you are coming from a scientific, interpretive, or applied anthropological tradition, you will learn field methods from the best guide in both qualitative and quantitative methods.
This text presents topics such as treatment of sampling, interviewing, participant observation, taking and managing field notes, analyzing data, and text analysis. The author also discusses recording equipment, voice recognition software, computer-based questionnaire methods, internet-based surveys, and word processors as text managers.
The author follows two chapters on the fundamentals of social science and social research with three on preparation, two on interviewing, one on scaling, and two on relative advantages and methods of participative, direct and indirect observation.
To the uninformed, surveys appear to be an easy type of research to design and conduct, but when students and professionals delve deeper, they encounter the vast complexities that the range and practice of survey methods present. To complicate matters, technology has rapidly affected the way surveys can be conducted; today, surveys are conducted via cell phone, the Internet, email, interactive voice response, and other technology-based modes. Thus, students, researchers, and professionals need both a comprehensive understanding of these complexities and a revised set of tools to meet the challenges. In conjunction with top survey researchers around the world and with Nielsen Media Research serving as the corporate sponsor, the Encyclopedia of Survey Research Methods presents state-of-the-art information and methodological examples from the field of survey research. Although there are other "how-to" guides and references texts on survey research, none is as comprehensive as this Encyclopedia, and none presents the material in such a focused and approachable manner. With more than 600 entries, this resource uses a Total Survey Error perspective that considers all aspects of possible survey error from a cost-benefit standpoint. Key Features Covers all major facets of survey research methodology, from selecting the sample design and the sampling frame, designing and pretesting the questionnaire, data collection, and data coding, to the thorny issues surrounding diminishing response rates, confidentiality, privacy, informed consent and other ethical issues, data weighting, and data analyses Presents a Reader′s Guide to organize entries around themes or specific topics and easily guide users to areas of interest Offers cross-referenced terms, a brief listing of Further Readings, and stable Web site URLs following most entries The Encyclopedia of Survey Research Methods is specifically written to appeal to beginning, intermediate, and advanced students, practitioners, researchers, consultants, and consumers of survey-based information.
The authors of this book share a common assumption about anthropology--that replicable and systematic procedures of data collection and analysis are essential requirements for building useful cultural theory. They view cultural theory as both an aid to understanding sociocultural phenomena, and as an aid in changing existing social conditions. This book focuses on five specific themes representing a set of principles for conducting research: the importance of intra-cultural variation; the blending of qualitative and quantitative approaches; the search for micro/macro levels of generalization; the innovative matching of methodology to research problems; and the practical or applied merit of systematically generated and evaluated theory. It contributes to scientific anthropology and shows that the credibility and utility of anthropological research in policy matters is enhanced by scientific research methodology.
"An accessible and entertaining read, useful to anybody interested in the ethnographic method." - Paul Miller, University of Cumbria "A very good introduction to ethnographic research, particularly useful for first time researchers." - Heather Macdonald, Chester University "The perfect introductory guide for students embarking on qualitative research for the first time... This should be of aid to the ethnographic novice in their navigating what is a theoretically complex and changing methodological field." - Patrick Turner, London Metropolitan University An accessible, authoritative, non-nonsense guide to the key concepts in one of the most widely used methodologies in social science: Ethnography, this book: Explores and summarises the basic and related issues in ethnography that are covered nowhere else in a single text. Examines key topics like sampling, generalising, participant observation and rapport, as well as embracing new fields such as virtual, visual and multi-sighted ethnography and issues such as reflexivity, writing and ethics. Presents each concept comprehensively yet critically, alongside relevant examples. This is not quite an encyclopaedia but far more than a dictionary. It is comprehensive yet brief. It is small and neat, easy to hold and flick through. It is what students and researchers have been waiting for.
Participatory Action Research (PAR) introduces a method that is ideal for researchers who are committed to co-developing research programs with people rather than for people. The book provides a history of this technique, its various strands, and the underlying tenets that guide most projects. It then draws on two PAR projects that highlight three integral dimensions: the meaning of participation; the way action manifests itself; and the strategies for gathering, analyzing, and disseminating information. Author Alice McIntyre describes the various ways in which PAR is carried out depending on, for example, the issue under investigation, the site of the project, the project participants, people's access to resources, and other related issues. Intended Audience: This resource is an ideal supplement for graduate courses PAR, qualitative research, and various types of action-based research.
